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Living Well with Anxiety
What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You... That You Need to Know
By Carolyn Clark HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright ©2006 Carolyn Clark
All right reserved. ISBN: 0060823771
Chapter One
Anxiety: Causes and Effects
Anxiety is frequently confused with other feelings, especially fear. You may call anxiety "nerves" or "nervousness," but that may be the only information you have about the condition.
What Is Anxiety?
The word anxiety has been used since the 1500s and comes from the Latin word anxius, which means worry of an unknown event. Worry then leads to a state of apprehension and uncertainty, which results in both physical and psychological effects.
Although you may not know the difference between anxiety and fear, the two terms refer to entirely different feelings. Fear is usually directed at an external danger. The event you fear is identifiable. You may fear stepping off a curb when a car is speeding by at sixty miles an hour, or when a neighbor's dog suddenly jumps out at you.
Anxiety has no such easily recognizable source and is often called an unexplained discomfort. You may have a sense of danger when experiencing anxiety, but the feeling is vague, and if asked, you may say your feeling is related to "something bad happening," or "losing control."
Anxiety has physical, emotional, mental,and even spiritual effects. Physical effects include shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembling or shaking, sweating, choking, nausea or abdominal distress, hot flashes or chills, dizziness or unsteadiness. Because anxiety is so uncomfortable, you may convert your anxiety into anger or other feelings. Emotional effects include feelings such as worry, anger, panic, and terror. Mental effects include thinking you're going to die, or that you're going crazy or are out of control. Spiritual effects include alienation and feeling detached and out of touch with yourself and others.
What Causes Anxiety?
Everyone experiences anxiety. It is what makes us more human than otherwise, to paraphrase Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan. This psychoanalyst created the Theory of Interpersonal Relations and taught that much mental suffering is a result of communication that is interfered with by anxiety. According to Sullivan, anxiety is a normal reaction to unmet needs and other stresses, such as disapproval (first from parents and then from oneself or others). Anxiety can also be viewed as a protective mechanism that keeps you safe from situations believed to be threatening.
Whether or not anxiety develops into a chronic condition that interferes with your life depends on your genes, your early family experiences, your ongoing stress (which can affect brain activity), medical conditions, toxins you encounter, and drugs and stimulants you take. Let's examine these in a little more detail.
1. Your genes can contribute to anxiety conditions if you are born a volatile, excitable, reactive type of person who is easily set off by a threat. In this case, you may be especially prone to panic attacks, which are really just your body overreacting by pouring adrenaline out of your adrenal glands and into your bloodstream. This leads to a racing heart, shallow breathing, profuse sweating, trembling and shaking, and cold hands and feet as your body readies itself to either fight or flee. Since there is no real threat, you are left with the chemical reactions flooding your body. Luckily, the adrenaline released during panic tends to be reabsorbed by the liver and kidneys within a few minutes, and the attack subsides.
2. Childhood experiences can contribute to anxiety conditions if you had parents who were overly cautious or critical, if you were neglected, rejected, abandoned, incurred physical or sexual abuse, grew up in a family where one or both parents were alcoholic, or had parents who suppressed your expression of feelings and self-assertiveness.
Jeff, a kindergarten teacher, was sexually abused by his uncle, a pet store owner. Jeff didn't seem to have any anxiety problems until he turned nineteen, when he developed phobias about animals and heights. He stayed away from high places and animals and was able to complete college and start teaching. Gradually he became unable to leave his house or even his bedroom. He found a therapist who worked with him until he was able to leave his bedroom and eventually his house. He has returned to teaching but continues to see his therapist monthly as a preventive measure.
3. Cumulative stress over many years has also been implicated in the development of anxiety conditions, and a stressful lifestyle that avoids exercise, healthy nutrition, daily relaxation, social support, and self-nurturing activities can put you at increased risk. Years of heavy smoking often precede anxiety disorders, especially agoraphobia, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder. The connection appears to be impaired breathing ability. Your serotonin level may be involved, especially if you develop obsessive-compulsive traits. There is also a theory that reduced levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) can contribute to generalized anxiety.
There are numerous medical conditions that can lead to increased anxiety or panic attacks. Hyperventilation syndrome is a condition in which you breathe in the upper part of your chest. This results in symptoms very much like panic attacks, including light-headedness, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, and/or tingling in your hands. Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar level, also mimics the symptoms of panic. Hyperthyroidism (excess secretion of thyroid hormone) can lead to heart palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, and sweating that can add to your normal anxiety. Mitral valve prolapse (a harmless defect in the valve separating the upper and lower chambers of the heart that may cause the heart to beat out of rhythm) occurs more frequently in people who have panic attacks. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can worsen panic attacks. Inner ear disturbances can lead to dizziness, light-headedness, and unsteadiness, any of which can add to your anxiety.
Other situations that can set off or worsen anxiety or panic include taking stimulants (cocaine, amphetamines, caffeine, aspartame), high blood pressure, exposure to environmental toxins (pesticides, food additives, lead, chlorine, fluoride, or cadmium, for example), heart failure or irregular heart beats, clot in the lung, emphysema, deficiencies in vitamins or minerals, concussion, epilepsy, parathyroid disease, Cushing's syndrome, thyrotoxicosis, and withdrawal from drugs (especially tranquilizers, sedatives, and alcohol).
Continues...
Excerpted from Living Well with Anxiety by Carolyn Clark Copyright ©2006 by Carolyn Clark. Excerpted by permission.
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