In many ways, anxiety can be less terrifying than panic attacks, but that does not make it less worrisome. In fact, while panic attacks are relatively short in duration, anxiety can last for days, weeks, or even months at a time. Anxiety is often misdiagnosed as an array of other physical and mental health conditions before it is recognized by doctors, and the treatment you need depends on your specific anxiety disorder. This can certainly be frustrating, and it also means that you need to educate yourself as much as possible.
There are many things that patients with anxiety are not told by their doctors and that they don’t remember or are afraid to ask. In this chapter, we will work to address some of the most common questions related to anxiety so that you can help put your fears to rest and so that you can begin to understand what is really happening within your brain and your body. Once you understand your disorder and what it means, it can be much easier for you to start working to treat, cope with, and resolve it.
Anxiety Isn’t Always Obvious
When you are having a panic attack, it is usually rather apparent. Symptoms are fairly consistent and easily recognizable, and when a heart attack is ruled out, diagnosis is easy to make. With anxiety, this is not always the case. In fact, anxiety can present in a vast number of different ways, making it very hard for physicians to make the correct diagnosis.
Anxiety can come on so slowly that it can be very hard to recognize. Many people, after being diagnosed with anxiety and learning what it feels like not to be anxious, report that they have felt anxious for as long as they can remember. This gradual onset and long period of experiencing symptoms without knowing that anything was wrong makes it hard to be diagnosed or even to seek treatment. Many patients with anxiety become so accustomed to feeling anxious that they do not seek help until the condition starts manifesting in some other way.
Patients with anxiety are often treated for problems with blood pressure or heart rate, conditions of the nerves that could cause tingling or numbness, or other medical conditions because symptoms of anxiety have been misdiagnosed. While mental health practitioners are often looking for signs and symptoms of anxiety, many general practitioners who do not engage with patients about their past and about their emotional history and symptoms often have little information to go on other than current symptoms, which often leads to anxiety being misdiagnosed or missed entirely.
Anxiety Isn’t Dangerous
Anxiety can be very distressing, and anxiety disorders, without proper treatment, can even lead to a diminished quality of life. Many patients become disabled by anxiety disorders due to lack of proper treatment and the proper means of controlling and understanding their symptoms. With that said, however, it is important for patients to realize that anxiety is not dangerous.
Anxiety is one of your body’s ways of protecting itself. When your brain chemistry and adrenal system are working properly, anxiety serves to let you know when you are in danger. Anxiety disorders are similar to a fire alarm that is too sensitive, and they cause your body’s defenses to go off even when it is unnecessary. Much like a faulty fire alarm, however, the goal is to repair the system and get it working properly. That is what therapy can do. While medication suppresses the system entirely, rendering you unable to react appropriately when danger is present, therapy helps to regulate your defense system.
While studies do link high levels of anxiety and stress to a slightly increased risk of cardiovascular problems, it is essential to realize that the symptoms of anxiety are not dangerous. Anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath and tightness in the chest will not turn into a heart attack. While the symptoms can be discomforting, they are not actually dangerous to the body and they will not cause long-term damage.
Controlling Anxiety
Controlling anxiety can be much more difficult than controlling panic attacks. Panic attacks are usually sudden but short lived and are a response of the adrenal system, which means that they can be somewhat easily stopped and controlled. While the symptoms of anxiety are less severe, they can be harder to control and different treatment is often required. Anxiety symptoms are often complicated by other mental health conditions that can occur at the same time and that may offer similar symptoms.
Learning to control anxiety depends very much on the cause of your anxiety. While problems caused by medication or substance abuse can often be resolved with a change in these substances and anxiety caused by a medical problem can be treated by addressing that concern, anxiety disorders can require months or years of therapy before you are able to fully control and cope with symptoms. The good news, however, is that relaxation techniques and coping skills can be quite effective.
Taking the time to research your specific anxiety disorder and how it is best treated is always a good idea. Your mental health professional should also be able to help you find coping strategies that will work for your specific symptoms.
Cures and Remedies
Much like with panic attacks, there is no cure for anxiety. Therapy, as well as changes in diet and lifestyle can help you control your symptoms, but there is no magic solution that will cure an anxiety disorder or keep you from experiencing symptoms. As with panic disorder, medications only work to mask symptoms, which can keep you from being able to address issues that are causing mental stress and anguish. It is always best to identify and deal with issues that are causing you symptoms of anxiety.
There are, however, a number of ways to manage your anxiety. In addition to therapy, many other techniques can be incredibly beneficial at helping to manage anxiety symptoms. Meditation, positive affirmations, and even changes in diet and exercise can offer significant benefit. Anxiety patients can also benefit greatly from improvements in their sleep habits and reductions in their overall level of stress.
Summary
Anxiety can be very unsettling, and obtaining the proper diagnosis can be a difficult and lengthy process. For some patients, many diagnoses are made before the right one is reached. The fact that anxiety disorders often occur along with other mental health issues can make them harder to identify, and their similarity to certain medical conditions that must be ruled out makes it more difficult to obtain the right diagnosis as well. All possible medical conditions must be ruled out before the diagnosis of an anxiety disorder can be given, which means that it is essential for your physician and your mental health professional to communicate with one another to ensure that you are given both the proper diagnosis and treatment.