Treatments and Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders - Essay Example

 Anxiety Disorders Anxiety and Depression are some of the common psychological disorders seen mostly among old people. According to Barlow & Durand (2009),“anxiety is closely related to depression” (Barlow & Durand, 2009, p. 121). In other words, both anxiety and depression have almost similar symptoms and reasons. Even though many reasons were cited, unpleasant life experiences and emotions seem to be the most important reasons behind anxiety disorders. Pleasant emotions and life experiences always provide positive energy to a person whereas unpleasant emotions and life experiences always provide negative energy and negative thoughts to a person. Negative thoughts can cause connected thoughts which forces a person to become anxious. This paper briefly analyses how the symptoms of anxiety disorder can affect the quality of life and treatment options available for various types of anxiety disorders. Symptoms of anxiety disorder Anxiety occurs as a response to stress. Current generation have more commitments and responsibilities than the past generation and it is difficult for them to fulfil their professional, personal and social commitments in a satisfactory way. As a result of that most of the current generation are leading their lives under immense stress. No two individuals are alike; some people may have strong mental abilities whereas some others may have weaker mental abilities. Effective stress management is possible only for people with strong will power whereas mentally weak people will struggle to cop up with the pressure exerted by various types of life stresses. People who fail to manage their stresses effectively or positively will develop depression and anxiety disorders. According to Richard J. Davidson (2000), major symptoms of anxiety disorder are; “decreased motor activity, decreased eating and drinking, weight loss, lack of weight gain, decreased grooming, decreased competitive behaviour, increased errors in choices, decreased responses, sleep disturbances or reduced sleep, early morning awakening etc” (Davidson, 2000, p.4). People with anxiety disorders will show no interest in any of the activities in their life. They often react slowly to the incidents and may not show much interest even for taking food, bathing, brushing teeth etc. They will try to live in an imaginary or virtual world and isolate themselves from the realities of the real world. They do not like the intrusion of others in their virtual world. They always respond slowly to the problems and may not show much interest in talking or revealing their personal problems or difficulties to others. They never realise the defects in their thoughts and may not hear the advices of others. Because of less appetite for food and drinks, they eat less and subsequently loss a substantial amount of their body weight. People with anxiety disorders may show strange behaviours. They may quite often put their hands on head and examine their body parts suspiciously. Some of the other symptoms observed among people with anxiety disorder are mentioned by Dr. Vasudevan (2006). He has pointed out “rapid or pounding heartbeat, difficult breathing, tremulousness, sweating, dry mouth, tightness in the chest, sweaty palms, dizziness, weakness, nausea, diarrhea, cramps, insomnia, fatigue, headache, loss of appetite, and sexual disturbances” etc as the other major symptoms of anxiety disorder (Dr. Vasudevan, 2006). Treatments of anxiety disorder According to Barlow & Durand, (2009), “same types of drugs (antidepressants) are useful for treating anxiety and depression. In one recent study, CBT and the drug paroxetine were found effective in the treatment of anxiety and depression” (Barlow & Durand, 2009, p.175). As the name suggests, cognitive-behavioural therapy focuses on thoughts—or cognitions—in addition to behaviours. When used in anxiety disorder treatment, cognitive-behavioural therapy helps you identify and challenge the negative thinking patterns and irrational beliefs that are fuelling your anxiety. In exposure therapy for anxiety disorder treatment, you confront your fears in a safe, controlled environment. Through repeated exposures, either in your imagination or in reality, to the feared object or situation, you gain a greater sense of control. As you face your fear without being harmed, your anxiety gradually diminishes (Anxiety Attacks and Disorders: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment, 2010) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT is found to be effective in the treatment of many of the psychological disorders like anxiety disorders, depression, mood disorders, personality problems, eating disorders etc. It is a kind of counselling to solve problems related to emotions and behaviour. In CBT, the counsellor or the therapist tries to identify the problems of the patient with the help of different counselling sessions. After the identification of the causes of anxiety disorder, the therapist suggests way to overcome such problems. Different sessions of minimum one hour duration are normally adopted by the therapist while treating anxiety patients with the help of CBT. Even though the patient may show reluctance in revealing the causes of his anxiety initially, different sessions of free association between the patient and the therapist will force the patient to open his mind gradually. Along with CBT, psychoactive drugs like benzodiazepines and antidepressants are also used in the treatment of anxiety disorder. Psychoactive drugs help the patients to suppress the negative thoughts and the possibilities of rapid mood changes. Some of the biological problems or the changes in hormone levels can also cause anxiety disorder. In such cases, medicines should be sued to correct such body problems before treating the mental disease. For example, thyroid problems can cause psychological disorders like anxiety. CBT and psychoactive drugs will not be effective in the case of such patients. Thyroid hormone levels should be controlled first before treating such patients with CBT or other psychoactive drugs. Conclusions Anxiety disorder is one of the major psychological disorders found across the world. Even though many reasons can be cited for the occurrence of anxiety disorder, lack of control over emotions seem to be the major reason behind this problem. People with anxiety disorder will try to make a world of their own and they will try to continue their lives in that imaginary world. They will show lack of interests in normal life activities, eating, drinking and responding. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in conjunction with some psychoactive drugs found to be effective in the treatment of anxiety disorder. References Anxiety Attacks and Disorders: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anxiety_types_symptoms_treatment.htm Barlow D.H & Durand V.M (2009). Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Davidson, R.J. (2000). Anxiety, Depression, and Emotion. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (July 15, 2000) Dr.Vasudevan S. (2006). Different theories of anxiety. Retrieved from http://www.shvoong.com/medicine-and-health/neurology/116671-different-theories-anxiety/ Read More