We all have our ups and downs in life. There are phases where we feel very confident and happy and on the other hand there are times when you feel nothing is working for you. At the time when you feel that nothing is in favour, you start to worry and take unnecessary stress which leads to anxiety. Anxiety is a type of mental disorder where a person can feel overwhelming anxiety and fear about a particular thing and can start avoiding work, school, job etc. Anxiety is also of different types; today we’ll know how anxiety can affect our mental health.
How Does Anxiety Occur?
OnlyMyHealth reached out to Psychologist Ms.Tanu Chaudhary to know how anxiety occurs and what happens when this condition happens. She serves in City Hospital in Lucknow as councillor and has her own private practice for over 10 years. According to her anxiety is a group of related issues and can occur due to different symptoms in variety of people. One may suffer from anxiety attacks by a critical situation other may suffer due to intense work load. When there is constant state of fear, tension or stress about anything happening in a person’s life, it can lead to anxiety attack.
It is most common mental health issues which people ignore which are easily treatable. There are steps to identify the symptoms that you may be suffering from anxiety disorder.
Also Read: Anxiety Disorder Treatment: Dr Jyoti Sharma Shares Homoeopathic Remedies To Deal With It
Symptoms of Anxiety Attack
- Watching signs of some danger and panic.
- Feeling tense due to a situation.
- Chest pain
- Feeling your mind has gone blank
- Anticipating to a situation which has gone out of reach.
- Regular concentration issues
- Hyperventilation
- Hot flashes or chills
To these symptom body may also react in weird way and you should not panic-
- Sweating
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Heart beating loudly
- Shortness of breath
- Muscle tension
- Frequent urination
- Diarrhoea
- Upset stomach
- Shaking or trembling
- Insomnia
These physical symptoms reflect that one might be suffering from a medical disorder or illness. There are therapies and counselling session which might help you overcome anxiety easily. Visit a psychologist whenever you feel you are having these issues.
Effects of Anxiety on Health
Anxiety is a part of normal behaviour but when it becomes too intense it can affect your health in a negative manner. Taking too much of stress can increase your risk of anxiety disorder. They are of several types. Let us know some major effects and disorders-
1# Generalized Anxiety Disorder
This is marked by intense anxiety for no particular or logical reason. It can be caused due to extreme worry about a variety of tasks which we generally perform in a day. GAD can last up to 6 months or even longer.
2# Social Anxiety Disorder
It is caused by humiliation or fear of getting judged and humiliated in front of others. This can also be called social phobia. It can be taken as extreme shyness and people try to avoid situations where there is social gathering involved. This can result to brain adapting to similar situations and hence social fear may remain for a lifetime.
3# Hoarding Disorder
This anxiety disorder is chronic difficulty where the person has hard time discarding possessions. It leads to dysfunctional attachment to even worthless items which can lead to person to clustered space. This disorder can lead to trauma within a person and he may not even know it.
Also Read: Here Are 8 Useful Herbs To Deal With Anxiety
4# Obsessive –Compulsive Disorder
It is characterised by unwanted thought which come to our mind on daily basis which you are not able to control. Worrying about small things time and again leads to this disorder. It can affect your health create anxiety attacks from time to time and also affect your mental health. You may suffer from uncontrollable compulsions, such as washing your hands over and over again.
5# Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
This is a common and extreme anxiety disorder where the person goes into trauma after a particular incident or life-threatening event. PTSD is a kind of panic attack which rarely gets healed totally, there are less chances. Symptoms can include flashbacks, hyper vigilance, avoiding situations that remind you of that event. This can permanently damage your mental health and can unstable your conscience.
6# Phobias
Anxiety attacks can cause phobias in a person. For example- Fear of tight spaces- claustrophobia, fear of heights (acrophobia). This can happen due to a past situation as well. There could also be a urge of fear towards an object or so.
7# Panic Disorder
When there is spontaneous feeling of terror or fear about a situation, it can cause panic attacks. Panic attacks are caused due to anxiety. These can cause heart palpitations, shortness of breath and chest pain. It can turn dangerous for health if you have another anxiety disorder along with panic disorder.
How Can Anxiety Attacks be Dangerous to our Health?
Anxiety attacks which remain for long durations can cause the brain to release stress hormones on a regular basis. This affects our central nervous system. It can increase the frequency of headaches, depression and dizziness.
Our brain is designed to respond to stress and anxiety through releasing hormones in the central nervous system which are basically chemicals made to tackle threat. But regular release or these hormones can create imbalance in central nervous system. It can also be harmful for physical health in long term as cortisol can contribute to weight gain. Adrenaline is another hormone which is released due to stress and anxiety. It can cause problems such as-
- High Blood Pressure
- Heart Diseases
- Nausea
- Diarrhoea
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Insomnia
- Depression
Also Read: 5 Yoga Poses To Try Out When Anxiety Strikes
Anxiety is a common until it becomes overwhelming and intense. Intense anxiety can cause anxiety attacks which can lead to much mental disorders. It leads to chest pain, high blood pressure, diarrhoea and bowel infection. Anxiety attacks can be treated through simple medications and counselling sessions.
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