Understanding Anxiety

When you start understanding anxiety you will be able to assist your family members or anyone else you know who suffers with it. Everyone suffers from some level of anxiety and panic at one point or another in their lives and that is perfectly normal. The level of reaction to that initial feeling of panic is where we all differ. When two people encounter the same situation they will both react differently, they will have different feelings and different emotional reactions to exactly the same situation.

This is why understanding anxiety can be hard for some people. If you are the sort of person who brushes everything off and doesn't let anything worry you it can be hard to understand people who get scared and apprehensive of things that don't worry you. Anxiety is a wide reaching term that covers many levels of the illness and different triggers.

Some people will find a specific item or situation will trigger a anxiety attack some people will find that they go into a downard spiral of anxiety where they withdraw further away from people and become more and more anxious as time goes on. Anxiety is a state of mind but it can have huge affects on peoples physical health as well as their mental health. People with the most common form of anxiety , Generalized Anxiety Disorder, make up as much as 5% of the population in the USA. These figures show that anxiety is a much bigger problem than most of us realize. The biggest problem that one faces if a person is diagnosed with this form of anxiety disorder is that they often have other medical problems which compound the situation. In well over half the people in the USA who suffer from anxiety, they suffer from other forms of this disorder or depression as well.

The most common symptoms that are associated with this particular anxiety disorder are as follows:- 1. The person feels restless and is constantly on edge and concerned about even the most trivial matters. 2. They may find it difficult not only to sleep but concentrate and will often be irritable as well.

3. Aiming for perfection in everything that they do and will be willing to conform rather than stand out in a crowd. This is because they are actually unsure of themselves and their abilities.

As with any form of anxiety disorder, a person is going to find it very difficult to cope with day-to-day life. In some cases, they may actually find that they cannot function as they would normally if they did not suffer from anxiety. Although it may seem impossible there is help available for all of the anxiety disorders. The difficult step for most people is getting the friend or family member to admit they need help and go to see their Dr.

When they do admit they have a problem and go to see their Dr he will most likely start them on a course of medication. Medication is not a instant fix for anxiety, understanding and support for the anxiety sufferer will be as valuable as any medication that can be prescribed. Anxiety like any mental health issue is more complicated than it seems, it can be affected by something as simple as a diet or lifestyle change. You must be totally honest with your Dr when you go to see him tell him what you eat and drink as well as whether you are on any other medication (prescribed or not).

Understanding anxiety is almost impossible especially if it is taking such a toll on your family, work and social life. Anxiety has affected over 5% of the US population so you are not alone with this.