Understanding Anxiety
When you start understanding anxiety you will be able to assist your family members or anyone else you know who suffers with it. Everyone suffers from some level of anxiety and panic at one point or another in their lives and that is perfectly normal. The level of reaction to that initial feeling of panic is where we all differ.
Generally when we become stressed, a person knows quickly and effectively what they need to counter act whatever is causing the stress. However for those who suffer from anxiety they will find that they suffer from excessive amounts of feelings relating to fear, uncertainty or apprehension. In some cases, they may suffer an anxiety attack and yet they may not actually be under attack from anything or anyone. In many cases their anxiety will continue even once the threat has passed or been removed.
All anxiety is not the same, you may feel some anxiety before a test or a exam, or maybe before you have to go into a meeting with your boss. This level of anxiety is perfectly normal, when you start feeling that anxiety every waking minute (and it stops you sleeping) in the weeks , or months, running up to the test or meeting, then you may be suffering with some form of anxiety.
If you are sitting in a group of 100 people it would be a fair estimate that 5 of them would have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, this basically means they are constantly worrying and in a anxious state of mind. I am sure you can appreciate how the constant worry and feelings of stress affect peoples physical as well as mental wellbeing.
The biggest problem that one faces if a person is diagnosed with this form of anxiety disorder is that they often have other medical problems which compound the situation. In well over half the people in the USA who suffer from anxiety, they suffer from other forms of this disorder or depression as well.
Some of the symptoms that a anxiety sufferer will display can greatly affect not just them but everyone in their social circle as well as family members. Restless, edgy and irritable – These symptoms can lead to confrontations with family members. Sleeplessness – Days or weeks with little sleep will compound the physical problems that anxiety sufferers often experience.
Working for a living usually brings its own pressures, targets and deadlines to meet , meetings to go to and sometimes work colleagues that are not that pleasant. Most of us don’t let these problems bother us long term, if you have a anxiety disorder you won’t be able to help but let them take over your mind and build up and up until you can’t face work anymore.
The two most important steps in starting down the road to recovery are realizing that this is not some one off event but a illness and making an appointment with your Dr.
In some cases, a person may find that making changes to their diet and lifestyle and learning various relaxation techniques can help to bring their anxiety under control.
