How To Identify Anxiety Disorder Symptoms
A large number of people are affected by mental conditions that lead to panic and anxiety attacks. These attacks can be overwhelming, but for most people they are generally mild and don't occur on a regular basis. Anxiety Disorder symptoms, on the other hand, are ongoing and often occur with no rational explanation.
If anxiety is a chronic disorder, and not just an ocassional attack, it can cause all kinds of problems in people's lives. It can lead to other health issues as well as psychological and emotional problems, so it needs to be identified and treated as quickly as possible.
How Do You Determine If Your Anxiety Is A Disorder?
Symptoms of an anxiety attack are much the same as those of an anxiety disorder. The difference is, people suffering from a disorder do so on an ongoing basis, often without an event or situation that would normally trigger them.
Because these attacks come at unexpected times, there is a constant fear of when the next attack will come. This leads to a cyclic effect - the fear of the next attack is part of the cause of the attack itself.
Panic Disorder is a serious condition and needs to be treated as quickly as possible. If it's left untreated, the cycle of fear, worry and panic attacks will continue to get worse. Ultimately it can lead to severe conditions such as agoraphobia where the sufferer is basically housebound for fear of having an attack while out.
Anxiety disorders can begin as early as the teenage years through early adulthood. A stressful change or major life transition can also trigger the symptoms.
The following are some of the most common symptoms of an anxiety disorder:
- chest pains
- lightheadedness
- dizziness
- elevated heartbeat
- excessive sweating
- difficult breathing
- stomach problems
- shaking or trembling
On top of these physical symptoms, there are also a number of psychological symptoms that are common:
- a paralyzing feeling of fear or terror
- irrational fear of death
- feeling like you have lost control
- fear of having another anxiety attack
- depression
Many of these symptoms are common to any type of panic attack, but if they are experienced on an ongoing basis, with no apparent improvement, it is likely that the problem is more severe.
Anyone suffering from these feelings should consult their doctor as soon as possible. The sooner the problem is identified and the anxiety treatment started the better as it will be harder to solve if left too long.
