Anxiety is a mental medical disorder that produces a severe or protracted fear reaction that is inappropriate.
Anxiety is the body's natural reaction to danger, a routine alarm that triggers off when a person feels threatened, under pressure, or is facing a stressful situation.
Actually anxiety can help the person stay alert and focused, spur the person to action, and motivate him or her to solve problems.
But when anxiety is frequent or overwhelming, when it affects the relationships and activities, it stops being functional
It can be a hereditary problem with patient becoming fearful of minor problems
The patient might have a fast heart rate, a thumping heart (palpitations), feeling sick (vomiting), shaking (tremor), dry mouth, chest pain, headaches, sweating, fast breathing.
The physical symptoms are partly produced by the brain which transmits lots of messages down nerves to different parts of the body when the patient is anxious.
The nerve signals tend to make the heart, lungs, and other parts of the body work faster.
Also, the patient releases stress hormones (such as ephedrine) into the blood circulation when the patient are anxious.
These can also work on the heart, muscles and other regions of the body to produce symptoms.
Anxiety disorders are the most frequent of mental disorders.
Panic attacks are a form of anxiety with sudden feelings of terror happening without notice.
These events can happen at any time even while asleep
The panic attack is a severe attack of anxiety and fear which happens suddenly, often without warning, and for no known cause
Distinct from other anxiety forms, panic attacks are very sudden and often unanticipated, unprovoked, and are often affecting the function.
There is a sense of terror of impending doom or death that something unimaginably terrible is about to happen and one is incapable to prevent it
Panic disorder is one of the most curable of all the anxiety disorders, reacting in most cases to certain types of medicine or certain forms of cognitive psychotherapy which help alter thinking patterns that result in fear and anxiety.
Treatment:
1. Reassurance from doctors that it is not dangerous
2. Rest
3. Psychotherapy and counseling
4. Mild tranquillizer may be given if required
5. Antidepressants may help
6. Beta heart blocker can slow the heart rate.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Anxiety and Panic Attack
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Stress
Chapter 8 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Epilogue