What is an Anxiety Disorder?

â??Anxiety disorderâ? is a term that covers many different types of nervous conditions that cause anxiousness, feelings of fear or other unwanted, counterproductive or irrational feelings. These feelings of anxiety can be due to a particular phobia, to a particular event or happening earlier in life, or may be due to pathological (medical) uneasiness. There may be no warning of the onset of your anxiety disorders. They can be sudden, or develop gradually over many years and such events are likely to cause profound disturbance of the suffererâ??s normal daily routine. In the 21st Century, the occurrence of anxiety disorders is assuming alarming proportions. They afflict more than forty million American adults. Many adolescents, and even children, also develop these disorders. Most patients are seriously affected, with the disorder(s) affecting them for several months, or even years. You may suffer frequent bouts of fear, concern, or apprehension of some worrying event.

Why Do People Get Anxiety Disorders?

Many factors may contribute to the occurrence of anxiety disorders. There is not just one cause for all anxiety disorders. They may occur as the result of a combination of many different factors.

Those factors may include:

Childhood events: Disturbing and traumatic events in childhood, such as child abuse, loss of parents, separation from family, accident or illness, can leave a lasting effect on the mind. Even having been bullied, embarrassed, or made fun of at school can produce lasting anxieties that manifest into a serious anxiety disorder later in life.

Genetic: Parents with anxiety disorder can pass it on to, or cause their children to be more likely to suffer from this type of condition, because of genetic factors or the environment that they provide in the family home.

Stress and Trauma: Stressful, traumatic events can contribute to anxiety disorders. Domestic violence, rape (or other forms of sexual molestation), physical assault, death of a family member or loss due to natural disasters like floods or earthquakes, leaves a person feeling helpless. This feeling of powerlessness leads to fear and resultant anxiousness.

Substance abuse: Alcoholism and drug addiction may contribute to anxiety disorders in some people. And, not surprisingly, most alcoholics and drug addicts had some sort of disorder before they became addicted. The addictive substance was a coping mechanism for a time against the anxious, out of control feelings.

Medical ailments: Certain disorders, like eating or sleeping disorders, depression and other nervous ailments, may contribute to more anxiety disorders, and possible medical problems. These disorders do not allow the body to function normally. Without proper sleep or nutrition, anyone is likely to become very anxious.

Personality: Whether a person is born with low self-esteem or develops it in later life, they are likely to become anxious.

Social and Economic Issues: Believe it or not, the rich are not immune to anxiety, peer pressure and stress. Life is stressful at all levels of human society. Being poor gives you may put more pressure on you â?? just to survive and try to improve your situation for yourself and your family.

Brain abnormalities: Medications prescribed to alleviate symptoms of some ailments can sometimes affect the chemical balance in the brain and cause an anxiety disorder. Allergic reactions to certain medicines might also lead to an anxiety disorder.

Treatments

There are innumerable therapies and treatments available for anxiety disorders. Certain drugs may help to provide some relief or even the possibility of a complete cure in some cases. Some patients have had good results when the advice of their personal medical doctor was combined with various cognitive therapies (forms of psychotherapy that are based on the belief that the way we think may have a positive or negative effect on they way we feel and deal with our life experiences.) You can become a stronger and more effective person by developing an optimistic attitude and learning to accept the tragedies of life. Additional knowledge can be gathered from many different sources, like the Internet, books, magazines and journals. Increasing your knowledge about your condition can be a very important factor in keeping most anxiety disorders at bay.