Question by AGuyFromCleveland: Is it possible to get over an anxiety disorder without medication?
I have had an anxiety disorder for many years, since my teens (I’m now in my 20s). I have gone to therapy and feel like I’m getting better but there are still days and moments when the anxiety comes back full force. Is it possible to ever get completely over an anxiety disorder, especially the social anxiety part, without using medication?

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Article by Mark Grey

Even though anxiety is traditional considered a healthy and normal emotion, a number of people undergo intense anxiety, or anxiety disorder that ends up affecting their daily live and causing them to keep at bay certain circumstances that they were once able to deal without any trouble. In the case you are suffering from anxiety disorder you need to search a suitable and efficient way of treatment.

The very first thing you should do is to determine the kind of anxiety disorder you experience. There are five major kinds of anxiety disorders: obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Efficient treatments for every anxiety disorder are nowadays accessible, and fresh and improved treatments are becoming available as time passes.

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Question by Heather C: How do anxiety disorders and personality disorders differ from an adjustment disorder?
In an anxiety disorder there can be an identifiable stressor – ex. social anxiety and social situations
Borderline personality – a stressor can be an abusive relationship. How do these things differ?

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Many people with social anxiety disorder feel that there is “something wrong,” but don’t recognize their feeling as a sign of illness. Physiological effects, similar to those in other anxiety disorders, are present in social phobics. Social anxiety disorder can be so debilitating that it interferes with work, school and other routine activities. Social anxiety disorder may be linked to other mental illnesses, such as panic disorder , obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. Signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder can fluctuate over time. Physical symptoms include “mind going blank”, fast heartbeat, blushing, stomach ache. Cognitive distortions are a hallmark, and learned about in CBT. Thoughts are often self-defeating and inaccurate. Some sufferers may use alcohol or other drugs to reduce fears and inhibitions at social events. Social anxiety disorder may co-occur with other anxiety disorders as well as depression. Additionally, people with social anxiety may develop problems with substance abuse or dependence when they use drinking or drugs to “self-medicate” their symptoms. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of antidepressants, are considered by many to be the first choice medication for generalised social phobia. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may be helpful in the treatment of social anxiety disorder. MAOIs and benzodiazepines may require more monitoring than other medications. Beta blockers are sometimes used with performance anxiety, a specific kind of social anxiety.

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Copyright (c) 2008 Hailey Harris

Various Symptoms/Signs Of Anxiety Disorder

In a medical terminology, anxiety disorder usually refers to a state of nervousness or uneasiness. Anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders. It is basically defined as a critical disturbance in the mental state that can ultimately lead to chronic anxiety. It usually arises due to work pressure, highly constrained work schedules which tend to disturb the mood or behavior of a person. However, if proper anxiety treatments are not followed well in time, it can even harm the mental state of a person.

A person suffering from anxiety disorder often experiences a long-drawn-out feeling of distress or fright and discomfortness. This disorder can further create a bad impact on relationships with friends, family and the colleagues.

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Child anxiety disorder is the most common psychiatric disorder in children. These disorders cause a great deal of disruption in the lives of all members of a family. If they are untreated in children, they most often contribute to serious psychiatric illnesses as the children become adolescences and adults.

The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that as many as one in eight children between the ages of nine and seventeen will suffer from an anxiety problem each year. The types of disorders begin at different ages, and studies indicate these disorders follow “developmental progression” from one anxiety to another, and then on to an affective disorder.

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Anxiety disorder is a term used to encompass several other specific disorders associated to worry, fear, tension and anxiety. Phobias or irrational fears are examples of an anxiety disorder. A person suffering from panic attacks or panic disorders is also considered as having an anxiety disorder and is advised to seek treatment. There are numerous symptoms that can determine whether a person has the disorder or not.

However, not all of these symptoms can be seen in one person. Excessive sweating, palpitation, increased fatigue, headaches and concentration problems are examples of these symptoms. Anxiety disorders are often considered as a result of the accumulation of stress, fatigue and trauma. The anxiety attack weakens the immune system and the morale of the affected individual. Careful and regular monitoring of the individual experiencing the disorder is certainly essential.

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Has your spouse become much too superstitious lately? May be s/he was always like that, but may be it has become more pronounced now! His/her habits sometimes make you laugh, at other times angry. However, you would never think that he/she is actually suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, would you?  Nevertheless, there is a big chance that it is the case. If he/she insists on washing his/her hands every half an hour, what he/she needs is not rebuke, but medical help.

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Although anxiety is accepted as being a normal and healthy emotion, some people suffer from intense anxiety, which ends up affecting their lives and causing them to keep away from certain situations that they used to be able to deal without difficulty. If you are suffering from anxiety then you should begin on finding an appropriate and effective method of treatment.

The first thing you need to do is determining the type of anxiety disorder you suffer from. There are five main types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Effective treatments for each anxiety disorder are accessible, and new and enhanced treatments are always becoming available.

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The long list of disorders related to fear includes anxiety disorders.  Anxiety disorder is often manifested in fear episodes, panic attacks, and hysteria.  The symptoms for anxiety disorder may be common among the affected individuals but what triggers an anxiety disorder for an individual may not necessarily be the same for another individual.  Anxiety disorder usually develops from phobias, extreme fear, pain, and stressful events.

Anxiety disorders are also linked to several physiological reactions.  If an individual experiences heart palpitation, muscle spasms, sudden fatigue, and persistent headaches, he or she may develop an anxiety disorder later on.  When an anxiety disorder develops in an individual, the normal functioning of the affected individual is disrupted.  Thus, individuals suffering from anxiety disorders are advised to stay calm and stay still or stay in just one location when the anxiety attack occurs.  These individuals should also be carefully monitored and observed. In treating anxiety disorder consulting an expert or another person on the individual’s capability to resume what he or she has been doing earlier is also advisable.  To prevent any immediate recurrence of the attack, the person should rest at least a day after the occurrence of the anxiety attack.

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