What is Anxiety? Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a common part of almost everyone’s life. However, when it becomes frequent, it can severely affect not only a person in their adolescence but anybody who leads a rather stressful life. A specific number of people usually face anxiety, a frequent chain of intense and persistent disturbance in their behavior in several outward or social situations. Anxiety is a common response toward unusually unsettling circumstances among humans. However, at its extreme, it is responsible for a number of disorders, like OCD, Selective Mutism, and other similar illnesses. In this article, we will have a look at anxiety, its causes, symptoms, and treatment measures.

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Keyterms: Anxiety, Mutism, OCD, Selective Mutism, panic attacks, agitation, apprehension, fear, disturbance, tension

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What is Anxiety?

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Anxiety is a general response of the body towards stress or moments of agitation. More often than not, anxiety disorders include a chain of repeated episodes of abrupt emotions that lead to severe anxiety and apprehension. It can hike in specific situations and certain moments, causing unjust panic attacks.

Normally, anxiety is related to one of the major issues concerning mental health disorders that are primarily characterized by untimely emotions of fear, disturbance, or tension. There can be multiple reasons that possibly cause stress, one of them is preparing to do something that you perhaps haven’t done before.

There can be a series of distressing behaviors that have the power to affect people to an extent that it can likely help surface several issues more than just fear, such as, apprehension, panic attacks, phobia, etc.

Generally, there can be more than one type of Anxiety disorder. Some of them are considered under the type of Generalised anxiety disorder, Social anxiety, Specific phobias, and Panic disorders.

Anxiety can be extremely apprehensive for humans, regardless of their age. People suffering from long-term anxiety can form multiple risks of developing unfortunate physical illnesses, alongside several other mental illnesses too. 

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What are the General Causes of Anxiety?

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There can be multiple reasons that contribute to rising anxiety disorders. Possibly, there are distinct complex elements that help decide whether or not a person can suffer from an anxiety disorder.

In cases of mild anxiety, it can be quite vague and agitating. On the other hand, severe anxiety can lead to serious day-to-day issues.

Some of the common causes of anxiety are:

1. Genetics: There is a possibility of a person suffering from a type of anxiety disorder coming inherently from the genetics of the family. This includes Schizophrenia, Mental Retardation, which refers to limited functioning, and other dysfunctional behavior.
2. Chemistry of the Brain: A part of the brain, mainly the faculty circuit, can cause unjust emotions of fear and apprehension.
3. Medical Conditions: There is a possibility of acquiring anxiety disorders from several medical conditions, like thyroid problems, heart diseases, and more.
4. Misuse of Drugs or Withdrawl: Substance usage and alcohol contributes to multiple types of anxiety disorders.
5. General Stress: Stress, out of many other issues, is the most common reason that causes anxiety in humans.

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What are the Symptoms of Anxiety?

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Since there are abundant causes that lead to anxiety disorders, it usually also comes with multiple symptoms that exhibit its existence. The symptoms of anxiety can begin from early childhood and continue till you become an adult. However, since it has no age disparity, it can surface anytime in a human lifetime. There is no definite age for anxiety and it can start almost any moment.

Anxiety is a momentous trigger against circumstances that have happened once or have the possibility to occur again. Anxiety triggers a person to avoid links with stressful situations that have taken place once or more.

Some of the symptoms of anxiety are:

• A constant feeling of tension, stress, or apprehension.
• A fidgety feeling of imminent danger, panic, or agitation.
• An unpleasant increase in the heart rate.
• Hyperventilation, or simply, a sense of rapid breathing.
• Constant sweating and a feeling of palpitation.
• The feeling of weakness or exhaustion, followed usually by a surfacing feeling of fear.
• A continuous worry about any situation.
• Insomnia
• A possibility of suffering from gastrointestinal (GI) issues.
• A constant urge to decline to worry about a current state of anxiety.

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How Can Anxiety be Treated?

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However severe the anxiety level is, it can be treated or controlled through appropriate measures. Doctors, who have also dug deep in the subject, generally recommend a mixture of several practices, some of which are,

1. Doctors usually recommend counseling sessions, periodically helping overcome the situation.
2. Two primary modes of therapy are also recommended cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy.
3. A reorientation of lifestyle is also advised, mainly including physical activities and meditations.
4. Intake of medications, including antidepressants, buspirone, and several other similar substances

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Types of Anxiety Disorders

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1. Agoraphobia: Agoraphobia belongs in the group of anxiety disorders where the person is likely to fear and avoid events that might cause them to panic and feel extremely embarrassed or helpless in every form.
2. Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD): Herein, a person is likely to feel severely anxious about a circumstance rather unrealistically. They are exposed to feeling agitated for even minor reasons. It is an initial stage of anxiety disorders.
3. Panic Disorder: Panic disorder is one of the major issues that anxiety is known to cause. It involves a chain of patterns. In simple words, panic disorders include a chain of repeated episodes of abrupt emotions of unjust anxiousness, especially of an event, and a form of terror that is likely to hike within moments. It can clearly indicate having a continual feeling of imminent hazard, shortness of breath, an irregular chest ache, or an untimely increase in heart rate.

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4. Selective Mutism: Selective mutism is one of the most general issues faced by almost every child you encounter. They might have a constant fear to speak in certain circumstances or events especially at a school function or a public gathering. It can deteriorate their ability to interact with people socially.
5. Substance: Induced Anxiety Disorder: Generally, an individual suffers from a peak of anxiety or uncurbed panic if they are directly exposed to the intake of substance or alcohol. There can be a withdrawal from drugs later that can lead to visible disorders, including anxiety itself.
6. Social Anxiety Disorder: This is also referred to as a social phobia. In social anxiety disorder, a person feels overwhelmed, worried, and self-conscious about an everyday social situation. People overthink what others think about them and feel embarrassed. They start feeling embarrassed and ridiculed. It mainly deals with the social life of a person.
7. Separation Anxiety: It is a form of anxiety that happens when a loved one or a close person separates or leaves. Herein, the person experiences crippling anxiety and fear related to the separation of a person worrying that something bad might happen to a person who is close to them if they leave their sight.

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Things to Remember

• Anxiety disorder can be categorized as a form of mental health condition. If a person is seen to suffer from one, they usually respond to certain situations with fear and extreme apprehension. 
• It is likely to exhibit physical signs of anxiety, such as constant palpitation and sweating. 
• There can be innumerable causes of anxiety in a human being. Most essentially, the increase in heart rate, sweating, a constant shudder in the body are examples of anxiety disorders. 
• Various types of anxiety disorder include agoraphobia, selective mutism, social anxiety, and more.
• However, anxiety is highly curable but requires time. There are types of medications, therapy, and a change in the daily lifestyle that can positively affect and reduce, if not entirely remove anxiety.

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