If you have an anxiety disorder then you will really struggle to respond to certain situations. You will have problems like mixed emotions, feelings of fear, dread of certain things; you may have a habit of breaking out into sweats and of course suffer from a raised heartbeat when you are faced with certain things. To diagnose an anxiety disorder a medical professional will do so by seeing if someone has had an overactive response to a situation that otherwise would be normal for someone that doesn’t suffer with anxious behaviour. The professional will check if they are unable to control the response to the disorder, or if you have made any drastic changes in their life to accommodate for the disorder.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
OCD-Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, this is where the sufferer will get repetitive obsessions. Things like having to do things over and over again, like washing hands to get rid of germs, line items up in size order, and make sure that they are all in place. Perhaps have to walk in a certain manner, not stepping on a certain paving stone. Fearing germs and generally being edgy when things are not kept in a certain order. The symptoms of OCD usually start in kids, and then carry on into adulthood. There are a number of mediations that can be used to treat this though.
Panic Disorders– are another type of anxiety disorder that can be found. They are caused by someone having a lot of fear of something that really is not dangerous. Things like being scared of heights, being scared of being in an enclosed space, getting scared of water, flying on planes, certain animals, blood. Anything that is feared to the extreme can be diagnosed as a phobia. Usually those that come into contact with their fear have an extreme panic attack when faced with it. Their hearts will beat fast; they will get anxious, have problems with breathing need to get away, and perhaps will also start to shake. There are again medicines available to treat people with this type of disorder.
PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
This is a very serious mental illness that can kick in after experiencing a very traumatic event in life. Victims that have gone through rape, been abused over a long period of time and have escaped their abuser, perhaps suffered or seen a very bad accident, or been in a war situation are all individuals that have a higher chance of suffering from this as it can be triggered at any time after the event happened. It makes people get very stressed out, perhaps have flashbacks of the event that happened, making suffers feel like they are living it over and over again. Sufferers will have very bad dreams; they may get very tense and angry, get very sad, sick and worried to the extreme. It can affect children or adults, and can actually kick in months, even years after the event, perhaps triggered by stress, no one really knows. It can be controlled with drugs and therapy.
It must be noted that counselling is a very important part of the recovery process when someone has been diagnosed with any of the above conditions.
Please note, it is very important that you seek medical advice if you think that you, or a loved one are showing traits of one of the above disorders.