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Author: Janie Stewart

CategoriesAnxity

Childhood Anxiety Disorder and Phobias

by Janie Stewart

Children also have anxiety in their lives, and can suffer from the same disorders. Stressful times, like starting school, the loss of a parent, or moving, can cause an anxiety disorder, especially if such events happen in conjunction or rapid succession, but disorders can develop with no apparent catalyst as well.

Children are susceptible to all of the recognised anxiety disorders, but some are more common in childhood, and a few can be specific to certain ages. Separation Anxiety Disorder and Specific Phobia are more common in children of about 6-9 years old. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) are inclined to manifest in middle childhood and adolescence. Depression is also common in children, especially teenagers.

Children display and react to Anxiety Disorder symptoms differently to adults, and this can make it difficult to diagnose. Such symptoms are often dismissed as a phase brought on by puberty, which makes it hard to ascertain if the problem is actually a disorder.

Social Anxiety Disorder is most often diagnosed in the mid-teens, but can occur in preschool or grade school children. Left untreated, SAD can continue into adulthood, bringing with it an increased risk of depression and alcohol abuse.

Signs may include an unreasonable fear of at least one social or performance situation. An obvious dread of dealing with peers or interacting with adults. The symptoms are sweating, racing heart, stomachache, dizziness, crying, tantrums, and freezing. The child will tend to avoid or have intense dread of feared situations. Poor performance at school and bad attendance, a lack of ability to handle social situations with peers or develop and maintain friendships. Childhood SAD can appear as Separation Anxiety Disorder, Selective Mutism or School Refusal/Avoidance.

Phobias – illogical yet powerful fears – affect more than one in eight Americans at some time. Phobias are the most common kind of anxiety disorder. If you suspect that you might suffer from a phobia, complete the following self-test and show the results to your health care professional.

Do you suffer from a phobia? Answer the questions below to find out.

Do you suffer from a shortness of breath or rapid heart beat with no obvious cause?
Do you have a strong, ongoing dread of social interactions with strangers?
Can you travel without a companion?
Do everyday situations or domestic animals frighten you?
Are you afraid of places or situations in which finding help or escaping the situation would be difficult, like crowds or boats?
Are you afraid of anything which other people don’t seem to have a problem with?

People who have more than one illness are difficult to diagnose and treat, depression and substance abuse commonly complicate phobias, and should be taken into account when answering the next set of questions.

Have your sleeping or eating habits changed at all?
Do you often feel sad or depressed?
Do you lack interest in life or feel worthless or guilty?

In the recent past, has the abuse of alcohol or drugs caused you to :

Fail at work, school, or family?
Endanger your life?
Be arrested?
Continue even though it caused problems for you and/or your family?

Answering yes to most of these questions would indicate an underlying problem, and you should seek medical help.

CategoriesAnxity

Prescription drugs can treat Anxiety Disorders

by Janie Stewart

Many panic disorder sufferers can be successfully treated without resorting to medication. It is also rarely appropriate to provide medication without the use of psychotherapy to help educate and change the patient’s behaviours related to their association of certain physiological sensations with fear. When medication is needed, the most commonly prescribed class of drugs for panic disorders are the SSRI antidepressant medications, such as Zoloft and Paxil, the tricyclic antidepressant medications like Imipramine, and the benzodiazepines, such as clonazepam and alprazolam. These medications can provide much relief from panic attacks and help the patient to return to their normal level of functioning. Prescription drugs can treat Anxiety Disorders.

Deciding whether to try a benzodiazepine or an anti-depressant is best left to a psychiatrist, and will depend on the severity of the symptoms, as well as which one works best for each individual person. Benzodiazepines work quickly and can be taken just prior to a situation that might provoke a panic attack, but they can also produce strong physical and psychological dependence, in addition to the possibility of unpleasant side effects such as significant drowsiness that can impair the ability of the patient to function effectively.

Antidepressant drugs for anxiety include the SSRI medications, such as Zoloft and Paxil. These are taken on a continuous basis, but while they usually have few side effects, they can produce headaches, nervousness, stomach upset, and changes in appetite, sleep, and libido. The other antidepressant medications prescribed for panic include the tricyclic, Imiprimane. These medications can produce some nasty side effects such as dry mouth, dizziness, blurred vision, low blood pressure, and they can also affect cardiovascular functioning. The MAOI antidepressant medications such as Nardil can also be used to treat panic, but these require eating a strict diet that does not include foods high in the amine presser, Tyramine, such as cheese, beer, wine, fave beans, concentrated yeast extracts, and many more. Eating these foods while on an MAOI can cause a severe hypertensive crisis, leading to stroke, heart attack or even death. Because of the restrictions on one’s diet, MAOIs are not often prescribed.

Self-Help

The medical profession often overlooks self-help methods for the treatment of panic and anxiety disorder because very few professionals are involved in them. Many support groups exist within communities throughout the world to help patients with this disorder share their experiences and feelings. Patients should be encouraged to try out new coping and relaxation skills with those whom they meet in support groups. These can be an important part of expanding the individual’s skill set and developing new, healthier social relationships.

Sufferers of panic disorder should engage in healthy lifestyle activities such as exercising, correct eating habits and getting plenty of rest. These activities can be a great start to helping to reduce panic symptoms. This is because exercise, in particular the cardiovascular variety, strengthens the communication centre in the brain that deals with the fight-or-flight response system to stress. Exercise also relaxes the body and improves mood.

Eating at regular intervals throughout the day is also important in reducing panic and/or anxiety feelings. This is because if we go for periods longer than 5-6 hours without something to eat, our blood sugar levels begin to fall. People who are prone to panic attacks are much more sensitive to the effects of low blood sugar. When blood sugar levels fall, it can produce feelings of anxiety severe enough to cause a panic attack. Therefore, it is important to eat regularly throughout the day.

Getting enough sleep is also important, and 7-9 hours a day is optimum. Lack of sleep can produce physiologic arousal, especially in those with sensitive bodies. This in turn can produce symptoms of anxiety and panic, such as feelings of unreality or depersonalization, nausea and rapid heart rate, which can make it more likely for a sensitive person to have a panic attack.

CategoriesAnxity

Using drugs to treat Anxiety Disorders

by Janie Stewart

Before you start psychological or drug therapy, have a complete medical examination, which will help to determine whether or not your anxiety symptoms are caused by a medical condition. In addition, your doctor will most likely also be able to discover whether certain prescription or over-the-counter medications might be causing your symptoms. Heart conditions, thyroid disease or medications, and cold remedies can all be causes of the psychological and bodily symptoms of an anxiety disorder.

Usually some combination of the psychological and drug therapies that are particularly good at relieving the symptoms of anxiety disorders are to be found at anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress treatment centres. A lot of private therapists specialise in anxiety disorders and in post-traumatic therapy.

Once you have been diagnosed, try asking your potential therapist a few questions, such as what is their approach to treatment, how do they define recovery, what are your chances of recovery, and what is their rate of success with patients who suffer from your illness? Enquire about their experience in treating your illness, how often you will meet, and for how long, how long before you start to feel better, what happens if you have a set-back during treatment, or a relapse after the treatment and does the therapist provide follow-ups? Also ask if you can talk to a former patient about his or her experience in the treatment program. If the therapist is unwilling to give you any hints of a diagnosis or does not take your questions seriously, you might be well advised to look elsewhere.

You should also enquire about the cost of the proposed treatment programme, and whether or not the therapist is state-certified so that their clients are reimbursed by their insurance companies. The majority of medical insurance plans have some compensation for treatment by licensed professionals, and a lot of therapists offer sliding scales based on what you can afford.

Take heart, help is not necessarily out of reach, even if your financial resources are very limited. Drug treatment is usually quite economical and is successful in a lot of patients, controlling or containing troubling symptoms. Behaviour and cognitive therapy can be self-administered to a certain extent, with the aid and support of self-help groups.

Some common misspellings of popular drugs on the internet are : atiwan, atavan, atevan, carisoprodol, clonazepam, co-codamal, aprazolam, anbiem, ambiem, daizepam, adepix and zenical. Also, depressoin, perscription, presciption, prescriptoin, medicatoins.

CategoriesAnxity

Using drugs to treat Anxiety Disorders.

by Janie Stewart

Many people are reluctant to try drug therapy to alleviate the symptoms of their anxiety disorder for a variety of reasons. Some are put off by the expense of doctor’s visits and prescriptions. Others have heard unpleasant tales about the side effects and addiction. A few think that using a medicinal remedy to treat a psychological illness is ridiculous.

By the same token, a lot of people prefer anxiety drug therapy for equally numerous and sound reasons. As a short term solution, it is far less expensive and time-consuming than traditional psychological therapies. Results are fast and concrete, alleviating the symptoms completely or to a great degree. Many anxiety medications for anxeity disorders have no troublesome side effects and a lot are non-addictive. The medication option can be very helpful for sufferers for whom other therapies have proven useless. In addition, to address the debate about using a medicinal remedy to alleviate a psychological illness, data indicates that biology forms an important part of the factors which cause anxiety disorders. Thoughts and feelings are neurobiological events, and therefor it is quite reasonable to say that a psychological problem can be treated successfuly with a medicinal anxiety remedy.

A great deal of evidence now suggests that the best way to treat the acute stages of anxiety disorders is to combine anxiety drug treatments and psychological treatments like behaviour therapy and cognitive therapy. Often, when the patient is past the worst stages of the illness, and is making good strides towards recovery with psychological therapy, the drugs can be reduced or ultimately discontinued, although a large number of sufferers stay on the medications indefinitely, and lead a normal life because of them.

Ask your doctor for all the information about the prescription amxiety drug that he has given you. If you ask the pharmacist, he or she will usually give you the leaflet that comes with the drug, which lists the medication’s various uses, possible side effects, and any other dangers that might be associated with it. This is a technical document, so you may need to refer to a medical dictionary while you are reading it. Medical dictionaries are available at many bookstores and libraries. Keep in mind that that such packaging inserts list every side effect ever reported for a drug are not clear on how common such side effects are, which can make reading them alarming and confusing. Try to consult your doctor or pharmacist about the information in the packaging insert.

CategoriesAnxity

Anxity, symptoms, treatments, tips, help

by Janie Stewart

Social Anxiety Disorder, or Social Phobia, also known as SAD, is characterised by intense anxiety the judgment of others or behaviour that may cause ridicule or embarrassment. This unreasonable anxiety can lead to avoidance behaviour. Physical symptoms are typically heart palpitations, blushing, faintness and profuse sweating.

Specific phobias cause people to suffer from terror of a particular object or situation such as dogs, spiders or heights. The intensity of the fear is commonly inappropriate to the perceived threat, and is recognised as irrational by the sufferer. This intense dread can often lead to avoidance of everyday situations. Anxiety disorders are readily treated by medication and/or psychosocial therapies.

Psycho social therapies for anxiety disorders include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), anxiety management, exposure therapy, relaxation therapies and psychotherapy. Effective drugs include selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), benzodiazepines, beta blockers, tri cyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs).
Combination therapies are also effective.

Buspirone (Buspar) is usually prescribed in a daily dosage of 20-60 mg. It is effective and safe for the treatment of GAD, but usually takes around three or four weeks to take effect. Buspirone is better than benzodiazepines for treating apprehension, worry and depression. It is a very useful treatment for elderly patients who are more sensitive to benzodiazepine, and can be combined with benzodiazepines for excellent results.
Buspirone is not addictive, has minimal side effects, and does not interact with alcohol. The side effects are dizziness, headaches, and nausea.

Benzodiazepines include Xanax (alprazolam), Klonopin (clonazepam), Ativan (Iorazepam) and Valium (diazepam). These drugs act rapidly and effectively to relieve panic attacks and general anxiety, but they can be addictive, cause tiredness and impair memory. When sensibly employed, these medications are helpful for a short time, but they often lose their effectiveness over the long term.

Benzodiazepines relieve autonomic and somatic symptoms better than the psychic symptoms, but they do not prevent depression and may even make it worse. Anxiety is often found with several other psychiatric illnesses, including depression, and therefore the use of Benzodiazepines is often used in combination with other drugs.

Specific Phobia is the unreasonable fear of an object or a situation, which can cause a Panic Attack. Sufferers of phobias know that their fear is abnormal, but cannot control it. The object or situation which causes the phobia is mostly avoided or anticipated with dread.

Such phobias interfere with the sufferers life in many ways, in particular when it prevents the advancement of their career because they have a fear of flying, or it can affects them socially if they have agoraphobia, which can often lead to a reclusive lifestyle. The degree of the phobia varies dependant on the proximity of the feared object or the sufferer’s ability to escape the dreaded situation. A certain amount of fear of dangerous situations is entirely normal, however, and is not considered a phobia.

Phobias sometimes manifest in childhood, often instigated by a traumatic event, such as being bitten by a dog, which may lead to an irrational fear of dogs. Such phobias sometimes disappear as the sufferer matures. The fear of certain kinds of animals is the most common, and can be associated with Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia.

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