ANXIETY DISORDER
When we are faced with a stressful situation or under pressure, it is normal for our heart to beat rapidly or to feel anxious and tense from time to time. Every person experiences this from time to time. Anxiety is a normal reaction of the body to danger.
Although it does not create pleasant feelings in the person, anxiety is not actually a bad thing. A certain level of anxiety keeps a person awake, focused and motivated on his work. However, if the anxiety is constant, excessive, and affects the person's daily activities and relationships with other people, then the normal limit is exceeded, in which case we can talk about anxiety disorders.
What is Generalized Anxiety?
Anxiety, as it means in Turkish, is anxiety or worry, a feeling of anxiety that causes a person to feel that something bad will happen at any moment, for example, that he will receive bad news at any moment or that something bad will happen to him or his relatives. The person often experiences a higher level of anxiety than expected in response to daily events. His mind is often filled with disaster scenarios. For example, their child came home an hour late, but this delay is met with anxious thoughts such as "the child must have been hit by a car" or "someone did something to the child". A person may experience anxiety at varying intensities, from a feeling of mild uneasiness to the degree of panic. The reason why the condition is called generalized anxiety disorder is that the person experiences more or less anxiety not only in certain situations, but in almost every situation (regardless of a particular place, time or situation). It differs from panic disorder in this respect. In fact, anxiety is a problem that everyone encounters in daily life. It is a state of anxiety, and it helps people as an incentive tool unless it reaches extreme levels.
When anxiety becomes a problem in itself by disrupting the person's daily activities, it is called a disease and should be treated. A person with generalized anxiety disorder experiences long-lasting anxiety that is difficult to control. This anxiety is accompanied by all or some of the symptoms of restlessness or feeling alert, getting tired easily, difficulty focusing, feeling forgetful, irritability, muscle tension and sleep disturbance.
These problems experienced by the person negatively affect the person's life. . This common disorder follows a fluctuating course, usually starting before the age of 20. Psychiatric disorders that may accompany the condition include other anxiety disorders, depression, and alcohol addiction.
If you have many of the following symptoms and cannot get rid of them on your own, you may have an anxiety disorder:
- Continuous Are you nervous, worried or angry?
- Does your anxiety negatively affect your work, school or family life?
- Do you have fears that you know are irrational but you cannot get rid of?
- Do you have thoughts that bad things will happen if certain behaviors are not performed in a certain way?
- Do you avoid certain daily activities because they cause anxiety?
- Do you experience sudden and unexpected panic and heart palpitations? >
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
Although anxiety disorders consist of many interrelated conditions rather than a single disorder, they can show different symptoms from person to person. While one person experiences sudden anxiety and panic attacks and heart palpitations, another He may be overcome with fear while he is young; While one person may constantly have thoughts that they cannot control, another person may constantly worry about everything and every situation.
However, constant and severe fear or anxiety felt in situations that most people do not find threatening is an important symptom common to all anxiety disorders.
Emotional symptoms of anxiety
- Extreme fear
- Difficulty concentrating on a task
- Nervousness and tension
- Always thinking of the worst
- Irritability Rushing
- Constant thought of being in danger
Physical symptoms of anxiety
- Heart palpitations
- Sweating
- Nausea or pain
- Frequent trips to the toilet or diarrhea
- Difficulty in breathing
- Tremors and tics
- Muscle tension
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
An interesting point is that people with high levels of anxiety suffer from complaints such as constant tension-type headaches, widespread body aches, nausea and bloating in the stomach, as well as feelings of restlessness and anxiety. For this reason, some patients first consult physicians other than psychiatrists. Similarities are established between the state of anxiety and the "fight or flight" reflex seen in experimental animals.
Similar to an animal faced with a serious threat, the person perceives a vital danger and this requires psychological It responds both through physical means.
In such a situation, the person's autonomic nervous system becomes active; circulation and respiration accelerate. The person perceives these as tremors, restlessness, muscle tension, shortness of breath, palpitations, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, nausea and bloating in the stomach.
As it seems, the brain and body are constantly working together; The symptoms are most clearly felt through the body. Causes of generalized anxiety disorder Why some people are constantly more anxious is still a matter of research. In addition to hereditary factors, the influence of childhood life experiences on the development of this condition is undeniable.
The fact that people feel alert at all times causes them to experience widespread anxiety as well as their mental schemas (such as disaster scenarios). seems to be related
Diagnosis
If the constant state of fear and anxiety affects daily life or if the person constantly has a feeling that something bad will happen, generalized anxiety disorder can be mentioned. . Generalized anxiety disorder is a condition in which a person is constantly tense, anxious, and excessively anxious about daily tasks for at least 6 months. The person may have symptoms such as extreme anxiety, excitement, lack of concentration, sleep disturbance and inability to enter crowded environments. Generalized anxiety disorder should be diagnosed by a psychiatrist. The aim of the diagnosis process is to distinguish symptoms from physical and other mental disorders.
For this purpose, detailed physical examination, various blood tests, imaging and, if necessary, consultation from other branch physicians are requested. Anxiety disorders should be the first condition that comes to mind in cases of complaints such as stomach bloating, headache, and widespread muscle pain that cannot be attributed to a specific physical cause.
Treatment
Generalized anxiety. If the disorder is left untreated, it can last for years and cause significant disability in the person. In later periods, patients may develop depression secondary to their current illness. Patients are at peace They may start using alcohol or increase the amount of alcohol they consume, as it has short-term relaxing effects for their stress and distress. For these reasons, it is of great importance to treat the disease at the very beginning. In addition, treating excessive anxiety, whether or not there is an accompanying physical disorder, is an important step in reducing the risks associated with hypertension and the cardiovascular system.
Drug Treatment
The leading treatment for generalized anxiety disorder is appropriately selected antidepressants. Sometimes benzodiazepine group drugs are added to the treatment for a short time. When drug treatment is applied alone or, when necessary, together with cognitive-behavioral (CBT) therapy, success rates reach 90%. Psychotherapy The type of therapy that has been shown to be effective in generalized anxiety disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy. is therapy. Psychotherapy, which can be applied in addition to drug treatment, aims to change the person's negative thoughts and behaviors and to be more active in fighting the disease. Therapy lasts 6-12 sessions. In cognitive behavioral therapy, the patient is first educated about what his illness is and its causes. In addition, breathing exercises, various relaxation exercises and methods of coping with stress help the person relax. In addition, various assignments are given to help the person become desensitized to worrying situations.
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