The Forms Of Anxiety

There's a tendency to consider anxiety to be a single
condition, and to equate anxiety with being or feeling
"nervous". In reality, this is an oversimplification. From
a diagnostic perspective, anxiety actually encompasses a
number of different conditions, each with a unique
symptomology. Treatment of the various anxiety disorders is
also mostly unique, though there may be overlap in some
places.

Generalized anxiety disorder is the most common form of
anxiety, and has basically become the standby definition
for a medically verifiable anxious state. Generalized
anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic worry, chronic
tension, chronic irritability, that doesn't appear to have
a specific cause or is more intensive than would seem
reasonable. In addition to being common, generalized
anxiety is also quite treatment-friendly, with various
treatment techniques shown to be effective.

Another anxiety form is panic disorder. Panic disorder is
characterized by sudden, unpredictable terror feelings. The
unpredictable nature of panic disorder -- symptoms can
happen at any time and are generally not attached to a
particular event -- can cause those with panic disorder to
live in perpetual fear of suffering further panic attacks.
Panic disorder is typically treated with forms of
counseling therapy and / or psychiatric drugs.

The third anxiety form is phobias. Phobias are fears of
things or events that are so profound they encourage or
lead to the altering of one's behavior. A person with a
phobia of some thing may go to exceptional lengths to avoid
coming into contact with their fear cause. The baseline
treatment for phobias is to train those with a phobia to
cope with whatever it is they're afraid of. Anti-anxiety
agents and anti-depressants may be used in phobia treatment.

The final, and most severe, anxiety form is post-traumatic
stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD,
is a trauma effect caused by being witness to, or being a
part of, some terrifying event. PTSD symptoms typically
take the form of some degree of persistent, extreme
agitation. Psychotherapy is a baseline form of treatment
for PTSD. Psychiatric drugs may also be added to treatment.

All anxiety forms that meet a formal diagnosis are
characterized by consistency and duration. A one-time or
occasional anxiety reaction of some sort would likely not
meet the standard for diagnosis, and the need for
subsequent treatment. Consistency in symptoms is key.

If help is sought for an anxious condition, it's relevant
and important to distinguish one's symptoms. To just claim
anxiety to a medical practitioner is being much too vague.
Describing specific anxious symptoms that one is feeling is
vital to ensuring successful treatment.

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Zinn Jeremiah writes on a number of different subjects.
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