Western Healing Anxiety disorders

Anxiety (also called solicitude) is a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These components combine to create the feelings that we typically recognize as anger and known as fear, apprehension, or worry. AT WESTERN HEALING WE HELP IN FINDING WHAT TRIGGERS THESE EMOTIONS Anxiety is often accompanied by physical sensations such as heart palpitations, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, stomach aches, or headache.

The cognitive component entails expectation of a diffuse and certain danger. Somatically the body prepares the organism to deal with threat (known as an emergency reaction): blood pressure and heart rate are increased, sweating is increased, bloodflow to the major muscle groups is increased, and immune and digestive system functions are inhibited (the 'fight or flight' response). Externally, somatic signs of anxiety may include pale skin, sweating, trembling, and pupillary dilation. Emotionally, anxiety causes a sense of dread or panic and physically causes nausea, diarrhea, and chills. Behaviorally, both voluntary and involuntary behaviors may arise directed at escaping or avoiding the source of anxiety and often maladaptive, being most extreme in anxiety disorders. However, anxiety is not always pathological or maladaptive: it is a common emotion along with fear, anger, sadness, and happiness, and it has a very important function in relation to survival.

Symptoms

Although panic attacks are not experienced by every anxiety sufferer, they are a common symptom. Panic attacks usually come without warning, and although the fear is generally irrational, the perceived danger is very real. A person experiencing a panic attack will often feel as if (s)he is about to die or pass out.

Emotional symptoms of anxiety include a fear (such as a fear of an illness), or the need to avoid certain stressful situations or social situations due to fear of embarrassment. There may be considerable confusion and irritability when the anxiety is taking place. Physical symptoms include hot flushes, chest pain, sudden tiredness, headachs, shortness of breath, problems digesting and nausea.

Sigmund Freud recognized anxiety as a "signal of danger" and a cause of "defensive behavior". He believed we acquire anxious feelings through classical conditioning and traumatic experiences.

People maintain anxiety through operant conditioning; when people see or encounter something associated with a previous traumatic experience, anxious feelings resurface. We feel temporarily relieved when we avoid/remove ourselves from situations which make us anxious/fearful, known as negative-reinforcement, but this only increases anxious feelings the next time we are in the same position, and we will want to escape the situation again and therefore will not make any progress against the anxiety, only intensifying the emotions or fear. Phobias can be developed this way, as well as cured using the opposite positive-reinforcement whereby instead of removal from the anxiety causing situation (which acts as a 'reward' (negative-reinforcement)) something positive can be added to the situation instead to act as a reward, like actually facing the fear and coming away from it safely. This is known as positive reinforcement of a negative situation.

Types of anxiety

Philosophical ruminations are a part of this condition, and this is part of obsessive-compulsive disorder. They are typically about sex and religion or death. However, truly rational philosophical thinking is usually driven by a desire for a rational understanding of reality, rather than a desire to avoid death.

According to Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning, when faced with extreme mortal dangers the very basic of all human wishes is to find a meaning of life to combat this "trauma of nonbeing" as death is near and to succumb to it (even by suicide) seems like a way out.

The "father" of existentialism, Søren Kierkegaard, regarded all humans to be born into despair by default (in The Sickness Unto Death. Such despair was created by having a false conception of the self. He regarded the mortal self which can exist relatively, and therefore be born or die, as the false self. The true self was the relationship of self to God, rather than to any relative object. Stranger and social anxiety

So-called "stranger anxiety" in younger people is not a phobia in the classic sense; rather it is a developmentally appropriate fear by young children of those who do not share a loved-one, caretaker or parenting role. In adults, an excessive fear of other people is not a developmentally common stage; it is called social anxiety.

A more common social anxiety in adults, though, is the stress and anxiousness that occurs when one (of any age-group) fears he will be separated from a group or other emotionally close person/object. This is known as separation anxiety, and occurs more frequently in adults (7%) than in children (5%).

Some research has strongly suggested that treating anxiety in cancer patients improves their quality of life. The treatment generally consists of counseling, relaxation techniques

Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal, pathological anxiety, fears, and phobias. It describes nervous system disorders as irrational or illogical worry not based on fact.

Anxiety and fear are ubiquitous emotions. The terms anxiety and fear have specific scientific meanings, but common usage has made them interchangeable. For example, a phobia is a kind of anxiety that is also defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV-TR as a "persistent or irrational fear." Fear is defined as an emotional and physiological response to a recognized external threat. Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state, the sources of which are less readily identified. It is frequently accompanied by physiological symptoms that may lead to fatigue or even exhaustion. Because fear of recognized threats causes similar unpleasant mental and physical changes, patients sometimes use the terms fear and anxiety interchangeably. Distinguishing among different anxiety disorders is important, since accurate diagnosis is more likely to result in effective treatment and a better prognosis. Surveys have shown as many as 30% of Americans may be affected by anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorders are often debilitating chronic conditions, which can be present from an early age or begin suddenly after a triggering event. They are prone to flare up at times of high stress.

A good assessment is essential for the initial diagnosis of an anxiety disorder, preferably using a standardized interview or questionnaire procedure alongside expert evaluation and the views of the affected person. There should be a medical examination in order to identify possible medical conditions that can cause the symptoms of anxiety. A family history of anxiety disorders is often suggestive of the possibility of an anxiety disorder

Anxiety can be accompanied by headache, sweating, palpitations, and hypertension.

It is important to note that a patient with an anxiety disorder will often exhibit symptoms of Clinical Depression and vice-versa. Rarely does a patient exhibit symptoms of only one or the other.

Types

Generalized anxiety disorder is a common chronic disorder that affects twice as many women as men and can lead to considerable impairment (Brawman-Mintzer & Lydiard, 1996, 1997). As the name implies, generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by long-lasting anxiety that is not focused on any particular object or situation. In other words it is unspecific or free-floating. People with this disorder feel afraid of something but are unable to articulate the specific fear. They fret constantly and have a hard time controlling their worries. Because of persistent muscle tension and autonomic fear reactions, they may develop headaches, heart palpitations, dizziness, insomnia and chest pain. These physical symptoms, combined with the intense, long-term anxiety, make it difficult to cope with normal daily activities.

Panic disorder

A common complication of panic disorder is agoraphobia, anxiety about being in a place or situation where escape is difficult or embarrassing (Craske, 2000; Gorman, 2000). It seems that the definition of the word has expanded to refer to avoidance behaviors that sufferers often develop. If a sufferer of panic attacks seems to have them while driving, for example, then he or she may avoid driving, which relieves the anxiety, and subsequently makes future driving more difficult, as a result of behavioral reinforcement.

Agoraphobia

Phobias

This category involves a strong, irrational fear and avoidance of an object or situation. The person knows the fear is irrational, yet the anxiety remains. Phobic disorders differ from generalized anxiety disorders and panic disorders because there is a specific stimulus or situation that elicits a strong fear response. A person suffering from a phobia of spiders might feel so frightened by a spider that he or she would try to jump out of a speeding car to get away from one.

People with phobias have especially powerful imaginations, so they vividly anticipate terrifying consequences from encountering such feared objects as knives, bridges, blood, enclosed places, certain animals or situations. These individuals generally recognize that their fears are excessive and unreasonable but are generally unable to control their anxiety.

Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder is also known as social phobia. Individuals with this disorder experience intense fear of being negatively evaluated by others or of being publicly embarrassed because of impulsive acts. Almost everyone experiences "stage fright" when speaking or performing in front of a group. Since occasionally there are artists or performers with social anxiety disorder who are able to perform publicly without significant anxiety, their love of performing and practicing their art may be diminishing their anxiety. Although some high-functioning phobics such as Glenn Gould are able to perform despite anxiety, most people with social phobias become so anxious that performance is out of the question. In fact, their fear of public scrutiny and potential humiliation becomes so pervasive that normal life can become impossible (den Boer 2000; Margolis & Swartz, 2001). Another social phobia is fear of intimacy, or "love-shyness, which most adversely affects certain men. Those afflicted find themselves unable to initiate intimate adult relationships (Gilmartin 1987). Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder primarily characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions are distressing, repetitive, intrusive thoughts or images that the individual often realizes are senseless. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that the person feels forced or compelled into doing, sometimes, in order to relieve anxiety. The OCD thought pattern may be likened to superstitions: if X is done, Y won't happen—in spite of how unlikely it may be that doing X will actually prevent Y, if Y is even a real threat to begin with. A common example of this behavior would be obsessing that one's door is unlocked, which may lead to compulsive constant checking and rechecking of doors. Another example is obsession with the state of one's personal items, such as eyeglasses, leading to their excessive cleaning or adjustment. Often the process seems much less logical. For example, the compulsion of walking in a certain pattern may be employed to alleviate the obsession that something bad is about to happen. More often, though, the compulsion is inexplicable, simply an urge to complete a ritual triggered by nervousness. Light switches and other household items are also common objects of obsession.

Separation anxiety

Separation anxiety disorder is the feeling of excessive and inappropriate levels of anxiety over being separated from an attachment figure or from a person or place that gives a feeling of safety. While it is seen mostly in children (for example on being left at school) it is also seen in adolescents and adults.

Separation anxiety itself is a normal part of development in babies or children. It is only when this feeling is excessive or inappropriate that it can be considered a disorder.

Treatment at WESTERN HEALING CLINIC

Meta-analysis indicates that Separation anxiety interventions have superior long-term efficacy when compared to pharmacotherapy. The right treatment may depend very much on the individual's genetics and environmental factors. Therefore it is important to work closely with therpist who is familiar with anxiety disorders and current treatments

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Anxiety Disorders