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What Are the Causes & Symptoms of Anxiety?

It seems natural to worry and have anxiety over life events such as a wedding or waiting to be accepted to a school. When the worries don't stop and go so far as to affect your physical state, they can turn into a legitimate anxiety disorder. Explore facets of anxiety, such as the causes and symptoms, to better combat it.

  1. Anxiety

    • A general anxiety disorder involves worries or fears that interfere with a person's ability to lead a normal life. These fears become overwhelming and can impede even the smallest of daily functions. The worries extend for more than a few days but less than six months.

    Symptoms

    • General symptoms for anxiety include irritability, excessive sweating and tremors or chills. Sleep problems and overly tense muscles are other physical signs of anxiety, while lack of concentration and short term memory loss are mental symptoms.

    Subtype Symptoms

    • There are several subtypes of anxiety that exhibit different symptoms. Obsessive compulsive disorder is a form of anxiety where the patient feels the need to perform a specific routine or multiple actions before moving onto other actions. If the routine isn't done, overwhelming anxiety and worry can take over. Panic disorders involve sudden rushes of fear called panic attacks for no apparent reason. Panic attacks include heart palpitations, extreme fear of impending doom or death, and a feeling as if the person was having a heart attack.

    Causes

    • The causes for general anxiety aren't completely known, but some research shows that certain risk factors and situations can trigger them. For general anxiety, people who have family members with the same condition have a 50 percent chance of having it as well. Hormonal imbalances of cortisol, the chemical responsible for managing stress, have also been found in anxiety patients. Certain environmental stressors can trigger anxiety such as moving, a death in the family, job changes and having a baby.

    Treatment

    • Anti-anxiety medications like Xanax are sometimes prescribed to patients in order to calm the physical complications related to anxiety. In conjunction with these medications, cognitive behavioral therapy is also done by psychotherapists. Therapy will teach patients how to avoid certain triggering situations or coping methods for unavoidable ones. By learning these methods, patients can reduce the overproduction of stress-induced hormones and calm the worries much faster.

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