Anxiety Disorders Are a Complex Mix of Emotions and Physical Sensations

Anxiety is felt by almost everyone at some time or the other and it involves a multifaceted mixture of emotions consisting of fear, apprehension as well as worry and very often there is accompanying physical sensations such as palpitations, nausea, chest pain as well as shortness of breath.

Doctors say that anxiety is in many cases considered to be cognitive, somatic, and emotional and has several behavioral mechanisms. To begin with, the cognitive mechanism implies that the patient expects or has a diffusion of uncertain danger.

Somatic
In the case of somatic anxiety, the body gets prepared to cope with a threat. This can be considered the fight or flight reaction many experience in emergency situations. In these cases, heart rates increase, along with increases of adrenaline that can result in skin flushing (turning red) due to increased blood flow, and sweating. Somatic signs may also appear in the form of paleness of skin and trembling as well as dilation of the pupils.

Emotional or Behavioral
In the case of emotional anxiety, the patient feels a sense of foreboding or panic and is physically afflicted with being sick to their stomach and may also include cold chills.
Behavioral anxiety may be involuntary or voluntary and may result in the person trying to avoid the circumstances or situation that is uncomfortable to them. Other symptoms may include a racing heart with the feelings of fear and sadness. Behavioral anxiety, within limits, place an important role in the survival of all humans

From a medical point of view, anxiety is thought to be caused by neural circuitry that involves amygdale as well as hippocampus. When the patient is confronted with stimuli that are neither pleasant nor harmless and these include foul smells and odors or tastes there are bound to be an increased flowing of the blood in the amygdale. It may result in moderate levels of anxiety and this indicates that it is a mechanism that protects in order to prevent the organism from taking part in potentially detrimental behaviors such as eating food that is rotten.

A patient’s life may be seriously affected when he or she has continually recurring cases of anxiety and this can be clinically diagnosed. The most common forms of anxiety disorders are:

1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
2. Panic Disorders,
3. Social Anxiety
4. Obsessive Compulsive
5. Posttraumatic Stress Disorders.

Remember these are high level anxiety disorder categories only. There are several sub categories like phobias that fall under one or more in the major list. Although many people suffer in silence, there is help available in the form of medications group therapy biofeedback and other alternative treatment methods. The key to regaining your life is to seek help as soon as you are aware that you may be suffering from anxiety

 

You should really bookmark this site and check back to see what other tidbits of good information has been added. Anxiety in all forms is a long term illness with new treatment strategies always being developed. Don't you want to know the latest information? Bookmark this site