Introduction
Every person can feel anxious/ nervous from one moment to the other, i.e. while speaking to the public, under financial difficulty, and so on. However, some people’s anxiety becomes very frequent and forceful so it starts to overtake their normal life. The moment anxiety passes the limit it becomes a disorder. Therefore anxiety disorder can be defined as a chronic condition that is characterized by a persistent and excessive sense of apprehension, uncontrollable worry, and inner turmoil over an activity, event, and also potential negative results (Davison, 2008). The common causes of anxiety include stress at school and work, stress in personal relations like marriage, financial stress, emotional trauma like the death of the loved one, serious medical illness, side effects of medication, and the use of illicit drugs like cocaine. The distinction between the officially diagnosed anxiety disorder, and normal anxiety is not easy. Several symptoms should be considered to determine anxiety disorder. Therefore, in this paper, we are going to illustrate the symptoms of anxiety disorder and the mode of treatment.
Symptoms of anxiety
A client suffering from the following symptoms is considered to be suffering from anxiety. The first symptom is excessive worry. The person has a lot of worries concerning daily activities, and thus it interferes with daily life and is accompanied by noticeable symptoms like fatigue. The differentiation between anxiety disorder and normal anxiety is to ride out on the emotions that are causing the most suffering and dysfunction. The second symptom is sleep problems (Association, 2013). This is associated with various ranges of health conditions including both psychological and physical, e.g., job interviews,s, etc. However, you find yourself lying awake, agitated, or worried concerning a particular problem, and nothing more than there are high chance that a client is suffering from an anxiety disorder.
The other is chronic indigestion which starts in the mind and often manifests in other physical symptoms. This symptom is characterized by irritable bowel syndrome which is essentially characterized by stomachaches, gas, cramping bloating, constipation, and sometimes diarrhea. The other symptoms include muscle tension, irrational fears, stage fright, self-consciousness, flashbacks of previous past events, and perfectionism.
Treatment of Anxiety
There are many effective methods of treatment that are available for anxiety disorder. They include psychotherapy, counseling, medication, and complementary and alternative therapies. Counseling is a form of talk therapy from the healthcare providers to the patient. Healthcare assists the patient in developing the coping skills and strategies that could be used to address a particular issue like stress management and interpersonal problems. Psychotherapy is a long-term and broader range of anxiety treatment that concerns the analysis of behavior patterns (Schwarzer, 2007). It is categorized into three main types. The first one is Cognitive behavioral therapy which is designed to assist the client in identifying the negative and inaccurate thinking in situations that leads to anxiety.
The other is prolonged exposure therapy which is used to treat anxiety, PSTD, and phobia. This therapy aims to assist the client in overcoming overwhelming distress experienced in the past fearing events. The client is guided through the traumatic memories to realize that these feelings are not dangerous. The last therapy is family therapy which is a group therapy that analyses the family so that they can improve communication and also develop good skills in conflict-solving. The last one is medication which it is used in conjunction with psychotherapy. The prescribed medications are safe, and they include antidepressants, Buspirone, etc. For complementary and alternative therapies, they are done to reduce symptoms of anxiety. They include stress management, yoga, and meditation.
Bibliography
Association, A. P. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth ed.). Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Davison, G. C. (2008). Abnormal Psychology. Toronto: Veronica Visentin.
Schwarzer, R. (2007). Anxiety. New York: Cambridge University Press.
