What is Anxiety?

Most of us would be mildly aware of the word 'anxiety,' but it is not everyone's cup of tea to understand the concept of anxiety in the purest form. Anxiety is an emotion that pours out when one faces an uncontrollable anticipated event which one doesn't want to come across. Each one of use has gone through those phases where we got worrisome of the situation we are about to face like a test or interview or conversing with a stranger, but that fear doesn't last much as we go through them very often. But when this unpleasant feeling starts interfering with your daily life, there is a problem requiring serious attention.

Anxiety, in itself, is undoubtedly not something one should worry about in your daily life. It can play out to be a great motivator to prepare for that not-so-good situation or fear in advance, increasing your confidence and productivity. But not everyone's case is similar; a large population of the world goes through anxiety, which is uncontrollable and often intervenes with their daily life activities. It becomes an anxiety disorder or anxiety attack, and you cannot afford to take that lightly.

What are Anxiety Disorders and Panic attacks?

Anxiety disorders are a range of mental conditions that are characterized by fear or anxiety. Anxiety here is the worry of future events or hallucinations, and fear generates from ongoing things or current events taking place. An anxiety attack tends to get intense and can last for several months. Unlike normal anxiety, an anxiety disorder needs special attention and proper treatment to get rid of it. Anxiety disorders and anxiety attacks can make their way to the mind because of genetic or environmental factors surrounding the person. Sufferers of anxiety disorders try to avoid the situation or things capable of inducing an anxiety attack.

Panic attacks, on the other hand, are mostly sudden episodes of intense fear and worry that triggers various physical symptoms without any significant danger or cause. The symptoms can vary and can get out of hand in no time. That is why one who goes through panic disorders needs to get in touch with treatment in combination with anxiety and panic support. Although these panic attacks are not life-threatening in itself, the symptoms need some professional help to get rectified before they start affecting the ordinary course of life.

Symptoms of Anxiety and Panic attacks

Although anxiety attacks and panic attacks are technically not the same things, they do look similar in respect to how a person behaves under their influence and the symptoms these mental illnesses can develop over a period. The physical and emotional symptoms that show up with anxiety attacks and panic attacks are quite identical; they both include worry and fear of a situation or a specific thing. Panic attacks are more intense and terrifying than anxiety attacks; panic attacks come from nowhere, whereas circumstances mostly trigger anxiety attacks.

Panic attacks can lead to show symptoms like shaking, shortness of breath, excessive sweating, nausea, choking, numbness, chest pain, dizziness, chills, stomach pain, and a racing heartbeat. In case of a panic attack, the person already is dealing with panic disorders, and the reason for the sudden panic attacks might not even exist.

In most cases of an anxiety disorder or anxiety attack, the persistent cause is the fear of a specific situation that might show up or conditions that are not favorable or signify danger to the sufferer. It can include symptoms like increased heart rate, trembling, sweating, feeling weak, difficulty in controlling worry, sudden mood swings, having a sense of danger or doom, rapid breathing, trouble in concentrating, experiencing gastrointestinal problems, etc.

Factors that Lead to Anxiety and Panic attacks

Although, we cannot conclude precisely when panic or anxiety attacks can spike up and who will experience these mental illness symptoms. Still, there are some general guidelines regarding those who are prone to anxiety or panic disorders. Those are:

● Medical Condition: Dealing with a medical condition or illness can sometimes induce anxiety or panic attacks in an individual. Sometimes illnesses come with stress, which can overpower what the sufferer can handle. Such stressful conditions build a base for anxiety disorders and anxiety attacks, resulting from fearing and excessive worry.

● Family History: Those who come up with a family history of mental issues and problematic cases can inherit similar traits and become easy prey of anxiety and panic attacks; this factor is uncontrollable, but indeed it can be treated with proper treatment.

● Trauma: There is also a risk of anxiety and panic attacks in those who have gone through some gut-wrenching trauma or accident in their early phase of life. The fear of a particularly traumatic incident can take the form of severe panic disorder, which can spike significantly whenever the patient comes around a similar situation.

● Personality: Some are prone to anxiety or panic attacks right from the start; a sufferer doesn't need to experience any mental worry or situation for a panic or anxiety attack to originate. Sometimes an anxiety attack can turn into a panic attack over a period and occur out of the blue for an individual.

● Excessive Alcohol and Smoking: Excessive alcohol consumption and smoking not just takes a toll on your physical health, but does some severe unnoticed damage to your mental health. Those much indulged in such activities fall under the risk of anxiety and panic disorders, which might even get out of hand if not taken under supervision.

Treatment of Anxiety and Panic Attacks

As we are now well aware that anxiety and panic upto a certain degree, of course, are not required to be clinically treated, just some home remedies can help you in lowering the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. Consulting anxiety and panic support system seems a reasonably good option to go for when faced with such mental difficulties. It will not only allow you to get a clear understanding of the terms but also calm you down with the fact that all of us go through that phase.

But suppose you are dealing with anxiety or panic attacks of a severe degree then, you must consult a psychiatrist to get yourself a proper screening and treatment of anxiety and panic disorders you are fighting. There are a few ways that are incredibly effective in themselves, too but can work wonders for your mental health if combined. Almost all primary health facilities prefer the amalgamation of all of them to get the best results. They support each other's working mechanisms without giving out too many side effects. Those are:

● Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy (also known as talk therapy ) bolds out as the first-line treatment of anxiety and panic disorders. It mainly focuses on making one understand their acute condition and presenting proved ways to cope with them effortlessly. One of the significant parts of the psychotherapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy, where the therapist tries to re-create the situation that induces an anxious or panicky behavior in you, with the motive of eliminating the fear or worry regarding that situation or thing. The therapy results are overwhelming in most cases where the sufferer no longer finds a particular condition threatening.

● Medications: Treatment of anxiety and panic disorders see some bright rays of hope in medicines capable of reducing or eliminating the symptoms of such mental issues. These prescribed drugs work well for those who did not show any significant positive growth form the counseling and therapies typically considered sufficient to treat severe anxiety and panic. Medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and Benzodiazepines are the most prominent drug taken into use to treat panic and anxiety attacks.

● Self Help: Undoubtedly, the treatments mentioned above are competent and powerful in their ways of rectifying symptoms and problems related to anxiety disorders and panic attacks, but still, there remains a vacant space in the treatment plan, which depends entirely on the patient. Self-help is the tool that perfectly fills up that space and ensures top-notch recovery from the mental illness. Self-help includes

activities that allow you to get out of that sickness-driven thought process. Self-help activities for anxiety and panic attacks try to bind you with positive thoughts, relaxation, fighting spirit, and willingness to get out of that misery phase. It includes breathing exercises, introspecting, remembering joyful moments, practicing healthy habits, reading, indulging in your favorite activities, exploring your hobbies, and acting normal.