Article by Michael
As you should know by now, anxiety is a healthy and normal emotion that everyone experiences. It is the body’s natural reaction to a stimulus that pushes the decision to either “fight” or “flight” during a situation. However, when anxiety attacks are irrational, chronic, severe, and start affecting the overall health of a person, whether it be emotionally, psychologically, or physically, it turns into a problem that must be dealt with right away. Do not be confused though because there is a rather thick line between healthy and unhealthy anxiety attacks and you will be able to tell the difference. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked by doctors who tell you there is nothing to worry about and you are perfectly fine.
Anxiety is a general term which houses various different classifications under its name. There are six main types of anxiety disorder and they all have different and unique characteristics: generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
GAD is a chronic worry or fear over everyday tasks without even knowing why. People with GAD show symptoms such as fatigue, stomach upset, insomnia, sweating, and restlessness. If you have GAD you will often be worried that bad things will happen and have a feeling of anxiousness about day to day activities.
2. Panic Disorder
This is when you have unexpected and repeated panic attacks. You actually fear the panic attack itself and are afraid that another one will occur any moment without warning. Many people with panic disorder are likely to have agoraphobia; the fear of being in places where help or escape will be difficult to reach you. If you have agoraphobia, you may be afraid of being trapped in confined places such as an elevator, airplane, or overly crowded places.
3. Social Anxiety Disorder
This is the fear of being humiliated in public, or seen negatively by people. Being shy is what people often call this. It is okay to be shy; everyone is over certain things in their life. However, people with bad cases of social anxiety disorder may isolate themselves from people, public events and places, and will tend to be alone. The most common form of social anxiety is stage fright which everyone has.
4. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
More commonly referred to as OCD, this is a condition where a person has uncontrollable and undesired thoughts or behavior. People with OCD may have particular obsessions such as worries that they forgot to turn the light off, or wanting everything they do to be perfect. Some of the most common OCD symptoms are frequent hand washing, re-checking something numerous times, and hoarding useless junk in fear that something bad might happen if thrown away.
5. Phobias
A phobia is usually a senseless, foolish, and over exaggerated fear of simple things that usually present little or no danger at all. A person can have a phobia of anything there is, some of the most common ones being: dark, spiders, heights, swimming, snakes, and flying. People with phobias will most often try to avoid the things they are afraid of, but avoiding your fear instead of facing it only tends to worsen the phobia.
6. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is a classification of anxiety that happens after a dramatic or life-threatening event takes place. People with PTSD can show symptoms such as avoiding situations or places that remind them about the event, isolation, flashbacks, nightmares, and frightening easily.
Anxiety disorder is a very common problem with millions of people worldwide! Want to learn more about the best products available? Visit http://anxietyreliefreview.com for honest and unbiased reviews of today’s most popular anxiety and panic relief products.
Filed under Uncategorized by on Feb 2nd, 2012. 
Question by Anna S: Is sex a therapy for social anxiety disorder?
I am reading an article and it writes, “Sex is when you can explore your personality without any social anxieties” (SELF.2009) Basically, during sex your ture self/nature comes out without regard to playing a role in public or maintaining social norms. Thoughts?
Best answer:
Answer by Gregory S
That article is probably messed up. A real therapist would not say that… if that were true, than all sorts of bad things (rape, incest, etc) would be permissible… and they most certainly aren’t.
What do you think? Answer below!
Filed under Social Anxiety by on Dec 14th, 2011.
Question by Anna S: Is sex a therapy for social anxiety disorder?
I am reading an article and it writes, “Sex is when you can explore your personality without any social anxieties” (SELF.2009) Basically, during sex your ture self/nature comes out without regard to playing a role in public or maintaining social norms. Thoughts?
Best answer:
Answer by Gregory S
That article is probably messed up. A real therapist would not say that… if that were true, than all sorts of bad things (rape, incest, etc) would be permissible… and they most certainly aren’t.
Give your answer to this question below!
Filed under Social Anxiety by on Dec 13th, 2011.
Article by Edward Michaels
What Treatments Are Available For My Anxiety Disorder?
Feelings of anxiety are a normal reaction to things like danger, stress, or fear. Most of the time people will experience anxiety when they get very stressed out.
For example, getting up in front of a group of people to speak, and facing frightening situations like asking their boss for a pay raise or other similar things. Anxiety is normal, although feeling anxiety all of the time for no reason at all is not normal by any means.
This is referred to as anxiety disorder. In truth, there are many people who suffer from this disorder. The reasons for people feeling anxious all of the time is not known. It could be because of the economy, our diet, or a number of different things.
The good news for these people is that it can be treated. You can either seek professional help, or self-help treatment. You may want to try treating your constant anxiety by yourself first before consulting a professional.
There isn’t anything wrong with seeking help from a professional, but since it is very expensive you might try solving this problem by yourself first. If no results are forthcoming then seek out a doctor to aid you in treating your anxiety disorder.
Many people that have anxiety disorders do not know how to relax. They literally cannot physically relax. It is nearly impossible for them. Many people who suffer from an anxiety disorder are amazed because they have nothing seemingly wrong going on in their lives. They should feel all right, but they are just bundle of nerves.
To treat this disorder by yourself you need to find ways in which to calm yourself down. Meditation, frequent massages, breathing techniques, exercise, yoga, or reading a good book can all be ways to calm yourself down and relax. No matter what it takes, you must find a way to relax is you wish to succeed in terms of treating anxiety disorder.
There are a number of people who try to calm and steady themselves by the consumption of drugs and or alcoholic substances. This is not a good method of treatment. This will only worsen you anxiety. You may have feelings of relaxation upon drinking a glass of wine, but this is not treating your anxiety disorder and only worsens it.
Yes, it worsens your disorder, and is very unhealthy for your body. If you cannot become relaxed, you should not turn to drugs or alcohol to treat your anxiety disorder. Rather, you should try some of the relaxation methods mentioned above and if they don’t work then visit with a doctor to find a correct and effective means of treatment for you.
Many prescription medications out there can really work in treating anxiety disorder. Once a doctor evaluates the condition and level of your disorder, he can prescribe medication that will calm you down in a healthy way.
This is nothing to feel ashamed about in taking medicine for your anxiety, myriads of people do it. If nothing else works for you and it can work and return some normal semblance to your life then why not try the treatment? You can get that a better quality of life back if you find the right method of treating anxiety disorder for you.
For more information from Edward Michaels on anxiety disorder treatments and your FREE digital download book “10 Secrets To Overcoming Panic Attacks” please visit our website at http://www.Panic-Attacks-Help-Center.com
Edward Michaels has spent a large part of his life dealing with panic attacks and learning how to cope with them. His website at: http//:www.Panic-Attacks-Help-Center.com is where he posts other articles and information that you will find very helpful in beating panic attacks and reclaiming your life.
Related Anxiety Disorder Articles
Filed under Uncategorized by on Nov 10th, 2011.
Do you cover your mouth with your hand when you speak? Look away from people when you talk to them? If so, you might be engaging in safety behaviors. For people with social anxiety, safety behaviors are those little things you do to help reduce your anxiety about being in social and performance situations. The problem is, in the long run they make anxiety worse. Read more…
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Filed under Anxiety by on Sep 25th, 2011.
Although panic attacks are generally thought of as happening to those with panic disorder, they are also a part of social anxiety disorder (SAD). People with SAD generally experience panic in situations where they feel like the center of attention or that they are being judged or evaluated, such as during public speaking. Read more…
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Filed under Anxiety by on Sep 17th, 2011.
Article by Gaetane Ross
An anxiety disorder is a very troublesome mental illness because it is very distressing and can impact a person’s normal behavior and coping ability in day-to-day situations. It has the potential of completely changing a person’s life and strips him of opportunities and chances for career advancement and in developing healthy social relationships. It also severely limits his perception of his surroundings and keeps him living in unhealthy fear and worry.
How anxiety disorder is diagnosed
A physician will obtain a personal and medical history of the patient. Unlike most physiological or medical conditions, anxiety disorder cannot be diagnosed using blood tests, blood pressure and other physical examinations. It can be determined using a thorough interview where a doctor asks the patient several questions pertaining about his condition. Medical conditions or the possibility of substance abuse should be ruled out first before the presence of an anxiety disorder is considered.
The purpose of a diagnosis is also to come up with a list of the specific criteria associated with different types of anxiety disorders. This is very important to establish because it determines what type of medications and/or therapies can work best. Failure to properly diagnose the specific anxiety disorder a person has can cause some significant problems.
There is no such thing as a ‘cure’ for anxiety disorder because its cause is not physiological. However, there are treatments that help in managing the illness and taking care of its symptoms. It is absolutely necessary that treatment for anxiety disorder be administered as early as possible. If not, the illness can become chronic and more difficult to treat. In fact, some anxiety disorder in advance stages can be resistant to treatment.
There are several methods used in the treatment of anxiety disorder and they can be grouped into two major categories: therapy and medications.
The use of therapy in treating anxiety disorderDepending on the specific type of anxiety disorder a person suffers from, different therapies may be used. Cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as CBT, is one of the most common treatment methods used in anxiety disorders. The basis of CBT is in the connection of behavior symptomatic to the disorder that is associated with and caused by a pattern of thoughts and beliefs.
For example, a person with agoraphobia might think, “The train’s doors are closed and locked. I can’t breathe. I’m going to die in this train.” Such negative thoughts, which usually have no actual basis, can in turn trigger negative thoughts that produce negative behavior. By teaching a patient to handle his apparent fear with training, reality testing, cognitive challenging and restructuring, he can actually manage his fear and later on, totally eliminate it even when faced with a similar situation.
Behavior therapy, on the other hand, uses exposure to promote desensitization of an individual. By training an individual to control his thoughts and redefine what he believes are dangerous and scary, he is able to control or manage his fears. He might also combine behavior therapy with relaxation techniques including controlled breathing to help him manage his anxiety.
The use of medications in treating anxiety disorderAgain, there is no absolute cure for anxiety disorder and even when medications are prescribed, they will not address the mental illness itself. Instead, they will help an individual cope with the physical symptoms that anxiety disorder causes. Common medications include anti-depressants (like imipramine and benzodiazepine) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs (like fluoxetine, paroxetine and sertraline). Prozac and Zoloft are some of the brand names of these drugs.
Since these are drugs, expect some benefits and risks. A doctor will be able to explain what the advantages are and the side effects of different drug treatments if there are any. It is important to understand that medications should be treated as short-term courses of treatment only and should not be considered as the only and ultimate solution to the disorder.
Medication vs. Therapy
Anxiety disorder is a psychiatric illness and involves the mental functioning of an individual. To treat the behavior that results from this disorder, psychotherapy is the foremost and most natural choice.
Medications are only used to treat physical manifestations of the illness. For example, drugs may be taken to help relax the muscles and prevent feelings of tension or to bring down the heart beat to a normal rate. Medications are prescribed to address physical problems for the short term. They are never used alone and are instead prescribed in combination with therapy to produce an effective long-term treatment.
“What If I Told You Your Next Panic Attack Would Only Last A Few Seconds and That You Would Never Have To Experience Another Again”
Filed under Uncategorized by on Sep 10th, 2011.
I was just reading an op-ed piece in the New York Times that makes the argument we are over-diagnosing and over-treating social anxiety disorder (SAD). This is not the first time this argument has been made. Christopher Lane wrote a book on the topic.
In the article, Susan Cain outlines the “merits” of introversion. These include:
- Introverts are essential to survival of the species because their contemplative nature balances extroverts tendency to leap before looking
- Introverts make great leaders (Eleanor Roosevelt), scientists (Albert Einstein), artists/writers (J.K. Rowling) and entrepreneurs (Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple)
- Introverts generally perform better academically and notice more details when working on solitary tasks
- Introverts tend to be more empathic and have stronger consciences
Point taken. But what do the merits of introversion have to do with the diagnosis and treatment of SAD?
Cain goes on to describe her take on an ad for medication for SAD:
“Imagine that the woman in the ad enjoys a steady paycheck, a strong marriage and a small circle of close friends — a good life by most measures — except that she avoids a needed promotion because she’s nervous about leading meetings.”
Cain notes that based on the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV, this woman would be diagnosed with SAD.
“…the diagnosis is warranted when anxiety ‘interferes significantly’ with work performance or if the sufferer shows ‘marked distress’ about it. According to this definition, the answer to our question is clear: the young woman in the ad is indeed sick.”
Hold on a second.
First, we don’t have nearly enough information to determine whether the woman described has SAD; and only a trained mental health professional should be making a diagnosis. Second, is this woman really even likely to go to her doctor? If she is, that is a step in the right direction. Rather than being overdiagnosed, SAD is severely underdiagnosed. People with social fears don’t usually seek help.
Cain states that the line becomes blurry between normal shyness and SAD; but it is because of articles like this one. Nowhere in the piece is there a description of what it is really like to suffer with severe social anxiety.
There has never been a debate whether introversion can be a valued personality trait. But, SAD is not introversion.
Cain argues that sensitivity can lead to empathy and leadership if it is nurtured and not excessive. Precisly the point: SAD is excessive sensitivity. It is a hardship; a burden; and a life-ruiner. It is not something to be nurtured.
I do agree with Cain on one point. That we need to encourage those with sensitive personalities to use their gifts.
At the same time, it is important not to trivialize the experiences of those with SAD. People with the disorder do enough of that themselves.
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Filed under Anxiety by on Jun 28th, 2011.