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This is part of an ongoing blog topic, I started Tuesday. Anxiety: Post 1 of 12
Let’s start this off right… I am not a professional therapist. I am not giving medical advice at all. In fact, I’m just somebody that learned about Anxiety as a way to help my own Anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is a natural fight or flight emotion that all animals have. It protects us from dangerous situations that require immediate attention. Every human being that walks this Earth will at some time experience Anxiety. It’s perfectly normal.
The problem comes in when we experience anxiety in a few ways:
- Prolonged irrational anxiety attacks
- Extreme anxiety attacks that can interfere with the ability to live a normal life
- Excessive anxiety
With anything, too much of something is never good, and people that experience these problems might have an anxiety disorder.
What Are the Symptoms of an Anxiety Disorder?
Symptoms vary depending on the type of anxiety disorder, but general symptoms include:
- Feelings of panic, fear, and uneasiness
- Uncontrollable, obsessive thoughts
- Repeated thoughts or flashbacks of traumatic experiences
- Nightmares
- Ritualistic behaviors, such as repeated hand washing
- Problems sleeping
- Cold or sweaty hands and/or feet
- Shortness of breath
- Palpitations
- An inability to be still and calm
- Dry mouth
- Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
- Nausea
- Muscle tension
- Dizziness
There are various degrees and triggers for these symptoms. Symptoms can range from mild bouts of Anxiety to extreme Life Threatening levels. Anxiety disorder is something that should be taken serious and I recommend seeking medical treatment.
I have several friends that have some sort of anxiety disorder, and often times they feel uncomfortable talking with a medical professional about this. There’s always been a negative view of mental illness.
I can understand it being tough to talk to anybody about this, but it doesn’t just affect your life… It affects everybody around you. Anxiety disorder’s can be highly treatable. Often times, anxiety disorders can be treated by your primary care physician with just a medication.
It might take a little time to find the right medication or dosage level, but once you do… You can begin to live a normal life again.
Tuesday we’ll start to take a look at what types of anxiety disorders are out there, and there is a pretty wide spectrum. Then in the weeks to come, we’ll look into causes and treatments… and even some natural alternatives.
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