Anxiety is no simple thing to deal with, as anyone can experience it in different levels. It’s beyond just feeling this need to “make things right” or an overwhelming sense of dread. Sometimes anxiety can cripple the way someone lives their lives, and this can be extremely harmful to someone. Unfortunately, there’s no quick way to diagnose yourself with anxiety disorder. There are, however, ways for you to know if you’re developing an anxiety disorder. This article will give a bit of insight on anxiety and the symptoms to know if you’re developing the condition.
Anxiety: What Is It?
Before you get to learn just what symptoms an anxiety disorder sufferer might have, it’s important to have even a basic understanding of what anxiety is. To start, we need to establish that anxiety in itself is something that is actually normal. Anxiety is the feeling of powerlessness and dread that comes in various situations. Ancient man has learnt to be anxious when there’s a need to survive or protect themselves against predators.
In today’s society, these feelings are placed on often abstract concepts such as stress and fear. This is why examinations or presentations often make us feel anxious, as we feel as though we’re going to fight a predator. Unfortunately, given a lot of anxious situations today are abstract, sometimes they get to be overwhelming for others. It’s when these feelings get too intense that it hinders one from functioning in daily life does anxiety start becoming an anxiety disorder. If you feel you have such a condition, it’s highly recommended you approach institutions such as Psychologist Southern Sydney for assistance.
Anxiety: The Symptoms You May Not Know
With the above taken into consideration, it’s perhaps important to remember that despite being very common, anxiety shouldn’t be something that people take for granted. The alarming numbers above do indicate the need to take more affirmative action towards helping others manage or even overcome their anxiety disorder. In the meantime, you can at least start with identifying things that may be affecting you as well. Here are some more things and symptoms you should know.
- You may have feelings of uneasiness, fear, and panic: Anxiety in general often comes with feelings of panic and fear, but anxiety disorder sufferers have these feelings for a long time. Sometimes, the event that made them anxious may have passed, but the feelings can stay and may even hinder them from doing tasks they should otherwise be able to do as normal people.
- You may have numbness, tingling hands or feet, cold sweat, and not being able to stay still: The feelings of fear and helplessness above may also often be accompanied by physical symptoms. Cold and sweaty hands as well as an inability to stay still are often feelings associated with panic, but those with anxiety disorder feel these on a regular basis and may not even have total control over when they experience these.
- You may experience shortness of breath, tense muscles, and palpitations: A lot of people who have anxiety disorder often feel shortness of breath and palpitations. They’re also visibly stressed compared to others in the same situation. Like mentioned, others with regular anxiety can feel these things, but those with anxiety disorders may find that they experience these uncontrollably and for reasons they can’t exactly explain properly.
- You may have nausea, dizziness, or sleep problems: Those nervous for a presentation or a talk may have a hard time sleeping, be dizzy and even have nausea. Those with anxiety disorder, unfortunately, experience these regularly and uncontrollably. If you feel as though you’re experiencing these but can’t exactly pinpoint where you’re getting these feelings from, you might have an anxiety disorder.
Cause, Diagnosis
Unfortunately, even if you know you have these symptoms, professionals in the medical field have yet to find an accurate cause of these symptoms. Like other mental illnesses, anxiety disorder is rooted on a combination of things including genes, environmental stress, and changes in the brain. As such, formal diagnosis can really only be done by a licensed medical professional, who will not only take tests with you but observe various circumstances in your life.
The Bottomline: Anxiety Is No Simple Matter Of Discussion
Anxiety can be a potentially-crippling condition for someone who has yet to find ways to better manage and cope with the disorder. Sometimes, this can get to the point where one can’t function properly because of the condition, which can extremely be detrimental to someone’s daily life. If you feel as though you might be developing an anxiety disorder, looking into anxiety and the symptoms above to know if you’re developing an anxiety disorder is a matter of great importance. Carefully assess yourself based on the above and approach professional help should you feel as though you need the assistance.