What is Anxiety? Symptoms of anxiety disorder?

Anxiety is excessive fear and stress about the future/daily activities. It is a very normal response to stressful life events like moving, changing jobs or having financial troubles. For any situation, there will be only two types of outcomes. One is positive and the other is negative. When you are anxious you will tend to focus only on the negative outcome. This might trigger fear which in turn turns into anxiety.

Every one of us would have experienced anxiety at least once in our lives. Basically, anxiety comes and goes without causing much trouble. But, it becomes a trouble when it stays with you and is disrupting your daily activities. Anxiety might stay for months and even years making every single day a huge hurdle to cross.

Fortunately, with proper medical guidance, one can overcome anxiety. Some people would prefer to go with medication while others would recommend therapy/counseling. Any mental disorder is as important or even more important than physical suffering. Because, when you are mentally affected your whole life collapses under your feet. You will have a life full of worries. Mental disorders can drive you to the extent of taking your own life. So, it is really important to seek help and guidance when in trouble. Remember, you are not alone.

Common symptoms of anxiety disorder:

1. Excessive worrying

            Excessive worrying is one of the major symptoms of anxiety disorders. Mostly the worries are based on daily activities. One may find it really hard to cope up with the day to day work and will make it hard to concentrate on the daily tasks.

2. Raise in heartbeat

Palpitations, rapid heartbeat, sweating, shaking and dry mouth are all common symptoms of anxiety. People with anxiety disorders may experience this type of arousal for extended periods of time.

3. Irritability

People with anxiety disorders experience excessive irritability. It is common that when anxiety is driven by excessive worrying, obviously irritability will accompany it.

4. Muscle tension

Having tense muscles on most days of the week is another frequent symptom of anxiety.

Interestingly, treating muscle tension with muscle relaxation therapy has been shown to reduce worry in people with a generalized anxiety disorder.

5. Trouble falling asleep

Sleep disturbances are strongly associated with anxiety disorders

Waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble falling asleep are the two most commonly reported problems. While insomnia and anxiety are strongly linked, it is unclear whether insomnia contributes to anxiety, if anxiety contributes to insomnia or both

6. Panic attacks

One type of anxiety disorder called panic the disorder is associated with recurring panic attacks. Panic attacks produce an intense, overwhelming sensation of fear that can be debilitating. This extreme fear is typically accompanied by rapid heartbeat, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, chest tightness, nausea and fear of dying or losing control.

7. Irrational fears

Extreme fears about specific things, such as spiders, enclosed spaces or heights, could be a sign of a phobia. A phobia is defined as extreme anxiety or fear about a specific object or situation. The feeling is severe enough that it interferes with your ability to function normally.