Anxiety is often a natural consequence of stress and it is not uncommon for people who experience stress to suffer from anxiety attacks. In the majority of cases where anxiety is simply a result of stress, stress relief will in itself also relieve anxiety.
Anxiety is a little bit like stress - in small doses it can be good for you and help you to focus your attention. However, when anxiety lasts for any length of time and is allowed to build up it can become a serious problem.
There are 5 main types of anxiety disorder:
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Panic Disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Social Phobia (or Social Anxiety Disorder)
In relation to stress however we are talking principally about generalized anxiety disorder, a condition suffered by getting on for 7 million adult Americans.
When you find yourself under stress day in and day out for any length of time this often becomes one of the causes of anxiety attacks and your days are increasingly filled with worry, even though there is often seemingly little if anything to apparently cause this. You begin to worry over just about everything from work to money problems, your health and family problems and begin to see impending disaster in all sorts of situations.
Before long you find that you cannot relax, are easily startled and start to suffer from the symptoms of mild anxiety attack such as tiredness, headaches and muscle aches. As time goes on these anxiety attacks symptoms increase and you become increasingly irritable, begin twitching or trembling, find yourself sweating and are frequently nauseous and lightheaded. You find yourself visiting the bathroom more and more frequently and suffer increasingly from hot flushes.
If things get too bad, your doctor will eventually put you on medication and possible refer you for psychological treatment.
If this sounds pretty terrible then the good news is that, in the vast majority of cases, all but the mildest symptoms of anxiety can be avoided, as long as you recognize what is happening and take action to reverse the situation.
We all find ourselves under stress from time to time and that is no bad thing. However, when you find yourself in a situation in which your stress is ongoing and you feel effectively trapped, you can’t afford to simply sit and wait for things to get better because nine times out of ten they will only get worse.
If the signs and symptoms of anxiety start to appear and you recognize these as stemming from ongoing stress then take the situation in hand and relieve your anxiety by changing your situation.
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