By: James S.
Submitted: 2010-01-27 07:51:23 | Word Count: 878
Anxiety disorder to most ears may sound like a big disease or mental problem which is real hard to live with. It is abnormal, but we should stop using the term as it might hit the wrong cord.
It is a fact that all human beings experience some kind of anxiety in most of the tasks they get engaged in. For some it turns out to be helpful, that the level of anxiety happens to work as a boost element in most of the tasks that one fears in day to day life.
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Certainly if the level of anxiety rises up, it possibly makes an individual get worked up for petty issues, feels extremely fearful and unsure. Every now and again, their fears intervene in their lives and make it unlike others. A person who is suffering from anxiety disorder might feel ashamed and become discouraged mainly because the person might not be able to carry out the normal routines such as going to the grocery store, or driving.
There has been immense amount of research done in this field by various psychologists and based on their work it has been brought to notice that anxiety disorders could be of seven type’s.
The seven anxiety disorders are:
Panic Disorder: There might be sudden episodes of anxiety that might appear to come out of nowhere or may be unexpectedly. It may last for short period say 1 to 2 minutes or longer periods lasting from 10 – 15 minutes and some pull it off for 20 minutes where medical intervention is required. Some experience panic attacks on a regular basis and some weekly or may be even less often.
Agoraphobia: it is also known as situational fear. Certain incidents have such a deep impact on an individual that he/ she faced in any kind of similar situation sense fear that brings about an uneasy behaviour.
Social Phobia: an individual fearing to indulge himself or herself in social situations like public speaking or social interactions and avoids facing them.
Specific Phobia: individuals are made of different traits and share different natures. All humans fear some element or aspect as such. There are people who fear snakes or elevators or flying... For some all these may not come across as an element of fear but for others it may hold as a strong fear related object.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: anxiety as such as mentioned earlier is quite normal but when it goes on to a whole new level, lasting for a long time and intruding in your daily affairs, such as work or health could be an alarming sign.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: repetitive thoughts, and/or compulsions, that are intense enough to be causing marked distress and bringing about an abnormal behaviour.
Post traumatic Stress Disorder: a certain incident with a high intensity is enough to shake a person and leave its effect for life on that individual. Incidents like assault, murder, rape, death of someone attached to you etc. Such things become a part of one’s life and recurrence of anything of such nature brings in a devastated feel.
These common anxiety disorders that one hears often about sometimes reaches to an extent where it interferes with either their school or work .Their fears flash in front of their eyes. The behavioural changes become obvious which also bring about increase in heart rate, sweaty palms etc. They sense a feeling that things around them are dreadful, they avoid doing things or going to places that can make them restless.
Certain incidents which may not have been the best ones of their lives might just get photocopied in their mind that whenever they seen anything related to that incident they get all worked up.
The fears of the people suffering from anxiety disorders might come across as strange to the others as they think it’s irrelevant of a person to feel that way (e.g.: a person’s fear of flying in an aeroplane).This is what one needs to understand about this condition and the thin line that divides people as on one side with this disorder and on the other side who don’t have this disorder. The person who suffers with this disorder will find it difficult to get rid of his/her fears; the family plays an important role in lending support.
Therapy’s can play the role of a magic wand to get the person to walk on the pathway of recovery. Meditation, discussion groups are supportive and patient. Though India might not be well equipped with the workshops and help lines .Because if it did, with their instant and efficient services a lot of lives are saved because the intensity of fear can make a person go to any extent, but slowly India is picking up and understanding the psychological nature of such disorders and with this knowledge they are institutions that have come up to serve such people and also make the general public understand that it’s not always medication that can cure. And by bringing out different means through different therapies we are having a different outlook, a more positive one.
People with disorders are not alien, so stop making them feel like one and start making them feel like they are one of us.
