Are You Anxious?

Most people experience anxiety when under stress. However, when anxiety becomes chronic and leads to difficulty functioning at work or socially it is deemed a disorder. Anxiety disorders can cause excessive worry and physical discomfort, either in specific situations or what would otherwise be considered an everyday event.

The body has a natural "fight or flight" response which is activated in stressful situations. Adrenaline is released by the adrenal glands, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, and tensing your muscles so you can fight or run. If stressors continue, or if you are predisposed to neurochemical imbalances in your brain,this response occurs when it is unnecessary. Anxiety - chronic physical and mentalsymptoms of the fight or flight response - is the result.

There are several different types of anxiety disorders. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is chronic, excessive anxiety over broad or daily issues such as work, health and relationships. Panic disorder involves acute episodes of intense anxiety and physical symptoms. Social anxiety is intense fear around social situations - fear that you will be laughed at or judged by others. Phobias are fears and anxiety related to specific events or objects, such as flying or spiders. Post-traumatic stress disorder is anxiety and flashbacks around a specific event in someone's life, such as an accident or disaster. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) involves anxiety around chronic thoughts (obsessions) that lead to performance of specific actions (compulsions).

Physical symptoms of social anxiety, panic disorder and phobias can include heartrnpalpitations, chest pain, excessive sweating, trembling, fear of dying and consistent negative thoughts that something bad is going to happen. GAD symptomsrncan include irritability, difficulty sleeping, muscle tension and chronic or excessive worry about small issues. Symptoms of OCD include obsessing over eventsrnsuch as whether you have turned off the stove, and compulsions to try to alleviaternthe anxiety of these events, such as checking the stove dozens or hundreds of times to ensure you have turned it off.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help you learn to control anxiety in specific situations and is a combination of psychotherapy and behavioural therapy. CBT looks to change how people think (the cognitive) and react (the behaviour). Byrnbreaking down problems to manageable parts, cognitive therapy makes it easier tornunderstand how those parts are connected and how they affect a person both physically and emotionally.

Hypnotherapy can uncover the root cause of how and why the anxiety originated, and used together these therapies help the anxious person to become more relaxed and calm in both specific situations and in general.