ANXIETY AND PANIC DISORDER IT’S CAUSES AND CURE.

BY DEORAO K.

Anxiety and panic have become common today maybe because of urbanization, fast-forward life, disputed families, and cut-throat competition. Its incidence is steadily increasing. We should be worried about that because it can affect mental health.

If you are the one suffering from anxiety and panic disorder, continue reading…

Being worried is normal if it is within the limit. Actually, a little bit of worry is good. Worry makes you alert and serious about the things you have to do.

But when it becomes excessive and for a prolonged duration, it may turn into anxiety or generalized anxiety disorder, and in extreme cases panic disorder.

WHAT IS ANXIETY AND PANIC DISORDER?

In this case, people are constantly worried about both important and unimportant things. Sometimes you can’t figure out why you are worried. The anxiety episode may last for a few minutes to several hours.

It can even get triggered with small and unimportant things, triggers could be anything. Anxiety suddenly goes from zero to a hundred within a few minutes.

You may feel nervous, irritated, with the pounding of heart, cold sweat, heavy-headedness, choking, tightness of chest, hopeless, often overthink about things, stressed and sad.

We can put anxiety into different types.  If you have an acute episode it is called acute anxiety or if it persists for a longer time it is called chronic anxiety. Or in extreme cases, a person feels panicked.

We can typify anxiety as follows,

COMMON ANXIETY:-

If you feel anxious about certain situations and occasions such are examination, public speaking, interviews, or conversing with a person with higher authority.

This is a simple form of anxiety and can be called common anxiety. You don’t have to do anything about it. You will get better with confrontation, persistence, and practice. It doesn’t last very long.

COMMON ANXIETY DISORDER:-

If an anxiety episode is repeated several times in a week or month is called anxiety disorder

GENERALIZED ANXIETY DISORDER:-

If anxiety persists for a longer period of time regardless of the triggers, This is nothing but a general anxiety disorder.

PANIC DISORDER:-

A panic attack is an episode of intense and uncontrollable anxiety. A panic attack can last for a few minutes to several hours. Generally, for a short period of time.

As per Dr. David Burn, you will experience at least four or maybe all signs and symptoms in panic attack from signs and symptoms mentioned below,

The person may experience dizziness, pounding of heart, trembling or shaking, tightness in the chest, pain in the chest, racing thoughts, a lump in throats, palpitation, diarrhea or upset stomach, rapid breathing, a choking or smothering sensations, shortness of breath, tingling, and or numbness of fingers, hot flushes, chills, sweating, the heaviness of head or you may feel like either you or world is unreal.

These symptoms can go from zero to a hundred and from a hundred to zero quickly.

When the panic attack is at its high, you may feel like losing control over yourself, may go crazy, may go unconscious, or may die of a heart attack during a panic attack.

Nothing from this will happen in reality but you will get the strong and uncontrollable feeling that this might happen.

Some people may think that they will go crazy and lose control over themselves or may think that anxiety is the result of some psychological problems in them but that is not true anxiety and panic is not psychosis.

During a panic attack, people feel tightness in the chest and sometimes choking and breathlessness, the person thinks that he has got a heart attack and may rush to the hospital with complaints of a heart attack. But when tested often results come normal.

There is the rare possibility that anxiety is related to any psychological disorder. Or anxiety is rare in physiological diseases.

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER(OCD):-

OCD is also a form of anxiety disorder. In this case, a person feels fearful and anxious about upcoming dangers that may hurt them and perform repetitive behavior as a precautionary measure.  Repetitive thoughts and behavior are often unconscious actions.

For instance, a person suffering from OCD wash hands and legs to avoid upcoming imaginary infections that may hurt him. Or check the door lock repetitively to avoid upcoming theft. 

PHOBIA:-

Phobia is excessive anxiety and fear of certain things and situations.

POST-TRAUMATIC ANXIETY:-

Anxiety starts after emotional trauma or shock.

CAUSES OF ANXIETY AND PANIC DISORDER:-

1. AVOIDANCE AND DENIAL:-

Every person has conflicts and problems in life, it is part of life, and nothing new about it. The problem starts when instead of solving the problems either you avid it and behave like everything is normal or you deny that you don’t have problems at all.

The same goes for conflicts, instead of taking head on either you avoid or deny it.

One day these conflicts and problems come back to you as boomerangs with greater intensity. It leads to bigger problems and conflicts and leads to stress, fear, frustration, anxiety, and panic.

Avoidance and denial are some of the most important reasons for anxiety and panic disorder.

2. SELF SABOTAGING BEHAVIOR:-

Self-sabotaging habits can get you anxiety and panic disorder.

For example, In this case person lack self-esteem and self-worth. They have a firm assumption about themselves that they are good for nothing. This leads to procrastination, avoidance, decreased confidence.

These types of people think that they don’t deserve anything good to happen to them.

If they get success, luxurious life, high social status, a lead position they start feeling nervous and anxious and in some cases panic because they don’t understand how to handle this overwhelming feeling. They already made their mind that they deserve all the misery but not success.

Because of their underconfident nature, they feel anxious and panic when bigger tasks are given to them. For instance, if someone asks them to lead they instantly get anxious and avoidant because in their mind they feel undeserving of the responsibility.

Jealousy and envy can also make you anxious and panic. Jealousy and envy develop from comparison and inferiority complex, Jealousy and envy make you feel nervous, irritated, sad, and anxious.

3. LOW EMOTIONAL TOLERANCE:-

In this case, the person has a low tolerance for high emotional situations. i.e. they have low emotional intelligence.

When they get into emotional situations they get serious, stressed, and anxious instantly.

4. TOXIC SHAME:-

Toxic shame is a state of extreme shame and awkwardness.

In this condition, people feel extreme shame in certain conditions. For instance, disability, body color, and body shape and size. People feel shame for these flaws may be because of social stigma.

When other people come to know about their flaws, their toxic shame gets to activate. They start feeling shameful, anxious, and panic.

Some people may feel extreme shame and awkwardness in certain situations. For instance, public speaking, social gathering, crowded places, or hanging out with beautiful girls. When such people get this type of situation they feel extremely shy, awkward, anxious, and panicked.

Feeling shy is a normal emotion but when it exceeds the normal threshold you will start feeling anxious and panicked.

5. REPRESSED FEELINGS CAN CAUSE ANXIETY AND PANIC DISORDER:-

Repressed feelings and emotions can cause anxiety and panic, especially anger.

When you repressed feelings they won’t go away but accumulate deep inside your mind. After some time you become a gas chamber and it burst into anxiety and panic.

Anger is most common to cause anxiety and panic.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ,

1. 9 Hacks To Counter Social Anxiety While In Social Situations And Networking Events.
2. 6 Reasons Why Army Personnel Have Highest Happiness Index.

6. NEGATIVITY AND OVERTHINKING:-

You have a negative angle for every situation and incidence that happens with you and around you. Negative thinking makes things look worse but in reality, it is something else.

The Overthinking is a result of negative thinking and fears. Overthinking is based on thinking about consequences and the result of a particular problem, conflict, or situation.

Overthinking is purely based upon the imagination of what will happen in the future. Because of it, problems and consequences appear bigger and more serious.

Negative thoughts and overthinking exaggerate the situation and take you away from reality, because of this people start worrying. This will eventually lead to anxiety and panic disorder.

7. FEARS:-

Fears are also responsible for anxiety and panic. Especially the fear of death, fear of abandonment, and fear of losing loved ones.

8. PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CAUSES:-

People who are having anxiety and panic often think that they are suffering from some psychological diseases but that is not true.

Psychosis and schizophrenia never cause anxiety rather they may cause overconfidence because of the inability to figure out the gravity of the situation.

But some medicine, drugs, and physiological conditions can cause anxiety. e.g. caffeine, nicotine, and drugs.

Physiological conditions such as electrolyte imbalance, hypoglycemia, hormonal like hyperthyroidism, withdrawal symptoms in alcohol, and drug addiction can cause anxiety and panic disorder.

HOW TO CURE ANXIETY AND PANIC DISORDER.

1. ACCEPT THE SITUATION.

First, you have to accept that you have anxiety and or panic. Acceptance is the first step to solving any problems.

Accepting set your mind free to change the current situation. It becomes easy for improvement. It shows you are honest with your feelings.

Many people don’t receive the proper therapy or treatment because they are not ready to accept that they are suffering from anxiety and panic or they don’t want to disclose it.

2. FIND OUT WHAT’S TROUBLING YOU.

Once you accept and confirmed that you have anxiety and panic, you need to find out the probable reason that is troubling you.

There is always an underlying cause of anxiety. Most probably one of the above-mentioned causes.

3. HEAD ON.

If you have conflicts and problems in your life just confront them, head-on before it creates more trouble.

No matter what happens, no matter what the outcome will be, never ever avoid or deny conflicts and problems in life. When you take head-on, the conflict will get solved early and you feel relieved.

If you have problems, deal with them find a solution and let them end before it becomes a monster for you. Today or tomorrow only you have to solve your problems.

It will not get solved of its own and nobody will come for your refuge. The same goes for conflicts.

4. SELF IMPROVEMENT.

If you have self-sabotaging habits like lack of self-esteem, feeling unworthy, under-confidence, inferiority complex, jealousy, or envy.

You must work on self-improvement. With some practice and perseverance, you can easily change these habits.

5. SHAME ATTACKING.

Shame attacking is the best technic to counter toxic shame and awkwardness. Confront your fears. Do the things forcefully which you feel ashamed of.

Embrace your flaws and shortfalls. You are not the only one on planet earth who has flaws, but every single person also has something.

Confront the situations which make you feel shameful, shy, and awkward. For instance practice public speaking, go to social functions, go to crowded places.  

6. FEAR ATTACKING.

Fear attacking or confrontation is the best way to deal with fears.

First, you need to find out what type of fears you have, then it will become easy to tackle them. For example, all phobia is due to fear of death or in the most accurate word is fear of painful death. If you are constantly worried about your family you have fear of losing loved ones. Or if you are constantly worried about money, you have fear of going poor and homeless.

Once you found out the root cause of your fear, you will easily find a way to tackle it. 

7. EXPRESS FEELINGS.

Don’t repress your feelings, especially anger. Here I don’t ask you to indulge in revenge and violence.

There are other methods of anger management also. There are subtle ways to express your emotions and feelings.

8. POSITIVITY AND OPTIMISM.

Negative thinking and overthinking are the major reasons for anxiety and panic.

Negative thinking will vanish with a positive reframing of the situation and optimism. Thinking too much about consequences makes you feel powerless.

You will find a lot of ways to tackle negative thoughts and overthinking in the book “THE FEELING GOOD” by the renowned psychiatrist and cognitive therapy expert Dr. Burn.

9. MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS.

Meditation and mindfulness can be helpful in some patients. Meditate daily, maintain a gratitude log, forgive people, move on on things troubling you.

10.PROFESSIONAL HELP.

If self-control and optimism are not working for you, better for you to go for professional help from a licensed psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor.

Cognitive therapy work best in this condition medicine therapy can be the last option.