| Anxiety is a natural response to a perceived or imagined threat. It is as natural as many of the other emotions that we go through in everyday situations. Anxiety acts like our body’s alarm system, warning us of possible dangers or difficulties. Imagine you are going for a job interview—you wake up early, dress up soon and leave your home earlier than usual so that you do not get held up in rush hour traffic. It is this concern or anxiety of not wanting to be late, of avoiding the possibility of getting stuck in a traffic jam that gets you early to the venue of your job interview. So anxiety can help you in more ways than one.But then, anxiety can get out of control. You may constantly have a sort of unexplained fear to face certain situations. | |
You may behorrified to go to the interview fearing traffic snarls, fearing youmay be late, fearing you may not get through your interviewer’s queriesor fearing failure in getting that coveted job. When anxiety goes outof hand, it can make your life miserable. Fortunately anxiety disorderscan be treated with medications, counseling or both.
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Anxiety can take various forms – it may be constant worry called generalized anxiety disorder, or you may get panic stricken about something, called panic disorder or dread facing certain situations or objects, also called phobia.
| Symptoms of panic attack | | Choking feeling | | Racing heartbeat | | Pressure in the chest | | Dizziness | | Trouble breathing | | Trembling | | Sweating | | Feeling suddenly hot or cold |
| | Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder | | Trembling | | Racing heartbeat (palpitations) | | Difficulty breathing | | Dryness of mouth | | Dizziness | | Nausea | | Restlessness | | Poor sleep | | Muscle tension | | Inability to concentrate |
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Generalized anxiety disorder
This kind of anxiety disorder may not necessarily be related to the situation you are worrying about. Your worry may just be a figment of your imagination and may be blown out of proportion. For example, worrying that your car may develop an engine snag and leave you stranded, when you know that your car is in perfect condition.
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Or worrying that your car may be stolen from the parking lot, when youknow that there is a parking attendant keeping a watchful eye over it.The symptoms (see Box) of generalized anxiety disorder can be verybothersome and can disturb your peace of mind.
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Panic disorder
When you become absolutely panicky about facing certain situations or when you exhibit extreme panic during certain life situations, you may be suffering from a panic disorder. For example, one day you return from work late in the evening to find the front door of your house lying wide open. You also remember having locked it before going to work. On seeing the door wide open, you begin to panic, thinking that it could be a house break in. |  |
Your heart begins beating faster, you feellike you are choking. Feelings of dizziness engulf you. If this is so,you may be having a panic attack. In truth it could just be that yourspouse had returned home early and opened the door using a duplicatekey. Without realizing this, your mind jumps to numerous frighteningconclusions on seeing the door wide open. The symptoms (see Box) of apanic disorder can be very disturbing and can cause you a lot ofembarrassment among your friends, relatives or colleagues.
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Phobia
A phobia is anxiety at its extreme. There are different forms of phobia such as fear of heights, snakes, crowds, insects, enclosed places, open spaces, water—the list is long. A phobia can disrupt normal life.
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Causes of anxiety disorders
Anxiety disorders mayhappen due to a chemical imbalance in your body. It may also be relatedto an unconscious memory, to a side effect of a medicine or to anillness. Your body gets unnecessarily alarmed even when there is noactual danger.
Remember, anxiety is like paying interest for aloan you never received or probably never will receive. Anxiety is athin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cutsa channel into which all other thoughts are drained.
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Coping with anxiety
The following are some tips on coping with anxiety:
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- Learn relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga or deep breathing.
- Exercise regularly — it can give you a sense of well-being besides keeping you in great shape.
- Get adequate sleep
- Avoid alcohol, smoking and illegal drugs—they only worsen your condition
- Confront your anxieties and analyze why you get anxious—running away from it will not help.
- Talk to your doctor. Your doctor is the best person to advice you. He or she may counsel you and prescribe medication if you require them.
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