No More Stress Monthly

March, 2007

The No More Stress Monthly is a newsletter that provides featured articles on depression prevention, proper anxiety treatment techniques, reviews of natural depression treatments, interviews with psychologists, and information on both adult depression and teen depression, stress, and anxiety. The No More Stress Monthly is brought to you by Stress-Anxiety-Depression.org.

Understanding Anxiety Disorders

By Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN

Anxiety disorders are the most commonly diagnosed of all psychiatric conditions. Both children and adults are susceptible to these conditions. In the US, approximately 19 million adults suffer from some type of anxiety disorder. These conditions affect people’s lives on a daily basis, restricting their ability to work, relax, eat, and even sleep. Anxiety disorders are chronic, relentless, and they can grow progressively worse if not treated. Here’s a closer look at some common anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder:

Also called GAD, this is a common anxiety disorder characterized by chronic episodes of “free floating" anxiety or apprehension not linked to a specific cause or situation. These episodes of GAD may last for six months or more. Stressful life events, such as moving, changing jobs, losing a loved one, or suffering a financial hardship can trigger or contribute to the anxiety. Muscle tension, sweating, difficulty swallowing, edginess, nausea, trembling, insomnia, abdominal upsets, dizziness, and irritability are the most common physical symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Women are twice as likely as men to be affected by this condition.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:

OCD is commonly joked about in movies and television programs. Jack Nicholson's character in As Good as It Gets suffered from obsessive compulsive anxiety disorder. However, sufferers of the condition, and their loved ones, don't always find it to be a joking matter. With this condition, individuals are plagued by constant thoughts or obsessions that create fear and anxiety. For instance, a sufferer of obsessive-compulsive disorder might constantly fear being contaminated by germs or accidentally burning down the house. These obsessions compel the person to compulsively complete a routine or series of routines (such as washing hands or checking the toaster) to relieve the anxiety. Over one-third of individuals who suffer from OCD began to demonstrate signs of the disease during childhood.

Panic Disorder:

A panic disorder is characterized by intense attacks that cause the sufferer to experience intense symptoms such as heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, trembling, tingling sensations, feeling of choking, fear of dying or losing control, and loss of touch with reality. People with panic disorder have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. They can't predict when an attack will occur, and many develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next one might strike. These attacks may be triggered by a stressful event or they may come on for no discernible reason. People who suffer from panic attacks are often uncomfortable in new or unfamiliar environments since they may be unsure of how they will get themselves to safety if an attack should occur. For this reason, panic disorders often occur with agoraphobia, a phobia in which people are afraid of any strange places. Women are twice as likely as men to suffer from a panic disorder.

Phobias:

Many people experience a healthy amount of fear or apprehension when faced with scary objects like spiders or situations such as looking over the edge of a cliff. But people who are intensely afraid of a specific object or situation may be suffering from an anxiety disorder known as a phobia. A phobic person displays a level of fear that is irrational and disproportionate to the situation. Specific phobias often lead sufferers to avoid normal, everyday situations. Over 14 million adult Americans are impaired by one type of phobia or another. Some of the more common specific phobias are centered around closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, dogs, and injuries involving blood.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder:

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating psychological condition caused by witnessing or being involved in a major traumatic event. The event may be childhood abuse, rape, war, an act of terror, the death of a loved one, a natural disaster or some other catastrophic accident. But regardless of the cause, the development of post traumatic stress disorder often leads to feelings of extreme fear, helplessness or horror. After a traumatic event, many people experience nightmares, daytime memories of the event, difficulty sleeping, numbness of emotions, and sometimes even personality changes. For many people, these symptoms stop within a month. Post traumatic stress disorder occurs when these symptoms continue for several months or years.

Social Anxiety Disorder:

Social anxiety disorder affects men as frequently as it does women. People who suffer from this condition tend to feel extreme anxiety about their behavior or their perceived behavior in a public setting. They may be terrified of being judged, ridiculed or otherwise causing themselves embarrassment. Physical symptoms associated with this social anxiety disorder include heart palpitations, faintness, blushing and profuse sweating. These symptoms often lead the sufferer to avoid social situations.

Learn more about stress, anxiety, depression and the newest natural remedies at www.stress-anxiety-depression.org.