Are you often stressed out by little things? Or maybe when you go in a room with more than a few people, you feel like the walls are closing in. Yep, that’s anxiety all right. When you get stressed, your palms get sweaty and your breath starts catching. It’s a very natural process but there’s a limit to how much you should stress.
Anxiety is a common ailment to many. Recent studies show that in India alone, over 38 million people suffer from anxiety. It’s hard to identify anxiety and many people frown on others with disorders but it is a serious condition.
Here we will go through what exactly anxiety and its disorders entail, and its symptoms. So, if you’re unsure of where you stand in the spectrum of anxiety, you are in the right place!
What is anxiety
Anxiety is how your body naturally reacts to stress. It's quite normal to feel stressed over a job interview or your college finals. In fact, this kind of stress can help motivate you to complete your work. If you procrastinate, a little stress might be just what you need to get started on whatever you are putting off.
Everyone experiences anxiety and our bodies are built to cope with it but many times it can become overwhelming. When anxiety starts interfering with daily life, it is called an anxiety disorder. These come in many forms and you can even have more than one at once.
Anxiety also causes other brain disorders or issues like depression, panic, and more. These are even more dangerous and must be prevented. If you feel any symptoms of anxiety leading to other issues, or even if your anxiety doesn’t decrease over time, seek professional and medical help.
Anxiety symptoms
We’ve established that a certain amount of anxiety is healthy but if your stress doesn’t leave after you hand in that paper or get the job, you might have something to worry about. Anxiety disorders can nag you at the back of your mind making it quite impossible to go on with your life. They force you to change the way you behave and avoid certain situations.
Even if the types of anxiety and its causes are different, our bodies' reactions can be generalized into certain symptoms. Here are some common symptoms of anxiety that can help you identify whether you are simply stressed or are facing anxiety disorder.
- Increased heart rate
- Hyperventilation
- Sweating and trembling
- Trouble concentrating or remembering things
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Feeling a sense of impending doom in normal situations
If you or someone you know experiences three or more of these symptoms you are probably victims of anxiety. Let’s take a look at the types of anxiety you could be experiencing and how to control it.
Types of anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder or chronic anxiety is the most common type. You will find yourself worrying or stressing over things that seem completely normal to everyone else. Nothing provokes you but you’re still startled and nervous.
1. Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is the kind of anxiety centered on fear. You have repeated episodes of terror that include breakdowns, cold sweats, chest pain, palpitations, and dizziness. These can be triggered by long periods of stress, overexertion, or sudden changes in surroundings.
2. Social Phobia
This is a special kind of anxiety that changes a person’s behavior around other people. They become self-conscious and are not comfortable being themselves around others. This type of phobia or fear can manifest itself in the form of stage fright or selective mutism. Another good example would be of people who are scared to eat or drink in front of others. Normal situations are blown out of proportion and this disrupts your day-to-day life.
3. Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder
OCD is a very common form of anxiety. In fact some studies say that at least one in every adult has ocd. It is characterized by a need to repeat actions or obsess over certain details. With ocd, your thoughts simply aren’t your own and you feel compelled to do things over to keep the obsession at bay. You find solace in repetition and recurrent activities. OCD also doesn’t affect everyone in the same way. For example, one person’s OCD can force them to maintain cleanliness in all aspects of their life and another person’s OCD can make them repeat words or perform other senseless actions.
4. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is a very specific type of anxiety that stems from a certain incident. It develops after exposure to traumatic events (hence the name). The event can take place at any point in your life but it must be major; for example, a car accident, witnessing a major crime, participation in war.
And, it’s not just physical. Mental torture or nature-related disasters can also trigger PTSD. A victim of PTSD has symptoms like agitation, irritability, hostility. Trauma patients can even experience psychological changes like flashbacks, intense fear, and mistrust.
Why it happens
You can trigger a person’s anxiety in many ways. For severe cases, examples of common causes are life events, excess stress or pressure.
Anxiety is also caused by outside factors or stimulants. Some stimulants, for example, cause the same symptoms as anxiety- coffee, cocaine, etc. They can cause panic, distress, or hyperventilation.
Can you overcome it?
To overcome anxiety, you can seek medical help. Therapy is a great way to destress. It helps you understand the roots of your problems so you can solve them quicker. As they say, sharing is caring!
Even if you can’t get rid of all the stress in your life, you can ease up every once in a while. One way to overcome anxiety is by being in tune with nature, focus on yourself, and take it slow. You can try meditating, exercising, or finding balance in your life.
Some stimulants are designed to help you destress. For example, our Skinny Skin Tea, the world’s first collagen green tea, has relaxing compounds that sooth the mind and help ease stress. It goes great with meditation to help you focus and relieves your anxiety.
Conclusion:
A little stress, a little anxiety is always healthy. It can help you become a better person, but when anxiety starts controlling your behavior and interfering with daily life, it's time you took it seriously. Knowing the symptoms of anxiety is important so you can help yourself and those around you overcome it. Having anxiety can be tough, but hopefully now, you are able to identify types of anxiety and classify it so you can get proper care for you and the people you know.
Let us know if you’ve tried our Skinny Skin Tea to help you through your stress and don’t forget to tag us on social media!
Types Of Anxiety Infographics
