The DSM-5 categorizes anxiety disorders as those conditions that share characteristics of excessive anxiety and fear and associated behavioral issues (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Different anxiety disorders exist today and they include panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, specific phobia, anxiety disorder induced by medication, and anxiety disorder caused by another medical problem (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013).
This paper discusses the etiology, symptoms and treatment of anxiety disorders.
Etiology
An anxiety disorder can be caused by an identified or unknown medical problem. Hereditary factors greatly influence the risk of suffering from a majority of anxiety disorders. Factors in the environment, for instance, early infancy trauma also contribute to the danger of suffering from an anxiety disorder later in life. Studies also demonstrate that the environment and genes interact to cause anxiety disorders (Tambs et al., 2009). For example, people who are resilient to stress do not suffer from an anxiety disorder as much as people who are susceptible to stress as the stress hastens the condition (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013). Theories in psychology offer reasons for the emergence of anxiety disorders. For example, the psychodynamic model describes anxiety as a struggle between the ego and id (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013). People may experience Impulsive and aggressive energies and consider them to be unacceptable, which leads to repression. The repressed energies can then break through suppression to produce unconscious anxiety. The cognitive model describes anxiety as the inclination to overemphasize the possibility for danger (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013). Anxiety disorder patients have a tendency to overestimate the worst possible situation, which forces them to avoid cases that they consider dangerous, for instance, social interaction, heights, or crowds.
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Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
Common symptoms of anxiety disorders highly anxious feelings regarding being around other people and experiencing a difficult time talking to people; sick or nauseous feelings in the presence of other people; self-conscious feelings before other people with worries regarding feelings of rejection, embarrassment or humiliation or being afraid to offend other people. Other symptoms include trembling, sweating, experiencing worries for many days before an occasion where other people will attend and staying away from locations where other people are present. People suffering from anxiety disorders also demonstrate symptoms such as avoidance or fear of locations where panic attacks occurred in the past; repeated and sudden intense fear attacks; out of control feelings during panic attacks and intense apprehensions regarding when the next panic attack will occur. Besides, a person suffering from an anxiety disorder may experience sleep issues, experience difficulties when trying to manage the worry, become fatigued easily, muscle tension, experience difficulties when trying to focus or having the mind go blank and prickliness (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013).
Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
Psychotherapy and pharmacology or both are used to treat Anxiety Disorders. Management of anxiety disorders using psychotherapy entails the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which teaches people various ways of thinking about, behaving towards, and countering fearful situations that produce anxiety (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013). The technique also assists patients to acquire and practice social skills, which is a vital step in dealing with anxiety disorders.
Pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders entails the use of medications to relieve the symptoms of anxiety. Medications can be used as the first treatment line for an anxiety condition, or it can be used only when a patient does not respond to psychotherapy sufficiently (Baldwin & Leonard, 2013). Medications can also be combined with psychotherapy to produce better treatment outcomes. Medications used to treat anxiety disorders include beta-blockers, anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®) . American Psychiatric Pub.
Baldwin, D. S., & Leonard, B. E. (2013). Anxiety disorders . Basel: Karger.
Tambs, K., Czajkowsky, N., Røysamb, E., Neale, M. C., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Aggen, S. H., ... & Kendler, K. S. (2009). Structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for dimensional representations of DSM–IV anxiety disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry , 195 (4), 301-307.
