Varieties of anxiety and the one common factor

Here’s the plan of action for this article. You find yourself here reading this because you are browsing for information on the different varieties of anxiety, saw my title and decided this was exactly what you were looking for. You were correct, and it is for that reason that, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell you about. I won’t bore you with information that you don’t want to read and that has no relevance, and further down the article I reveal to you, what most people don’t even realise is, the one single thing that ties every variety of anxiety and panic attack you can imagine together. In the next few paragraphs I want to share with you 5 of the most common types of anxiety disorders and tell you a little bit on each one 1. Social phobia – • Social phobia is a persistent and irrational fear of any situation where a person might find themselves under scrutiny or judgement by others at parties or other social events. • People with social phobia will find themselves avoiding situations such as parties or nights out backed by an overwhelming fear that they may be subject to scrutiny at others at the event. • Both male and females are effected equally with social phobia and it generally will begin in adolescence. • Some of the physical symptoms that occur with social phobia would be: Blushing, Difficulty talking, Trembling, Profuse sweating and Nausearn• Two of the best thing you can do, even though you mightn’t think it, to combat this are 1- get regular exercise and 2- reduce or avoid altogether caffeine. 2. Obsessive compulsive disorder – • Also known as OCD this is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas and so on that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions) • In most cases the person will carry out the behaviours simply to get rid of the obsessive thoughts, causing the person a temporary reliefrn• About 20% of people with OCD have tics. Suggesting that the disorder might be related to Tourette syndrome, however this link isn’t clearrn• One example of a symptom would be an excessive fear of germs where a person will repeatedly was their hands to ward off infection ( the person will generally acknowledge that the behaviour is excessive or unreasonable ) • OCD is treated using both medication and therapy. Some of the medication will include Prozac, Celexa, Paxil, Zoloft and Luvox 3. Panic attack – • A panic attack is a period of intense apprehension or fear that are of sudden onset and are of relatively brief durationrn• A panic attack will begin abruptly, reach it’s peak usually inside ten minutes and will subside over the next couple of hoursrn• Those who are unfamiliar with panic attacks might be led to believe they are having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown the first time he/she experiences onern• Some reasons for someone experiencing panic attacks would be that is heredity, a biological cause E.G. OCD, Specific Phobias and as a result of alcohol or drug withdrawal. • Symptoms will include sweating, chest pain, sense of impending death, sensations of suffering, feeling light-headed, chills or hot flashes and a fear of losing control or going insanern• As with OCD, panic attacks can be cured using both medication and therapies. Research finding that cognitive behaviour therapy to have the longest duration of affect 4. Separation anxiety disorder – • Separation anxiety is a psychological condition in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety as a result of separation from home or a loved one to whom they have a strong emotional attachment to E.G. a mother or fatherrn• Those who suffer from SAD. may worry about losing their parents and/or getting kidnappedrn• They will often refuse to go places, e.g. school, where they will be separated from the particular loved onern• SAD in adults is actually more common at around 7% oppose to around 4% of children who experience the disorderrn• Symptoms can include crying, nightmares about separation, excessive fear about being alone and refusal to go to sleep without being near a major attachment figurern• The best known treatment for this disorder is once again cognitive behavioural therapy. It is scientifically proven to help treat SAD. 5. Specific phobia – • This is a generic term given for any kind of anxiety disorder resulting in an unreasonable or irrational fear related to exposure to specific objects or situationsrn• People who experience specific phobia will tend to actively avoid direct contact with the objects or situations they have the phobia againstrn• The anxiety can be triggered by both the presence of the situation and also the mere anticipation of the situation or object, and if the fear is intense enough it can result in a panic attackrn• Types of phobias could include certain animals, fear of heights, fear of aging, afraid of the dark, fear of confined spaces and even fear of the number 13 (triskaidekaphobia) • The usual age of someone suffering from specific phobia is between childhood and adolescence with women twice as likely to experience the disorder as men The one common factor! As promised at the start! There are many external factors that are linked to anxiety disorders. These are more of a trigger. The one common factor, and indeed 100% responsible for anything anxiety related, is this tiny little organ know as the Amygdala It has always been known that the Amygdala was closely related to our emotional behaviour but it is only now that scientists are beginning to discover that, not only does the Amygdala have a part to play in every form of anxiety, but it is 100% responsible for anything at all to do with any form of anxiety.