Anxiety Disorder Symptom » anxiety disorder

Proper Breathing For Treating Panic Attacks

Jason S. Sorento — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:57:59 +0000

How you breathe can have an impact on your panic attacks. Most of us don’t give any thought to how we breathe but learning how to do it correctly can help you with treating panic attacks. You can reduce the frequency of your attacks and the length of the them when they do occur.

Breathe Right to Reduce Stress

There are basically two different types of breathing, chest breathing and abdominal breathing. As the name suggests, chest breathing is when you breathe mainly from the chest and is common leading up to and during an anxiety or panic attack. This type of breathing tends to consist of rapid and shallow breaths which upset the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. This type of shallow breathing can lead to dizziness, an increased heart rate and muscle tension.

Abdominal breathing, on the other hand, is characterized by deep, even breaths that are drawn down by the diaphragm. A newborn baby will do this, as will people when they are in a deep sleep – it’s the natural way to breathe.

You can easily determine which way you are breathing with this simple test. Place one hand on your chest and your other hand on your stomach. The hand that moves indicated the type of breathing you are doing – hand on stomach moving? You are abdominal breathing. Hand on chest moving? You are chest breathing. By understanding which breathing mode you are in, you will be on track to being able to control your panic and anxiety.

Breathe Deep and Relax

This simple technique can be used to help with treating panic attacks. They key is to practice this technique outside of those situations that make you anxious so that you can use it automatically when you start to feel anxious. (note: try practicing this when you can be alone, lying or sitting down at first. If you feel uncomfortable or dizzy stop immediately):

Relax your shoulders as much as you can. Put one hand on your stomach inhale slowly through your nose. When you are breathing through your diaphragm, your hand should rise and fall with each breath.

Exhale through your mouth without holding your breath. You don’t want to force the air out but let it exit your lungs naturally.

Try repeating this several times.

You can add another level to this relaxing breathing technique by turning it into a breathing mediation. To do this, you want to focus your attention on your breathing, letting all other thoughts drift away. As the air moves in and out of your body, keep your attention focused on how you hand rises and falls or how the breath moves in and out of your nose and mouth.

You can use proper breathing techniques for treating panic attacks and reducing the severity of them. When you add proper abdominal breathing to other techniques you may already be using against anxiety and panic attacks you will be well on your way to getting your life back.

How To Get Rid Of Anxiety contains information on the best solutions to panic and anxiety. One easy method that you can start using right away for treating panic attacks is available to anyone and won’t cost a penny.

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Managing Panic Attacks With Ease

James S. Mahn — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:43:58 +0000

If you want to minimize the effect that a panic attack has on you then you have to be prepared. Because panic attacks can happen with a moments notice, proper preparation can help minimize the length and frequency of these attacks and is important in managing panic attacks. Here are some ideas that you can use to help plan ahead:

Don’t forget to keep breathing.

You might have noticed that a lot of time when you are getting into a state of panic your breathing changed. You might take short, shallow breaths and breathe quite rapidly. Unfortunately this type of breathing can add to the intensity or length of the attack. Knowing how to breath for relaxation in advance will prepare you to do it when you need it.

Find out how to relax.

Just like breathing for relaxation, different techniques are available that you can use to relax. Even though it is tricky to remember to relax during an attack, having the skills available to you can help you manage your panic.

Understand your triggers.

Knowing what triggers your own panic attacks can also help you prepare for them. Is there a particular phobia you have? Do certain things stress you out more than others? Understanding what may trigger an attack can help you avoid the situation that causes panic, if at all possible (or practical) or provide you with advanced warning of an attack. At that point you can focus on breathing and relaxing to help minimize the effects of the attack.

Know who to call.

Knowing where you can get support during a panic attack is crucial to managing panic attacks. Whether you call them yourself or have someone else do it, being able to access the important numbers you need, when you need them, will help get you through an attack. When you leave your home, take a list of emergency contacts, support groups or contacts and your doctor’s number.

Carry a “relaxation bag”.

As a final point, in order to help you manage panic attacks have a bag available that you can take with you when you go out. Along with your list of contacts you can keep other items that make you feel at ease and can help you calm down with you.

How To Get Rid Of Anxiety has some of the best strategies for dealing with panic and anxiety. Here you’ll find five simple things that you can do right away to help with managing panic attacks that won’t cost anything.

categories: panic attacks,anxiety,panic disorder,social disorder,anxiety disorder,psychology

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How To Deal With Anxiety Disorder

Julie Stevenson — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:28:45 +0000

Since you’re here, we imagine you or someone you know is going through the debilitating issue of anxiety. It can affect the whole day, and your life at the most unexpected times. The worst part is it arrive from nowhere, and the end result can leave you sick, scared, and overwhelmed (not to mention several other feelings). Some peoples are so worried about the next thing to come; they end up staying in the house. However, this isn’t a treatment to your panic attack.

Since we understand all the aspects of an anxiety issue, we want to take a few moments to help you deal with it. We also understand a panic attack can occur at any times, which is why we want to go over that as well. One thing you need to know right away is medications and doctor’s offices are, from my own opinion, not the proper regimen. While they do know about anxiety, they are trained a certain way and your regimens are predictable. Take some medicine, get some rest, and call me in a few weeks. Unfortunately they fail to mention the side effects along the way.

We’re not trying to scare you here, but you should look for ways to cope with anxiety that are safe and still effective. Plus, you don’t have to pay a penny at the doctor, emergency room, or medications that are worthless. They will also be able to transform other areas of your life as well.

One thing that can have an enormous calming effect on an individual with anxiety is to make changes to their way of life and diet. There are some circumstances that are stress inducing. Take stock of what is important in your life, what you want to accomplish, is the situation a positive or negative situation and necessary.

Just by taking this way you will see a difference in your stress levels. Exercise is another area that individuals use for an outlet. You can take out nervous energy, be more focused, and have more relaxation throughout the body. This will allow you to sleep, eat, and concentrate better during the day.

Exercise also free endorphins that help to elevate your mood and can create a sense of well being even when everything around you is disorganized throughout the rest of the day. It can boost your self confidence and give you a chance to take time out from stressful situations.

A great exercise regimen to try is yoga. If a person is stressed out or has anxiety problems, this can be very beneficial. There are many self-help books available that promote the use of yoga and meditation, to help individuals with anxiety issues.

If you’ve ever been skeptical of a self-help book, you have to think about it on a sufferer’s level. These peoples have gone through the same issues you are at this moment. They dealt with the same issues, but figured out a way to control their anxiety and cut back on having a panic attack.

Often the best thing that you can do when feeling anxious is to distract yourself. Pondering about the problem can worsen feelings of anxiety and make it worse. Keeping busy can help you to overcome such feelings and provide you with some comfort.

One thing you will notice while doing this is you will be capable to reach goals faster, and give yourself a sense of accomplishment. It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something to work towards and see you actually show progress with your anxiety. It will also replace your panic attack tendencies with feelings of self esteem, satisfaction, and happiness.

So maybe this next week you will take the time to clean out your closet. Then again, you may want to catch up with some friends you have stayed away from for years due to the anxiety, or worried feeling of a panic attack. In the end, if you can set and reach your goals, it can help you gain the skills to conquer issues in the future.

Another method to distract yourself from feelings of anxiety is to distract your mind with music. Whether it is uplifting or just your favorite radio stations top ten count down. You can feel better and overcome feelings of anxiety by listening to music.

Some people try to do something they have never done before and get an instrument. This is definitely an good way to gain confidence and find that inner peace. Most musicians will tell you when they are stressed or upset, they do what they love to counteract the issue. Even thought you don’t play now, why not try one and see what happens? It will definitely take your mind off everything else.

Controlling your anxiety and getting rid of those panic attacks is your overall goal. All it takes is trying the right methods to do it. Nevertheless, we really recommend taking the natural way and stay away from the medications. In the end it can essentially damage your fight against anxiety.

Learn about anxiety and panic disorder. Find out about how to deal with it effectively. Get educated and help yourself find a solution the good solution to cure panic disorder.

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Uncovering The Causes Panic Attacks

Wendy Jones — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:31:18 +0000

It goes with out saying that panic attacks are caused by anxiety. The key to controlling your panic attacks is to understand what anxiety is and how it affects you.

There are many myths out there about the way anxiety effects are health. One of those myths is the ever popular “Anxiety can lead to life threatening conditions.”

What is Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common emotions that we humans experience, and it is an emotion that everyone at one point or another will experience. Therefore knowing what anxiety is beneficial. Medically defined anxiety is the feeling of apprehension or fear from a real or imagined event, situation or threat.

Unless you suffer from panic attacks then it is unlikely that you will understand the horrific nature of what extreme anxiety can do to you. Imagine feeling completely discombobulated from your surroundings, dizzy, blurred vision, tingling all over your body and feeling breathless and this is only the beginning.

When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.

A Root Cause of Panic Attacks – The Fight or Flight Response

Most everyone has heard of the fight or flight response that we humans have as a reason for panic attacks. The question to ask yourself is do you feel a connection between the unusual feelings you experience during your panic attack?

Anxiety, and the ensuing panic attack is a response to a real (or imagined) potentially dangerous situation – its main function is to protect us from danger. Quite ironic perhaps, seeing as the anxiety is actually making us feel very frightened.

Know that the anxiety that we feel during the fight or flight response was a necessity to the survival of our ancient ancestors- so that when they were faced with a danger their automatic response would kick in and force them into action. This is essential even today, and is very useful to us when we are faced with real threats and have a split second to respond.

When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The main duty of the sympathetic system is to release adrenaline, this is the messenger in our body that keeps us going. The parasympathetic system then is called into action after a period of time to restore balance to the body once danger is gone. The parasympathetic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that gets us to calm down and relax.

Your Body Wants To Remain Calm

Whenever you use some form of “coping strategy” that you may have been taught for controlling your attacks, it’s the parasympathetic system that you are calling into action. One thing worth remembering is that this system will always be brought into action at some point during your anxiety attacks whether you call it into action or not. It’s a built in protection system we posses which helps us survive.

The next time you have a panic attack you need to remember that it is not possible physically for the anxiety that you are feeling to cause you any bodily harm. The mind might make the feelings go on longer then what your body wanted them to, but balance will return. The fact of the matter is that our bodies are constantly striving to attain balance or homeostasis.

One amazing feature of the fight or flight response is that it can pull blood from other areas of our body and get it to the areas that urgently need it. The body does this by tightening the blood vessels.

If there is a threat of a physical attack what the body will do is constrict the vessels in the skin, fingers, and toes to decrease blood loss and move the blood to the thighs and biceps, areas that need the blood flow to act.

This exact natural bodily reaction is a lot of people feel tingling and even numbness sensations during a panic attack. The problem is that these symptoms are very easy to interpret as a serious health condition like a heart attack.

Respiratory Effects

From my own personal experience, one of the symptoms that frightened me the most was that I was going to suffocate, simply because I just couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. It felt like someone had a strangle hold on my lungs – preventing me from getting deep enough breaths. Fortunately I’m still here to tell the story. And I’m pretty sure no one has ever been reported has having suffocated during an attack. So the good news is that a panic attack won’t make you suffocate – your parasympathetic system will always kick in to calm you down again.

During a panic attack the rate at which we take a breath increases and those breaths are not as deep as they usually are. The rapid shallow breathing serves an important function as it gets more oxygen into our tissues so that they are prepared to act. This type of breathing though is often accompanied by feelings of breathlessness, hyperventilation or the feeling of choking and can also lead to chest pain and tightness.

As that I have experience panic attacks first hand, I can tell you that there were times when I wasn’t sure that my body would be able to slow my breathing down and I would concentrate on getting my breathing under control. Telling myself to take breath in and let it out. With my mingling in trying to gain control and disregard what my body needed, it sent my body into overdrive and intensify the feelings I was trying to overcome. It was not until I began using the technique that I will describe to you shortly that I was able to let my body do what it was designed to do.

One of the less obvious side effects of the increased breathing rate, is that blood flow to your brain actually decreases. Although the decrease is slight, and not dangerous, it can make you feel dizzy and lead to blurred vision, hot flushes and disorientation.

For free tips and advice about dealing with panic attacks visit Wendys site at Conquering Panic Attack Symptoms and claim your free report 7 Steps To Conquer Your Anxiety. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

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Panic Attacks: Not Necessarily Just A Sign Of Anxiety Disorder

Candace Martin — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:20:58 +0000

Panic attacks seem to be a potential part of almost any type of anxiety disorder, so you may just assume that if someone is experiencing such an attack, it’s due to a condition such as a public speaking phobia. However, not only are these panic attacks issues associated with other concerns, there is also a condition in which the panic attacks themselves are the primary manifestation. It can take some time to diagnose, however, since those other conditions first need to be ruled out.

One of the most significant characteristics of this type of anxiety illness is that the attacks for the most part appear to come out of the blue. The panic arises instantaneously and often manifests as a terror of something that should not rationally be feared.

There might be triggers, for instance an elevated degree of stress in an individual’s life, a physical illness, or in some cases certain medications they might be taking. Nevertheless, oftentimes the catalyst for any specific anxiety attack will not seem to be related to those things, but will concentrate on something for which this amount of anxiety is way out of proportion.

Although some of the causes that seem to point to this anxiety disorder relate to chemical imbalances in the body as well as genetic factors, there is one very strong cause that appears undeniable, which is the body’s reaction to stimulants. Sometimes the cause can be as straightforward as too much caffeine, while in some instances actual substance abuse is the dominant factor. Nicotine and cocaine show some connection to an increase in anxiety attacks. And even marijuana, not usually noted for its stimulating qualities, increases panic attacks in individuals with this disorder.

Treatment for this form of anxiety disorder may have to be used in tandem with that of other conditions, since things like clinical depression or alcohol abuse are frequently associated with panic disorder. The most appropriate treatment for these panic attacks seems to be cognitive therapy as opposed to pharmacological therapy, thought this condition does seem to respond positively in certain cases to the SSRIs that are used to manage depression. Some doctors, though, feel that a combination of both cognitive and drug therapy will do the best job of helping with the attacks and preventing relapses.

Generalized anxiety disorder is a debilitating condition, one that millions of people deal with on a daily basis. If you or someone you know is suffering from this disorder, it’s important that you seek out treatment as soon as possible. Find out about the various approaches to managing the condition at Fighting Anxiety.

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Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder Is Prevalent During Divorce

Stephen Daniels — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:29:33 +0000

Separation anxiety disorder is a term denoting a psychological state of mind. In simplest terms, the removal of a person — with whom the patient has formed a strong emotional bond — results in measurable anxiety attacks. In children, this behavior is often noticed during caretaker changes, specifically in cases of divorce or foster parenting. (Do not confuse the disorder with the well-known but only tangentially related separation anxiety that is apparent on the first few days and weeks of preschool or kindergarten.) Interestingly enough, adult separation-related disorders have never truly entered the mainstream as a bona fide condition, even though they are common during divorce proceedings. Nevertheless, many adults fail to seek or receive help for these problems which, in extreme cases, can be so debilitating as to paralyze the sufferer and disable her or him from normal functioning at work and in daily relationships.

Recognizing adult separation anxiety attacks as clinical conditions did not occur until the late 1990s; it was then that treatment for these attacks became possible for those patients who underwent particularly painful divorce proceedings. Consider that a marriage partner ? for better or worse ? is oftentimes the one true best friend, confidante and person with whom someone feels the most comfortable. Even if the marriage fails, the upcoming separation and permanent loss of that person is certain to cause apprehension in most anyone. For some adults, this kind of psychological trauma goes even further and results in the disorder.

It is possible to suffer from this condition even without actually going through a divorce. In these cases a treatment for nervousness offers measurable results that are underscored by a supportive relationship with the person who is likely the object of angst attacks. During dissolution of marriage, the adult separation anxiety attacks can only receive one-sided treatment since here the loss is not irrational but actually occurring. It is noteworthy that no age group is exempt from suffering the effects of the disorder. Even senior citizens may require treatment if they lose the continued presence of a loved one.

Detecting the presence of the disorder is not easy. In many cases there are concurrent psychological issues that feature into the overall experience of adult separation anxiety attacks. They include excessive worrying about the loss of the spouse, a refusal to plan for life without the person, interrupted sleep or nightmares that center on the theme of separation in a variety of symbolic expressions, bouts of crying and even the development of co-morbid conditions.

The latter may include panic disorders, the formation of social phobias and also clinical depression. Sufferers from the disorders are considered to have a three times higher risk of becoming addicted to illicit drugs. It is worrisome that currently there is actually no standardized treatment for anxiety of this kind. As those affected by the condition experience a severe impact on their personal and professional lives, mental health professionals oftentimes only have the opportunity to treat one or more symptoms, especially when the patient fails to seek out help on a consistent basis.

Stephen Daniels is an acclaimed SEO 2.0 researcher of practices, products, and services for a variety of industries. If you are looking for a San Clemente psychologist to treat your anxiety, he recommends Professional Psychology.

Older Adults Have Lower Rates of Mood, Anxiety Disorders (nlm.nih.gov)
Mood and anxiety disorders affect many older adults (physorg.com)

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The Best Treatments for Anxiety

Tracee Bergman — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:18:02 +0000

Although it seems like something that you would not expect, chocolate is a wonderful way to treat anxiety. This sweet treat has all the things that our bodies need in order to be able to produce the right chemicals to keep us happy and in a good mood. If you often feel nervous try eating a bit of this. Even just a little will go a long way with easing your nervousness.

If you are looking for the best natural treatment to anxiety then there is nothing else that compares to exercise. While you keep your body healthy, you can also keep your mind healthy. Exercising allows you to get rid of the all the negative energy and extra adrenaline while promoting the production of happy hormones.

Have you ever noticed that when anxiety takes over you sometimes feel short of breath and it makes you panic? Just by breathing properly you can already help to get rid of your anxiety. There are certain breathing techniques which can help you calm down physically and mentally as well. By staying calm you can prevent anxiety attacks from happening.

Stress plays a big factor with the anxiety that we feel. It triggers it, adds to it and can make you feel worse. You can combat anxiety by de-stressing. Do things that you enjoy, take some time out for some peace and quiet or even just listen to some calming music. Whatever it is that helps you to ease the tension, do it.

Do you enjoy coffee or spirits? Consider cutting down on these or even eliminating it from your diet completely. Both of these affect the nervous system and can make you anxious as well as agitated. Try looking for alternative drinks that do not contain caffeine or alcohol. This is one of the best treatment for anxiety and depression that you will find around.

Ready to take on something new? Alternative treatments are a great way to cure anxiety. You will be able to find many different choices when it comes to this. Whether it is yoga, acupuncture, hypnosis or any other alternative method it should help you ease your tension.

Did you know that how you think affects your anxiety as well? Among the best treatments for anxiety includes a method known as self talk. Once you begin to feel anxious all you have to do is talk to yourself, reassure yourself about the situation and what is happening. Once you can curb the negative thoughts you can calm down.

Notice how some certain scents can bring you back to a place or make you experience specific emotions? This can be one of the best treatments for anxiety. When you begin to feel tense or you are starting to panic smell something that will give you pleasant and positive memories. This will help you calm down and feel happier.

Don’t be afraid to go through these things. Although it may seem like quite a task to try so many different things out. Go ahead and try to see how each one will fair. Eventually you will find the best treatment for anxiety disorder that will work for you. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

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How To Overcome Anxiety Disorder And Panic Attacks

Anxiety Disorder Symptom Free — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:57:17 +0000

Following is an article that describes the different pieces of the anxiety disorder symptom puzzle.

They are broken down into easily identifiable terms.

How To Overcome Anxiety Disorder And Panic Attacks

By: Lawrence Smiley

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. Anxiety is a generalized mood condition that occurs without an identifiable triggering stimulus. Anxiety is an emotional state, which combines unpleasant thoughts and feelings of fear or worry with bodily changes such as tension and changes in blood flow.

Anxiety

Anxiety disorder

is NOT a mental illness, it is a behavioral condition, and there is a very BIG difference. Anxiety can be either a short term State or a long term Trait. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. When anxiety becomes excessive, it may fall under the classification of an anxiety disorder. Someone suffering from anxiety might also experience it as a sense of dread or panic. Although every anxiety sufferer does not experience panic attacks, they are a common symptom.

Disorder

Because test anxiety hinges on fear of negative evaluation, debate exists as to whether test anxiety is itself a unique anxiety disorder or whether it is a specific type of social phobia. Anxiety attacks and disorders: Guide to the signs, symptoms, and treatment options. Anxiety disorder does not require any medicinal intervention, which is why psychologists have been treating anxiety disorders with psychotherapy for decades; it just falls short of providing complete solution. So, if anxiety disorder is not a mental illness, what can be done to correct it?

Anxiety disorder affects about 15% of the American population, according to studies conducted at the Harvard Medical School. An anxiety disorder is likely present when anxiety continues beyond the time frame of the stressful event or situation. But when anxiety increases to the point of interfering with day-to-day functioning causing dread over everyday situations, anxiety has become a disabling disorder. The individual using alcohol or drugs to make stressful situations more bearable is at risk for addiction at which point there is more than one disorder to deal with. It is important that any physical or mental illness be treated before a person will respond to treatment for the anxiety disorder. Effective therapies for anxiety disorders are available, and research is uncovering new treatments that can help most people with anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives.

Panic

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by repeated and unexpected episodes of intense fear accompanied with sometimes-severe physical symptoms. Panic attacks usually come without warning, and although the fear is generally irrational, the perception of danger is very real.

Panic attacks may be confused with heart attacks. A person experiencing a panic attack will often feel as if he or she is about to die or pass out. Sometimes the response is so extreme that no more than a disturbing thought causes marked feelings of anxiety, and in the worst cases a stimulus so insignificant that it cannot even be identified causes a major attack of panic. So what you are experiencing in my opinion is part of the anxiety/panic cycle.

Fear

Fear is similar to anxiety in that the emotional and physiological states are very similar experiences. One of the most common symptoms of anxiety is fear, which includes the fear of dying. You feel an intense fear when you think of dying, or you may think of it more often than normal, or can’t get it out of your mind. Students suffering from test anxiety may experience any of the following: the association of grades with personal worth, fear of embarrassment by a teacher, fear of alienation from parents or friends, time pressures, or feeling a loss of control. The fear of failing a task and being negatively evaluated for it can have a similarly negative effect on the adult. Although you may know you really have nothing to fear, your emotions seem to overpower your reason.

However, fear has come to imply a much wider range of feelings of anxiety and worry. They include: feelings of irritability, depression, guilt and hostility a tendency to introspection, self-criticism and negative thoughts excessive dependency on other people an inability to perform well in stressful situations such as examinations or interviews a susceptibility to phobias and irrational worry a tendency to psychosomatic illness and worries about health a decrease in one’s ability to function efficiently in life and to cope with everyday problems that can causes anxiety.

Conclusion

Another view is that anxiety is a future-oriented mood state in which one is ready or prepared to attempt to cope with upcoming negative events suggesting that it is a distinction between future events. This might indicate that anxiety is a protective mechanism designed to prevent the organism from engaging in potentially harmful behaviors. If you are one of these people, you will not need to be told that this excessive nervousness or social anxiety is completely unhelpful!

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Anxiety Disorder Symptom – How To Diagnose A Panic Attack

Anxiety Disorder Symptom Free — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:41:58 +0000

When you’re suffering from any type of anxiety disorder symptom, one of the most frightening aspects is the onset of panic attacks.

According to SocialAnxietyDisorder.net, panic attacks are described as follows:

The essential feature of a Panic Attack is a discrete period of intesnse fear or discomfort in the absence of real danger that is accompanied by at least 4 of 13 somatic or cognitive symptoms. Symptoms can be somatic or cognitive in nature and include palpitations, sweating, trembling or shaking, sensations of shortness of breath or smonthering, feeling of choking, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal distress, dizziness or lightheadedness, derealization or depersonalization, fear of losing control or going crazy, fear of dying, paesthesias, and chills or hot flushes.

These symptoms can be debilitating, to say the least!

Panic attacks and anxiety disorders go hand in hand. When you feel any of these symptoms, make sure you consult your physician as soon as possible!

In the meantime, grab this FREE 7 day ecourse to start your own anxiety disorder recovery!

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What Causes Our Anxiety Disorder Symptom?

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:07:59 +0000

Click here to get your FREE 7 day mini course on how to beat anxiety!

What Causes Our Anxiety Disorder Symptom?

By Chaim Packer

This is a question that really needs to be approached on several levels, with very different practical implications. We will discuss some of the common causes of anxiety disorder symptom here today.

The fundamental question is what doctors and scientists call “etiological”-the scientific search for the underlying origin of a disease and for the factors that lead an individual to develop or be predisposed to develop that disorder. In the case of anxiety disorders, unfortunately, the scientific answer to “what causes it?” is still for the most part…”unknown.”

Different theories attempt to find the cause in specific life experiences, psychological characteristics, dysfunctional brain circuits, and genetic factors. Current scientific research is concentrating on the biochemistry of the brain and neurotransmitters. At present, however, it seems probable that different anxiety disorders can have quite different origins. Panic disorder seems to have a strong genetic component, for instance, while conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and some phobias seem to be caused by external stresses rather than internal physical problems.

On another level the “cause” of any anxiety disorder could be considered the internal mechanism of the disorder. What is the process by which an underlying problem-whether it’s a genetic marker or a particular traumatic life event-gets transformed into the experiential symptoms of a panic attack, a pattern of compulsive behavior, or an inability to function in social situations? For most people suffering from these ailments, their mental anxiety is accompanied by disconcerting and even disabling physical symptoms-racing pulse, dizziness, stomach disorders, hyperventilation, headaches.

This level of causation is actually pretty well understood for many forms of anxiety. It seems to lie in a faulty activation of the body’s natural defensive response to external danger and attack-often called the “fight or flight” response. When the brain perceives danger, it sends out signals and releases hormones that cause the heart rate to surge, the blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense and breathing to becomes rapid, etc. In an actual physical emergency, these physical responses are protective. In anxiety attacks, they are disabling.

Understanding the mechanism, even if we don’t understand the deeper origin, has made it possible to develop treatment approaches that work by shutting down or treating specific elements of the acute stress response sequence. Beta blockers can prevent the elevated heart rate, and anti-anxiety drugs sedate the brain to prevent some of the excessive chemical and hormonal signals. Breath-control conditioning can help people control their hyperventilation. SSRI anti-depressants work within the brain to alter the way specific neurotransmitters direct the release of stress reactive hormones.

Yet another “cause” that can often be recognized and treated in anxiety disorders is the “trigger” that for many people will immediately precede an acute episode or a particular behavior pattern. Sometimes that trigger played a role in the initial development of the disorder, but in any case it has become linked through association to the feelings and symptoms and now has become a second- or third-level cause. If someone subject to panic attacks happens to experience one while on a plane, for example, in the future being on a plane or just anticipating being on a plane may become a trigger to cause other panic episodes. A number of therapeutic techniques have been developed which attempt to recondition that associative process-exposure therapy and desensitization, for example. Similarly, some anxiety is linked to lifestyle triggers like caffeine consumption, alcohol, or stress, which can be changed to help bring the disorder under control.

Even if the root cause of every form of anxiety is someday identified through scientific research, there is no guarantee that those causes would lead to cures. But understanding the more local causes in our body’s responses and in our external environments does offer hope and help to people who suffer from anxiety disorders.

Chaim Packer is passionate about helping others with this debilitating condition. For more great information on anxiety disorder symptom, visit http://www.alleviatepanicattacks.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chaim_Packer

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Anxiety Disorder Symptom » anxiety disorder

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