Every person experiences strong excitement or anxiety from time to time. Such feelings arise due to the influence of negative factors. These include dangerous situations, various problems and life difficulties. But if persistent anxiety is not associated with certain situations or objects, then this may indicate the development of a psychopathic condition such as an anxiety disorder.
This disorder can develop in people of different ages, regardless of their gender, social and marital status. Anxiety is characterized by a set of specific symptoms that greatly complicate a person’s life. However, with timely consultation with specialists, you can completely get rid of anxiety disorder. In some cases, a simple conversation between the patient and a psychotherapist is sufficient for healing, but sometimes treatment requires more serious measures.
Symptoms
Anxiety manifests itself in three groups of signs:
- Psychological: a feeling of fear, internal tension and anxiety, in severe cases - panic, obsessive thoughts of alarming content.
- Physiological autonomic reactions: redness or paleness of the skin, dry mucous membranes, palpitations and shortness of breath, sensations of pressure in the chest or abdomen, “waves throughout the body,” fluctuations in blood pressure, etc.
- Behavioral: freezing and numbness, restless tossing and restlessness, attempts to escape, lack of normal sleep.
The first two groups are necessarily present, the last (behavioral) may be absent if anxiety is not very pronounced.
Feelings of anxiety with sensations of heaviness in the chest or in the heart area indicate an anxious-depressive state. Such complaints are most pronounced in the morning and may subside in the evening. The presence of such complaints indicates severe overexcitation of the nervous system, and not the presence of lung or heart disease.
How does anxiety disorder manifest?
The manifestations of this pathology can vary greatly from patient to patient. The clinical picture depends, first of all, on the personality and character of the person. But the most important symptom that allows one to judge the presence of pathological anxiety is the prolonged presence of anxiety and fear in situations that do not cause concern for most people.
Experts divide all the symptoms that arise from an anxiety disorder into two main categories:
- Symptoms from the emotional sphere. In addition to causeless and inexplicable anxiety, the sick person experiences difficulty concentrating, increased nervousness and emotional tension, and a feeling of complete emptiness. In this state, the patient cannot sit still, it seems to him that something terrible is about to happen, and he is looking for signs confirming the onset of danger. The thought stream moves at high speed, and a person is not able to control this process.
- Physical symptoms include increased heart rate and heavy sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath and tremors in the limbs. A person constantly has a headache, he cannot sleep normally, he feels increased fatigue and muscle tension. There is also a malfunction of the digestive and excretory systems, diarrhea and frequent urge to urinate.
Since anxiety is the body's response to some threat, it can have a wide range of manifestations. In this way, the body demonstrates its readiness to flee or fight.
However, people suffering from anxiety disorder cannot always adequately assess their condition. The various physical manifestations of this mental pathology are often perceived by patients as symptoms of some kind of body disease.
How to get rid
If anxiety is not a symptom of an illness, then there is no need to get rid of it. It, being a normal defense mechanism, will go away on its own as soon as the stress or danger has passed. In cases where anxiety gets out of control and becomes a symptom of a disease, treatment will be required. Painful anxiety is treated by a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.
The most common universal way to quickly relieve anxiety is physical exercise. The load on the muscles allows you to switch overexcited brain structures. Exercises of several squats, push-ups or running until a feeling of physical fatigue appears quickly and safely removes the feeling of anxiety. Water procedures are also effective: cold shower, warm bath.
Treatment
Just as in the correction of other types of psychological disorders, treatment of anxiety is primarily carried out using psychotherapeutic methods. Medications are used extremely rarely; usually the patient feels noticeable relief after the first conversation with a psychotherapist. But the use of beta-blockers allows you to relieve vegetative symptoms, tranquilizers can eliminate anxiety and muscle tension, and normalize sleep. If the patient has been diagnosed with a mixed disorder, then antidepressants may be taken. Treatment with all these drugs should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor and only on his recommendation.
Among psychotherapeutic methods, the most successful in treating various anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy. Its main idea is the doctrine that a person’s thoughts influence a person’s psychological state, behavior and physical health. While working with the patient, the psychotherapist identifies irrational thoughts, points them out and corrects the patient’s consciousness. Therapy is structured in such a way that a person himself comes to the right conclusions under the guidance of a doctor.
After completing a course of psychotherapy, the patient not only copes with his fears, but also learns to confront them in the future. To achieve lasting results, it will take from 5 to 20 sessions. In this case, the patient is given homework, during which it is possible to speed up treatment.
An equally effective method for correcting anxiety disorders is hypnosis and suggestion. Psychotherapists often combine behavioral and hypnosuggestive therapy. When a patient is in a hypnotic trance, the therapist can reinforce new patterns of thinking and behavior. Thus, during treatment, the effect is on an unconscious level.
The Danger of Feeling Anxious
With mental illnesses, anxiety gets out of control and can become inadequate—occur in situations where there is no real external danger. In such cases, anxiety itself becomes the cause and mechanism for the development of diseases: psychosomatic conditions, anxiety and depressive disorders, endogenous and organic diseases.
It is also necessary to know that during anxiety, the ability to think rationally and adequately analyze incoming information is reduced. This is why all psychologists recommend never making radical decisions at the “peak of anxiety.”
Types of Anxiety Disorders
Experts identify several types of anxiety disorders, which differ in their symptoms and course characteristics. Treatment for anxiety in each of these cases will be different:
- generalized anxiety disorder. In this state, a person experiences increased anxiety, not caused by any situation or object. The symptoms are quite stable, they are observed for 6 months or more. In addition to anxiety, a person experiences motor tension, and also becomes hyperactive and prone to tearfulness. A sick person can also be identified by his appearance - he is quite specific. The face and posture of the individual are quite tense, the person is very restless, his eyebrows are frowned, and trembling in the body is visible from the side, the skin is very pale;
- panic disorder is characterized by constant panic attacks. They arise unexpectedly, for no apparent reason, and a person is not able to control them. The patient may also experience fear of the panic attack itself. In this case, he will try to avoid situations that could cause a panic attack;
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder is associated with the occurrence of obsessive thoughts that bring anxiety and discomfort. A person may constantly worry that they forgot to do something important, and this may affect their safety. The patient's behavior becomes strange and inappropriate. He may wash his hands or clothes for hours to get rid of pathogens, hide dangerous objects in inaccessible places, etc.;
- A phobia is a persistent and greatly exaggerated fear. Such fear can be caused by objects or situations that are completely safe or pose minimal danger. There are a large number of varieties of this disorder; they are distinguished based on the characteristics of the objects of fear. A person suffering from a phobia tries in every possible way to avoid contact with an object that causes him horror, but this leads to increased anxiety and aggravation of the situation;
- Social anxiety disorder is a fear of being judged negatively by other people. People suffering from social phobia are extremely shy and timid. They are afraid to speak in front of large crowds, avoid public places or do not go out at all;
- Post-traumatic stress disorder occurs as a result of experiencing trauma or a life-threatening situation. In this case, anxiety arises constantly and almost never subsides. A person is haunted by intrusive memories and nightmares about a traumatic event.
A modern disease can be called anxiety-depressive disorder, which belongs to neuroses. If a patient exhibits symptoms of anxiety disorder and depression equally, then we can talk about the development of a mixed form of pathology.
Anxiety disorder is a disease in which a person is aware of his problems. With this pathology there is no personality transformation.
Survey
A persistent feeling of anxiety may be a symptom of physical or mental illness. Diagnosis of this condition is carried out by psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and psychologists. When a patient contacts specialists, a clinical interview is initially carried out, during which the duration of the emotional disorder, the frequency and severity of anxiety states, and possible causes are clarified. In addition to the conversation, the following diagnostic methods are informative:
- Observation.
Patients are characterized by restlessness, emotional instability, and absent-mindedness. It can be difficult for them to distract themselves from their own experiences and concentrate on the doctor’s words. During the consultation, they often change their body position for no reason and move their hands through objects (clothing fasteners, telephone, bag). Obsessive actions designed to reduce tension are possible. - Psychodiagnostic questionnaires.
To determine the level of anxiety, special psychological tests are used: Taylor's Explicit Anxiety Scale, Spielberger's Anxiety Scale, Kondash's Social-Situational Fear Scale. The results make it possible to quantify how severe the feeling of anxiety, worry, and fear is. - Projective tests
. To identify a hidden or denied emotional state by the patient, projective research methods are used: drawing tests, tests of interpretation of unstructured drawing material. Examples of such techniques are drawing of a person, Rorschach test, TAT. Based on the results, it is possible to determine the presence of anxiety and suggest its origin.
If restless thoughts and experiences exist without a reason, the patient is referred for consultation to a neurologist or endocrinologist. Subspecialists determine the presence or absence of endocrine and neurological diseases as a factor in the development of emotional disorders. A survey is carried out to clarify somatic complaints (pain, malaise), examination, laboratory blood tests for hormone levels, instrumental studies of the brain and the vessels that feed it.
What to do if you have causeless anxiety and worry
It's hard to live in constant stress. If you are experiencing causeless anxiety and fear, the following list will tell you what to do:
- Talk to someone you trust. This could be a relative, a close friend, a psychotherapist or a helpline employee. People are social creatures, so communication is a good way to relieve internal stress.
- Find a way to calm down quickly. There is not always someone nearby with whom you can share. Therefore, it is important to find a suitable method that will help you relax: breathing techniques, soothing music, aromatherapy, self-massage and more. If you cannot independently choose a technique that quickly helps with anxiety for no reason, a specialist will tell you what to do.
- Add physical activity to your life. It is a natural and effective remedy for anxiety. Moderate exercise relieves tension, reduces stress hormones and strengthens the nervous system. Get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day.
- Normalization of lifestyle. Get enough sleep, eat well, give up bad habits. This stabilizes physical performance and neurotransmitter levels, which helps maintain emotional balance.
- Start keeping a journal. Taking notes can help you identify patterns of anxiety flare-ups, understand the causes, and spot early signs of them. Also, thanks to this, you will begin to focus more on positive events that you may not have noticed before.
When worried for no reason, everyone who regularly encounters this wants to know what to do. There is no universal method, but the 5 steps listed above are recommended for every person with increased anxiety. This may be enough to alleviate symptoms. But if self-help techniques do not give the desired effect, then if you regularly experience anxiety for no reason, you need to find out what to do from a specialist.
