The Historical Treatment Of Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder in the United States. Between 15 - 19% of the population suffers from this disorder, which impairs the quality of life and functioning (Stuart 218). What is anxiety? Abnormal Psychology describes anxiety as “an adaptive emotion that helps us plan and prepare for a possible theat.” The text book further states, “worrying about many different aspects of life becomes chronic, excessive, and unreasonable.” This is also known as generalized anxiety disorder or GAD (Butcher 201). DSM IV-TR specifies that GAD is a worry that occurs more days then not for at least 6 months, and that it must be experienced as difficult to control (Butcher 201). 25% of those that suffer from this

18.1% of American adults have some sort of anxiety disorder. That percentage may seem low, but when calculated person for person it adds up to approximately 42 million people. Anxiety symptoms include feeling powerless, nervous, or helpless, even over mundane tasks; having a sense of impending doom or increased heart rate; sweating and shaking; restricted breathing or hyperventilating; and trouble thinking about or concentrating on anything other than the present worry. Anxiety disorders can have specific focuses, like phobias, or just be about everyday trivial tasks, known as generalized anxiety.

The eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Hoch, in his classic treatise on differential diagnoses in the field of psychiatry made the observation that symptoms of anxiety and depression were components of every major psychiatric disorder (Hoch, 1972). People without psychiatric disorders also experience episodes of anxiety which is typically defined as a diffuse, unpleasant, and sometimes vague sense of apprehension; however, anxiety disorders, psychological disorders whose main component is anxiety and lead to significant disruptions in a person's everyday functioning, are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions in the world (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). Moreover, there is abundant empirical evidence that anxiety disorders when left untreated may increase the risk of cardiovascular-related disorders and other health concerns (APA, 2000). Therefore it is important to be able to distinguish the proper anxiety disorder diagnosis and initiate treatment. One of the most disabling of all the anxiety disorders is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Hoch, in his classic treatise on differential diagnoses in the field of psychiatry made the observation that symptoms of anxiety and depression were components of every major psychiatric disorder (Hoch, 1972). Everyone also experiences anxiety which is typically defined as a diffuse, unpleasant, and sometimes vague sense of apprehension; however, anxiety disorders, psychological disorders whose main component is anxiety and lead to significant disruptions in a person's everyday functioning, are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions in the world (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). Moreover, there is abundant empirical evidence that anxiety disorders when left untreated may increase the risk of cardiovascular-related disorders and other health concerns (APA, 2000). Therefore it is important to be able to distinguish the proper anxiety disorder diagnosis and initiate treatment. One of the most disabling of all the anxiety disorders is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

All in all, anxiety is a mental illness that causes uncomfortable worry about their prospects. Anxiety can be caused by many different factors, such as stress, chronic diseases, and the side effect of some drugs. Anxiety associates with many diseases that will occur in parallel with worry, for instance, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Doctors can tell if the patient has anxiety by checking some signs that associates with anxiety which are sweating, feeling nervous, trembling, tiredness, and sleep deprivation. Many standard approaches can treat anxiety, such as complementary and alternative treatments, therapy, and

     Anxiety disorders are serious medical illnesses that affect approximately 19 million American adults. These disorders fill people's lives

Anxiety disorders are a common emotional disorder, with APA identifying six types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder, specific phobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms that include overwhelming feelings of panic and fear, uncontrollable obsessive thoughts, painful, intrusive memories, recurring nightmares, physical symptoms etc. Strongman (1995) broadly classifies the theories of anxiety as psychoanalytic, learning/ behavioural, physiological, phenomenological/ existential, cognitive, and those concerned with uncertainty (Strongman, 1995).

There are six major types of anxiety disorders, each with their own distinct symptoms. They are as follows: generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), phobia, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. All of which have multiple categories that fall underneath each one, and most all are over looked, or played down because they are not physical.

Anxiety is a feeling we can all relate too, some worse than others. Believe it or not, anxiety can be a normal feeling. The emotion you get before an exam, new job interview, or going on the first date, that is anxiety. There are differences in normal anxiety and pathological (abnormal) anxiety. Normal anxiety should last for a short amount of time and cause some discomfort. Now if the anxiety starts to become prolonged and causes the person to become incapacitate, that is when it becomes pathological anxiety. One of the serious disorders that come from anxiety is called Panic Disorder (Anxiety disorders in Adults). The most common demonstration of panic disorder is a sudden feeling of fear or discomfort without a recognizable trigger, along with at least four of the following symptoms: dyspnea; dizziness or faintness; palpitations; trembling or shaking; sweating; choking; nausea or abdominal distress; depersonalization; numbness; flushes or chills; chest pain or discomfort; fear of dying; and fear of doing something uncontrolled or going crazy (The western journal of medicine). For those who go through life with a panic disorder can understand exactly how much of an impact it can have on life.

There are many anxiety disorders. One that really stood out to me was the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I have heard about this disorder a lot, but I never really looked into it. I am glad that I did. PTSD occurs when someone has experienced or witnessed a traumatizing event. I thought this only occurred in people that were in the war, but it goes way beyond that.

To start off, what is an anxiety disorder? Anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental illness, affecting 40 million adults in the United States, which is about 18% of the population. Anxiety itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s a natural human emotion to stressful or new life experiences and we all feel it every once in awhile. To a certain extent, anxiety is an important aspect of the human emotions because it helps us cope with stress or danger by releasing the hormone adrenaline. The hormone

Many people experience anxiety and nervousness from time to time, typically about a near event, something with an uncertain outcome, problem at work, or making an important decision. It is a normal human emotion and a normal part of life, however, anxiety disorders are not and they are very different. Anxiety disorders are psychiatric disorders which are very serious mental illness. People with anxiety disorders experience overwhelming and constant worry and fear. It often don’t go away and it gets worse with time if the person is not taking any medication or trying other treatment methods. It can interfere with daily functioning of the person’s life, including, work, relationship, and school.

Anxiety is normal -everyone experiences it from time to time (Anxiety BC, 2017). Human survival depends on anxiety as it informs us of danger, triggering the fight, flight, freeze response, as our bodies prepare to react to the source of perceived danger (Anxiety BC, 2017). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), “Fear is the emotional response to real or perceived imminent threat, whereas anxiety is anticipation of future threat”. Ongoing and excessive fear can cause significant distress and interference with the daily activities of one’s life. The combination of excessive anxiety and disruption in life separates normal anxiety from an anxiety disorder (Anxiety BC, 2017). Individuals with anxiety disorders overestimate the

Anxiety disorders are recognized as “one of the most mental health disorders in both children and adults”. That overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear is hardwired into our brains. Oddly enough, anxiety is normal, so it can be difficult to understand the difference between normal anxiety and a condition known as anxiety disorder. Normal anxiety typically fades. However, those who suffer from anxiety, these feelings never subside. Anxiety can interfere with an

Anxiety disorder is having an excessive fear and behavioral disturbance. This is more common to females more than men. . Fear is the emotional response to a real threat while anxiety is the anticipation of future threat. Both are connected to each other but also have difference. Whereas fear is linked with autonomic arousal which is necessary for flight and fight while anxiety is more associated with muscle tension. Panic attacks is related to anxiety in which this is the response in a certain type of fear. Anxiety disorder differ from each other they have their own symptoms that can’t be seen in other type of anxiety disorder they can also be differentiated according to the situations that are feared or avoided (1) Generalized anxiety disorder have the symptom of feelings of threat, restlessness, irritability, sleep disturbance, and tension also a feeling such as palpitations, dry mouth and sweating.