Anxiety Attacks: When You Should Start and Stop Worrying About What You Feel
Do you often feel like you are on the edge? Are you constantly tensed? Plagued by fears that are often irrational? Chances are good that you share the same condition with the rest of 3.1 percent of the U.S. adult population, or at least 6.8 million Americans. People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience unrealistic, excessive, and persistent fear and worry about every thing every, single day of their lives. Anxiety attacks are one of the most common symptoms of GAD. But those with GAD know that their condition involves more than just the usual butterflies in the stomach.
We experience things that scare us or prompt us to worry about the future. People with GAD, on the other hand, worry about almost everything. Anxiety attacks can be overwhelming; it can inhibit a person to function normally, and can even prevent them from building and nurturing relationships.
Signs and Symptoms
People with GAD experience things that go beyond anxiety attacks. But because anxiety disorder essentially refers to a group of varying yet interrelated conditions, GAD manifests with different symptoms, which can be different from one person to another. For some, anxiety attacks may strike without warning, while others may get panicky at the thought of having to mingle with other people.
Emotional symptoms of anxiety disorder include,
- Irritability
- Restlessness
- Anticipating the worst
- Trouble concentrating
- Feeling jumpy or tense
Anxiety disorder involves more than just feelings: It is real and can manifest physically. People with GAD often mistake these symptoms for medical illness. Some of the common physical symptoms of anxiety disorders are:
- Sweating
- Twitches and tremors
- Frequent diarrhea or urination
- Shortness of breath
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Headache
Panic attacks, also known as anxiety attacks, are essentially brief episodes of fear or panic. More often than not, panic attacks strike without warning. Though most anxiety attacks are triggered by an obvious agent — like being left alone in the pool or the possibility of doing an impromptu public speech — but in some cases, the attacks simply set in, coming out of the blue.
When Being Anxious Shouldn’t Worry You
But it is important to know that not everyone who worries a lot has anxiety disorder. A person may be anxious when warranted, and only proper to be so, by, say, an overly demanding schedule, pressure both at work and home, lack of exercise, and even by having too much coffee. Anxiety disorder and, therefore, anxiety attacks can be treated. Living a stressful and unhealthy lifestyle will only make matters worse.
Take time to evaluate yourself, the things you do, and essentially how you live your life. Do you really take care of yourself? Ask yourself if,
- I really make time for fun and relaxation
- I reach out to other people for emotional support
- I overload myself with responsibilities
- I seek help when I need it most
These are but basic but powerful questions that can help determine your propensity to experience anxiety attacks and even develop anxiety disorder. If your stress levels are way off the chart, you may want to start living the life you deserve and put everything back in balance. You may have responsibilities you can’t give up or clients that you can’t turn down. But how can you meet your or others expectations when you can’t even focus or concentrate on the task at hand? Whenever people think of themselves first, more often than not things will fall into their rightful places.
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