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The Facilitator
Here is an article from a recent Facilitator: What are anxiety Disorders?Have you ever gotten so worried about something that you can’t think about anything else? Have you gone over and over a problem in your mind until it seems that there’s no way to avoid “total disaster”, only to find out later that the problem wasn’t nearly as big as you thought? Have you felt overwhelming panic that sets your heart racing and immobilizes you, and you can’t pinpoint a cause? If so, you may be experiencing an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most diagnosed mental illnesses in this country today, affecting 40 million people each year. An anxiety disorder is NOT the kind of worry we all experience before a big test or speaking engagement - it involves irrational fear and an overpowering sense of dread that is not supported by the actual facts of a situation, or not related to any situation at all. Anxiety disorders are brain disorders, medical illnesses that affect the brain, and research into anxiety disorders is focusing on brain imaging technology and neurochemical techniques to determine what causes them and how best to treat them. Presently, research focuses on two areas of the brain-the amygdala (which interprets incoming signals to the brain and transmits “threat” responses) and the hippocampus (which creates memories from threatening events). Doctors and therapists use the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, to diagnose anxiety disorders. The DSM-IV-TR, as the current version is called, is used by doctors and mental health professionals to diagnose their clients who are having mental health issues.
Anxiety disorders are very treatable, with both medication and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) offering relief to those suffering from it. Medication particularly is helpful until therapy is effective in managing symptoms. CBT helps to change negative thinking patterns that cause anxious feelings and helps people change their behavior, which is a reaction to these negative thoughts and feelings. Specially targeted forms of CBT are used to treat different anxiety disorders. Support groups can also help. Below is a description of the most common anxiety disorders: Panic Disorder affects about six million adults in this country, and twice as many women are diagnosed with it as are men. Sudden panic attacks, which can include feelings of terror, heart-pounding, sweatiness, weakness, faintness and dizziness, happen with varying frequency depending on the person. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, is an illness in which people develop rituals to control the anxiety caused by upsetting and persistent thoughts. This is more than running back into the house to make sure you turned off the coffeemaker-performing the rituals is unpleasant and interferes with the sufferer’s ability to live a “normal” life. Men and women are equally afflicted with OCD, with 2.2 million Americans diagnosed. Treatment includes specific medications and exposure-based therapy, where people are exposed to their trigger in a controlled situation and coached to handle the anxiety-stimulating situation in more effective ways. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, occurs after people have experienced a traumatic event that involves an extreme threat to their safety or the safety of others. All of us have the “fight or flight” reaction to danger; those with PTSD continue to have this reaction long after the event. While more women develop PTSD than men, those in the armed services are especially vulnerable to this disorder. Symptoms include flashbacks or dreams of the original event, feelings of numbness and depression, or being “hyper vigilant” to any perceived danger. Approximately 7.7 million Americans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Social Phobia, or Social Anxiety Disorder, involves extreme self-consciousness that interferes significantly with daily activities. People with social phobia are intensely afraid of being watched and judged by others. The fear that they will do something embarrassing creates chronic worry over social situations. Men and women suffer equally from social phobia-about 15 million adult Americans. Specific Phobias are the most common anxiety disorders, with 19.2 million adults in this country being affected. People who experience a specific phobia are intensely afraid of something completely out of proportion to the actual threat, such as a fear of flying, heights, dogs, or closed-in places. Exposure-based therapy is especially effective for specific phobias. Many people who have one anxiety disorder also suffer from depression, substance abuse, or another anxiety disorder. These co-occurring Healthyplace.com has online screening tests for some anxiety disorders. You can access these at www.healthyplace.com/psychological-tests/#Anxiety. However, an online screening is not sufficient for a diagnosis-please call a mental health professional for a full screening and treatment recommendations. The National Institute of Mental Health www.nimh.gov , Mental Health America www.nmha.org and The National Alliance on Mental Illness www.nami.org all have informative websites and were the sources of information for this article.
Some or our recent publications: Fall 2010 |
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