Anxiety: When to Get Professional Help

Anxiety, fear, and worry often manifest in stressful situations. An adequate feeling of anxiety in such cases only helps to cope with difficulties. What to do if such a state does not leave the mind at rest and negatively affects life? When and how to find the line between anxiety and anxiety disorder?

Anxiety Symptoms 

It's important to understand that anxiety and restlessness are different concepts. It is inherent in humans to experience anxiety when life events provoke stress, and hence the feeling of fear, panic, and anxiety. Why does the body allow such a condition to develop? This reaction is an activation of our consciousness to overcome a stressful situation. And such a reaction is adequate for a human being. It is short-lived, inconstant, and tends to be strong or weak depending on the situation.

Anxiety is the body's attempt to cope with stress, so as soon as the source of anxiety becomes irrelevant, the feeling of anxiety decreases or disappears altogether.

However, there is a condition that affects the body for a long time and requires aid to get rid of it. Anxiety, although resembling anxiety, has a much stronger effect on the person. Anxiety is characterized by:

●    Inadequate response of the body. Unlike anxiety, anxiety becomes a big problem for a person because of the intrusiveness of thoughts, excessiveness, and duration. Even when the subject of anxiety ceases to be important, the anxious state does not leave the mind alone, and it is more difficult to get rid of it.
●    Hypothetical reason. If with anxiety a person is able to clearly identify the object that causes him certain emotions, the origins of anxiety often lie outside of reality. These are fantasies, inventing tragic developments, etc.
●    Disruption of the comfort of life. Anxiety passes, and the person's condition is normal again, he or she can communicate with people, access enjoyable things, like sports betting online or reading, perform tasks and calmly return to everyday life. The situation is different during a constant state of anxiety. The mind is not able to divert from worrying thoughts, so it becomes a cause of impairment in communication, concentration on work, enjoyment of personal interests.

Based on this understanding of anxiety, there is the concept of anxiety disorder, which is a type of neurosis. Emerging due to nervous system disorders and constant stress, it becomes a problem that requires the intervention of a specialist.

Psychologists also refer to anxiety as a number of diseases in which constant anxiety is one of the symptoms:

●    Generalized anxiety disorder.
●    Phobias.
●    Panic disorder.
●    Social anxiety disorder.
●    Post-traumatic stress disorder.
●    Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Statistically, about 12% of people suffer from an anxiety disorder. Although many in society place some stigma on discussing mental health problems, it is important to recognize in time the symptoms that reflect not just simple anxiety but are serious signs of pathology.

Constant anxiety takes a heavy toll on a person's condition. Anxiety and stress affect not only mental but also physical health.

Mental symptoms are expressed in:

●    Impaired concentration and attention.
●    Insomnia.
●    Emotional instability.
●    A constant and unjustified sense of fear for the future.
●    Excessive control over one's own behavior, one's own condition.
●    Inability to abstract obsessive thoughts.
●    Hypochondria.

Symptoms that are expressed at the level of the physical state of the body:

●    Rapid breathing and heartbeat.
●    Weakness, tremors, chills, muscle spasms.
●    Headaches, heart, and abdominal pain.
●    Eating disorders.
●    Increased sweating.

Some symptoms are also characteristic of a temporary anxiety, which is not the cause of the pathology. But we must not forget that a prolonged stay in anxiety is a serious reason to take care of your own mental health. Untimely diagnosis leads to an extreme degree of panic, panic attacks, and other severe disorders. The diagnosis is made from general factors and assessment of the patient's condition, but how do you understand what has caused the anxiety?

Causes of Anxiety

It's possible to diagnose the symptoms with the help of a doctor if their duration exceeds 6 months and strongly affects a person's condition. However, it is difficult to determine the cause because of the variety of influencing factors. There are several causes of anxiety disorder:

●    Environmental influences. The development of anxiety is influenced by the environment in which a person lives: stress at work, relationship problems, etc. In addition, the sources of anxiety are often the consequences of past events. Large risks of pathology are characteristic of people with a difficult childhood, unhealthy relationships in the family, etc.
●    Genetic. Anxiety is also associated with a history of family mental disorders.
●    Hyperthyroidism and other endocrine diseases. Anxiety appears as a side effect of a disease.
●    Addictions. The use of drugs and alcohol is one cause of anxiety.
●    Caffeine. Many scientists link excessive caffeine use to the development of anxiety.
●    Other mental disorders. Anxiety also accompanies other mental illnesses (depression, personality disorders, etc.).

 

Lifestyle changes, attempts to get rid of anxiety on their own help if the anxiety is in a mild stage, but without treatment, anxiety disorders not only persist but also aggravate the unstable condition of the person.