Program & Services

Anxiety Illnesses

Anxiety can be a good thing in a certain situation. It can be a good thing by motivating you and make you more creative. This can help you turn a paper, painting or important work piece from good to excellent. But when you have an anxiety illness, you are worried all the time. This can change a person's every day life. There are many reasons why a person can have an anxiety illness. Many times it runs in families. This illness can be treated in several ways.

This kind of illness can make your feelings range from uneasy to being so scared that you can't do anything. There are many types of anxiety illnesses. This illness includes common anxiety or a fear of an object or situation. Stress after a terrible experience can also bring on an anxiety illness. The information below will help you begin to learn about anxiety illnesses, but it doesn't include all the signs and ways to help. Keep in mind that new studies can give us new answers and change the way we treat these types of illnesses.

If you think you or someone you are close to has an anxiety illness, get help from a doctor.

Common anxiety illness

When a person has anxiety, they can have a sick feeling in their stomach. This can happen when they have a lot of bills to pay or just before a job interview. Or it can happen at some other point in their lives when they feel uncomfortable. This uneasy feeling is common and everyone has it at some point. A person is likely to have an anxiety illness when they cannot get over these worries, and they are so upset that it affects their every day life.

Symptoms:

• Increased worry
• High stress levels
• Increased aggravation
• Not being able to sit still
• Trouble falling asleep
• Headaches, shaking, muscle tightness or sweating

A person with an anxiety illness has these symptoms a lot more than a normal person would have in a similar situation.

Doctor's findings: When a person is experiencing the above symptoms with everyday problems for at least six months, he or she may have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can affect their everyday life.

Treatment: Anxiety is the most common type of mental illness, but it can be helped. A type of help is working with a doctor or professional. They can help a person learn how about his or her illness and ways it can be treated. Medication may also be needed in some cases and can be very helpful. Some common anti-anxiety medications are diazepam, alprazolam, lorazepam and buspirone.

Panic disorder

People with panic disorder experience fear that makes their heart pound and can take their breath away. This type of attack happens all of a sudden and without warning. Since people don't know when the next time an attack may happen, they worry about it all the time.

Most panic attacks last only a few minutes, but they can go on for ten minutes. A few have been known to last for as long as an hour. They can happen at any time, even during sleep. The good news is that the right treatment can help most people with panic disorder within six to eight weeks.

Symptoms:

Common physical symptoms include:

• Pounding heart
• Chest pains
• Feeling light in the head or dizzy
• Feeling sick in the stomach
• Having a hard time breathing
• Shaking
• Choking
• Lack of feeling
• Tingling
• Hot flashes
• Chills
• Sweating

The person also has a fear of dying and feeling out of control or going crazy.

Doctor's findings: It's common to have four attacks within four weeks or one or more attacks in a month caused by fears of having another attack. A person with panic disorder will have at least four of the above symptoms during at least one of the attacks.

Treatment: There are many kinds of medications to help a person with panic disorder. Many times getting help from therapy and getting medication is the best way to help people.

Fear of an object or action

Many of us stay away from some things like stinging bugs or dangerous situations, but sometimes people are so scared that it makes them unnecessarily stay away from certain things or situations. This can cause a person to feel a lot of anxiety.

Symptoms:

There are many types of anxiety. One type is a fear of a certain object or situation like:

• Dogs
• Driving on highways
• Flying
• Heights
• Spiders

This type of anxiety can be caused by an infinite number of other objects or situations.

Another type of fear is being anywhere where one of these objects or situations might be. The person feels they cannot get away from it. Many people who have this type of anxiety won't leave their house. Others avoid open spaces, standing in line or being in a crowd. Many of the physical symptoms that come with this type of panic attack include but are not limited to:

• Sweating
• Pounding heart
• Shaking

Another type is a fear of being embarrassed in front of other people. The most common symptom in this type of fear is public speaking.

Doctor's findings: The person is very nervous when he or she is around the object or situation they fear. His or her fear is a lot more than a normal person would have. The fear keeps the person from doing every day things and causes him or her to stay away from people. It can also affect how the person lives with their family and friendships.

Treatment: Therapy can help a person deal with the situation or object they fear. It can teach a person to know the signs and how too relax. The person will learn how to work with their thoughts and feelings of anxiety. Medications can also help. Many times both therapy and medication are the best way to help a person.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

In the past, PTSD was thought to affect only people who were in a war. Now we know that adults and children alike can get this disorder without having been in a war. PTSD occurs when a person has seen or was part of a situation where he or she felt in danger. This includes but is not limited to rape, kidnapping, natural disasters, war or a bad accident like an airplane crash. PTSD can affect a person so much that it makes it hard for a he or she to get a job. PTSD also can affect a person's relationship with his or her family and friends.

Symptoms:

• Not being able to think or act clearly because a person is always thinking about what happened
• Anxiety
• Jumpiness
• Hard time focusing
• Nightmares
• Not being able to sleep

People stay away from things that remind them of the event. Reminders can cause strong feelings of pain or panic attacks. For example, a woman who has been raped might stay away from all men and won't go out alone at night. Many people also get smyptoms of depression. Some people may misuse alcohol or drugs to cope with their pain and to forget about the event.

Doctor's findings: Fear is expected after going through a terrible event, but becomes a disorder when the it continues for more than three months.

Treatment: Therapy can help people get control over their lives. Many who have PTSD need to face what has happened to them. By facing what has happened, they learn to accept that it is a part of their past. They also need help to get over the constant painful behaviors and thoughts, and learn how to relax. Support from family and friends can help a person get better more quickly. Medications can help the symptoms of depression and sleep problems. The best treatment for this fear includes both therapy and medication.