Recognizing the Top Ten Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder

If you or someone you love is suffering from General Anxiety Disorder, (GAD for short), it’s important to recognize the symptoms so you can take steps to reverse it. GAD can have such a negative impact on your daily life –both physically and emotionally!

Unlike occasional occurrences of anxiety, if you have chronic anxiety you’ll experience a combination of recurring symptoms, which are caused by the brain sending messages to parts of the body to prepare for a ‘flight or fight’ response.

If left unchecked, this condition sets the stage for other health and emotional problems. By being proactive you have a much better opportunity to reduce your anxiety or eliminate the condition entirely.

The top ten symptoms of general anxiety:

  1. Fatigue or insomnia
  2. Fidgeting & twitching
  3. Headaches
  4. Nausea
  5. Muscle tension & aches
  6. Heart palpitations
  7. Difficulty swallowing
  8. Trembling
  9. Irritability
  10. Sweating & hot flashes

Just what is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

It’s described as an obsessive worry or general sense of doom that is felt about any variety of issues. When this emotional state occurs often enough, the condition manifests as physical symptoms, too – as described above.

Even though there may be a real basis for the fear and anxiety, the response is irrational and usually blown out of proportion dramatically.

These physical and emotional symptoms must be chronic — persisting over at least 6 months — for a formal diagnosis to be made. However, if you’re feeling any of these symptoms for ANY period of time, it can be quite uncomfortable.

And the problem is, once it starts, GAD rarely goes away on it’s own. Most often, you’ll want to seek support or treatment to help alleviate the condition.

Here’s an important note. Sometimes general anxiety is confused with panic attacks. Panic attacks are a different form of anxiety. As the name implies, they’re more sudden and intense. A panic attack often results from a specific trigger. Meanwhile, general anxiety is usually just below the surface, creating the ‘perfect’ environment for a panic attack.

Here’s an example. A claustrophobic person is trapped in an elevator and feels a panic attack coming on. The trigger for the attack is being stuck in the elevator. But the person may have an underlying case of general anxiety disorder, due to a recent layoff –  and the stress related to this interview, which he is headed to when he got stuck in the elevator!

Common symptoms of a panic attack include rapid heartbeat, perspiration, dizziness, dyspnea (labored breathing), trembling, uncontrollable fear, hyperventilation, tunnel hearing or vision, etc.

Panic attacks may be a rare occurrence, or they may happen regularly, but as  you can see, panic attacks and general anxiety often occur in a person simultaneously, making both conditions more difficult to treat on your own.

Okay, back to general anxiety…. Again, general Anxiety Disorder can have very real negative effect on your life, including stressing  your body and flooding it with cortisol.

Yet, there’s no need to suffer, since there are a variety of proven treatments to lessen or eliminate symptoms of GAD and other forms of anxiety disorders  from your life. Whatever treatment options you take, you’ll feel better when you learn more about anxiety and how to promote your emotional health for the long term!

We’ve reviewed a number of products that are designed to treat general anxiety disorder and panic attacks, by using a holistic, mind-body approach! The one eBook that stood head and shoulders above the rest is called Panic Away.

You can read our full Panic Away Review Here. We we highly recommend that you check it out, and we wish you well on your path to healing!

4 Steps to Treat Severe Anxiety Disorder

Severe Anxiety DisorderAs the name suggests, severe anxiety disorder is an elevated form of general anxiety disorder, (or GAD), which has gone untreated. It’s a serious– yet treatable condition. Unfortunately, many suicides have been traced back to people who were in this chronic and challenging emotional state! Read on to learn a few proven ways to treat severe anxiety disorder.

Remember, severe anxiety disorder can wreak havoc both physically and emotionally because your anxiety level is more heightened than with GAD alone…

…And when you’re warn down, you’re less able to turn your situation around on your own!

Worse yet, severe anxiety disorder can be linked to other conditions such as panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and health problems.

Therefore, it’s important to seek help if you suspect you might be experiencing chronic anxiety that lasts more than six months, since it only worsens if left untreated.

As you consider some steps to take, it helps to realize that you’re not alone! Many people have chronic anxiety disorders. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “over 35 million people—nearly 17 percent of the American population—suffer from anxiety disorders.”

First, here are the symptoms of general anxiety disorder, or GAD:

  • fatigue or insomnia
  • fidgeting
  • twitching
  • headaches
  • nausea
  • muscle tension and aches
  • difficulty swallowing
  • trembling
  • irritability
  • sweating
  • hot flashes

You may experience any or all of these symptoms, which occur as the body goes into ‘flight or fight’ mode. As a result, the body dumps extra levels of cortisol in your body, ultimately causing these symptoms.  If left untreated, your condition can elevate into severe anxiety disorder.

Secondly, here are the symptoms of severe anxiety disorder. These are usually felt in addition to those you experience with GAD:

  • rapid heartbeat
  • dizziness
  • dyspnea (labored breathing)
  • uncontrollable fear
  • hyperventilation
  • tunnel hearing
  • vision problems

The reason for these additional symptoms is this. Severe anxiety disorder is often linked to overlapping anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety depression, or panic attacks. This situation simply puts more stress on the body.

Steps for treating severe anxiety disorder:

The complex and overlapping conditions of this disorder make it vitally important for you to seek professional help and obtain a diagnosis so that you can physically and emotionally stabilize. During this time it is also important to enlist the help of a trusted support network.

There is hope!

  1. Get a check-up with your primary care physician. Since some anxiety problems stem from physical problems. It’s best to see your general practitioner first, who can refer you to a qualified psychiatrist if necessary.
  2. Read more information on anxiety and mood disorders, so that you can engage in an informed conversation with your doctor. No need to bombard yourself with tons of information, but something you can read in a few afternoons will help you feel more empowered when you see your psychiatrist. We have links to some helpful resources on our sidebar.
  3. See a psychiatrist, who will test and interview with you in order to provide a diagnosis and treatment plan. Once you have heard this plan it’s important to follow it closely. If you don’t agree with the diagnosis, seek a second opinion until you are satisfied and will commit to the treatment. We recommend that you look for a doctor who integrates both traditional and homeopathic treatments, rather than strictly prescribing pills. (That said, pills can help you to initially stabilize!)
  4. Seek homeopathic and natural remedies that support your treatment plan. If your psychiatrist doesn’t happen to use an integrated approach, this is a good time to find a naturopathic physician, nutritionist or other practitioner. He or she will probably discuss diet and exercise. These two aspects of your health have been proven to play a major role in mental and emotional health. Diet specifically can help with balancing some chemicals in the brain, which affect mood.

By working with qualified professionals who can help you stabilize and minimize your anxiety, you’ll feel better prepared to make any other potential lifestyle changes that can restore your long-term emotional health.

Whatever treatment you course you choose, we recommend that you follow a holistic or ‘whole’ approach to mind, body and spirit. This integrated strategy has been proven to bring about the best chance for success!

As part of these 4 steps, you may want to take a look at Panic Away, which is our eBook of choice for helping people overcome anxiety and panic attacks. We like it because it’s a great tool, is easy to read, and it’s author, Barry is very credible. It also contains numerous testimonials from other anxiety sufferers, and includes excellent audios and email coaching with the program.

General Anxiety Disorder Causes and Treatments

Did you know that over 15 million Americans are affected by some form of anxiety? That’s a surprising statistic, but you may also not realize that when left unchecked, anxiety can turn into general anxiety disorder, depression, and panic attacks.

In this article I’ll focus on general anxiety disorder (GAD), its’ causes, and steps you can take to greatly reduce or eliminate general anxiety disorder from your daily life.

First, it’s important to acknowledge that many of us in our culture, believe that we should simply be able to handle our emotions, period. If we can’t then we must be weak, right?

Not so! Read on to learn more…

Just what is Generalized Anxiety Disorder? Another one of those ‘illnesses’ that doctors make up for profit?

The answer is no. GAD is very real!

Sure, virtually everyone has occasional bouts of anxiety, or anxious thought patterns. In contrast, GAD is a  state of periodic and elevated anxiety, often characterized by excessive thinking and dwelling on the “what ifs”.

As a result, you may feel that there’s no way out of the vicious cycle of anxiety and worry.  You probably have general anxiety disorder/GAD if you have recurring anxiety, as opposed to occasional worry.

What really happens when anxiety escalates into GAD?

To illustrate how anxiety can escalate into the disorder, we’ll use the analogy of a water faucet..

…If the faucet is working properly when turned off,  we experience a relaxed home environment – which equates to a relatively anxiety-free existence.

However,  if the faucet has a leak and is dripping periodically, you could equate this disruptive drip to that of someone experiencing periodic, but regular feelings of anxiety.

Over time the pipe may still look good, function pretty well, and remain intact. However the leak gets worse, due to continued pressure and the lack of repair. The continued leak, dripping over time, escalates into a steady stream that can no longer be ignored…

…At this point faucet demands your attention, as this unstable situation threatens to burst the pipe. In our analogy, chronic anxiety — or general anxiety disorder has set in, creating an opportunity for a panic attack to occur.

Now that you see how anxiety escalates into a disorder… exactly what causes GAD? As our analogy illustrates, general anxiety disorder is caused by recurring anxiety.

The major causes of anxiety are:

  • Repressed emotions
  • Stressful, unresolved situations
  • A chemical or nutritional imbalance
  • Physical, mental or emotional exhaustion caused by stress

So what can you do about it? Here are some proven steps you can take to eliminate General Anxiety Disorder:

First, you want to look at where your anxiety may be coming from. Then, once you are aware of the cause or causes of your anxiety, you can work to reduce or eliminate anxiety entirely.

Here are four steps that you can take to help eliminate GAD:

  1. Educate yourself. There are many excellent holistic books and classes that help reduce or eliminate anxiety by teaching the principles of the mind-body-emotion connection, as well as anti-stress techniques.
  2. See a qualified medical professional to get a diagnosis in the event that you have a nutritional or chemical imbalance. You may want to do one or all of the following: a.)  a blood screening, b.) a checkup with your physician, and c.) discuss your situation with a psychiatrist (Ph.D.) who understands medications. Your doctor can help you select the appropriate course of action if required.
  3. Meet with a therapist or support group, which can assist you by teaching healthy ways to deal with conflict, rather than repressing emotions. Therapy can also help you effectively resolve stressful situations. Finally, it can assist with issues around physical, mental or emotional exhaustion, which are often at the root of anxiety.  Ultimately, a therapist can provide you with tools and strategies that create more life balance, time, and personal boundaries that support optimal health.
  4. Practice mind-body stress reducers: Exercise produces the good hormones, such as endorphins, that keeping your mind and body balanced. Some people benefit from Yoga, a practice that incorporates relaxation techniques into exercise and movement.  Diet can also play a major role. It’s a good idea to see a naturopath, if your doctor doesn’t use an integrated approach to your health.

Here’s the good news… general anxiety disorder and panic attacks respond well to treatment! Sure, it takes courage and commitment to educate yourself, identify options and take action. But your emotional well-being is always worth the time you invest! After all, emotional health promotes a better quality of life and a greater sense of peace, right?

Wherever you are in your in your path to healing, it’s always good to become more informed about emotional health. When following the 4 steps outlined above, we recommend the Panic Away program as an excellent, holistic tool for treating general anxiety disorder.

You can read our Panic Away Review by Clicking Here. It’s a very credible program, is easy to read, and has great audios and email coaching included.

All the best to you on your journey of healing and self-discovery!