Do You Have an Anxiety Disorder? Here’s What You Should Do About It

While anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress, some people experience excessive worry, fear, and nervousness about the future.

This could be an Anxiety Disorder which is described in DSM-5 as a condition where feelings of worry are persistent, interfering with your daily life over several months.

Here’s everything you need to know about causes, symptoms, and how to manage it: 

Types of Anxiety Disorders

Syda Productions/Shutterstock: Categorising anxiety

According to DSM-5, generalized anxiety, social phobia, specific phobia, separation anxiety, selective mutism, panic disorder, and agoraphobia are the seven types of anxieties.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH/Shutterstock: Identifying the symptoms

While feeling nervousness and pain is the main symptom, those suffering from the disorder also experience a range of physical and cognitive disturbances, including

• Increased heart rate
• Shallow, rapid breathing
• Restlessness
• Insomnia
• Fatigue, and
• Difficulty to concentrate

What Causes Anxiety?

fongbeerredhot/Shutterstock: Finding out the cause

Experts believe it’s a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

Besides, a stressful event such as a huge failure can affect you so much, that it becomes a trigger from then on, since it alters how your brain responds to that particular scenario.

Going through traumatic life events and social isolation can also make you more prone to developing anxiety.

Diagnosis

If you experience the symptoms mentioned here and believe you need more help, it’s best to find a licensed and trusted psychologist or therapist to talk to.

In some cases, even checkups may be needed to rule out any association with an underlying medical condition. It’s best to be completely honest as the professional tries to establish your history and feel confident to help them accurately diagnose you.

Treatment

Naturally, you’ll feel helpless if you get diagnosed. Still, it’s important to know that it’s perfectly possible to manage your anxiety and overcome it with the right treatment.

Depending on your anxiety type and level, your mental health professional may recommend a tailored treatment plan for you. In general, CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been proven to be a great success in treating this condition.

It is done by helping you recognize your triggers better and equipping you with the right mindset and skills to navigate the thoughts that occur, resulting in better management of your anxiety symptoms.

If you’re pressed for time and resources, check out these online mental health service providers.

Medication

Your health care provider might prescribe medications like SSRIs and Benzodiazepines alongside talk-therapy or CBT. But it’s important to know that this is only safe if prescribed by your therapist. It’s also only a short term relief since they might cause other side effects.

Natural Remedies

Safe and natural home remedies you could try to better manage your anxiety are as follows

• Practicing breathing techniques
• Mindfulness meditation
• Regular exercise
• Getting enough rest and sleep, and
• Refraining from alcohol, drugs and caffeine consumption

 While these will help you get started, you might need more advanced techniques to get your life back on track, depending on your anxiety levels. So it’s always best to seek medical help when you need it!