We live in anxious times. Around the clock, we hear news of war, murder, natural disasters, and terrorism. If you’re lucky enough not to be directly affected by major catastrophes, personal issues can still provoke anxiety, such as your physical health, your job and financial security, or your relationships with family and friends. There are good treatments for anxiety, but apparently too few people take advantage of them.
As common as anxiety disorders are, they often go untreated. A study published earlier this year in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that nearly one in five patients randomly selected at a clinic suffered from an anxiety disorder. More than four in 10 of those with anxiety were not being treated for it.
Anxiety disorders occur as often as depression, but have attracted much less attention. They often are not recognized or treated by primary care doctors. Part of the problem is that anxiety disorders produce diverse symptoms that may suggest other problems. For example, chest pains or palpitations might suggest heart disease, while shortness of breath might suggest a respiratory illness.
Further complicating matters, it’s likely that if you ask any two people with an anxiety disorder to describe it, they’ll paint different pictures. One person might dread speaking in public, while another is gripped by intense fear at the mere thought of getting on an airplane. Someone else might describe herself as a “chronic worrier” because she regularly frets about all sorts of things. Many people would undoubtedly mention that they have trouble sleeping.
Why the broad array of symptoms? It’s because anxiety disorders aren’t actually a single condition, but rather a spectrum of related disorders, including panic attacks, panic disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, anxiety due to a medical condition, and substance-induced anxiety.
It is not clear why some people develop serious anxiety disorders. Some anxiety syndromes may involve disturbances in brain pathways. There may be overactivity of chemicals in the brain known as neurotransmitters.
The good news is that treatments are available for people with anxiety disorders. Medication options include benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax) or lorazepam (Ativan), and antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft).
Behavioral therapies can be helpful as well. These treatments teach people to understand and manage their symptoms or use relaxation or breathing techniques. A few lifestyle changes may also help, such as cutting down on caffeine, alcohol, and stimulants, such as chocolate and nicotine.
If symptoms persist, speak with your doctor. This is especially true if:
• Your anxiety has lasted for several months.
• You believe you cannot control your anxious feelings.
• These feelings are interfering with your personal relationships.
• You find you are having trouble functioning at home, school or work.
• You are having difficulty concentrating or remembering.
• You are having trouble sleeping.
In the future, new research will no doubt improve our understanding of anxiety. This should lead to greater understanding of this common problem and its treatment.
Do you suffer from symptoms of anxiety? Have you sought a doctor’s advice? What strategies have helped you deal with anxiety?
Dr. Michael Miller has been on staff of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a large teaching hospital in Boston, for more than 25 years. He is also an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Anxiety and Phobias
Anxiety disorders—which include panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias—are among the most common mental illnesses, affecting about 23 million American adults. Thankfully, never before have there been so many therapies to help control anxiety. Coping With Anxiety and Phobias is a special report from Harvard Medical School that provides up-to-date information on these treatments, as well as information on the many types of anxiety disorders, their symptoms, causes, and getting a proper diagnosis.
Are you Living With Anxiety? Connect with others with similar health concerns and issues. Click here to join the group.
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 8
Thanks so much for telling us about your success story. It shows you that you have to keep at it until you find the treatment combination that works best for you.
There is a lot of overlap between forms of depression and forms of anxiety. The hard part is that a lot of the treatments overlap too!
So, in a way, getting the diagnosis absolutely right turns out to be less important than being open (and having a doctor who is open) to trying different approaches until you get some relief.
Also, thank you for letting us know what's been helpful to you. You've chosen a path that includes a lot of what's called "complementary and alternative" approaches, which is great. The trick is always finding the thing that matches best with your life and your point of view.
Until recently, a lot of the complementary/alternative approaches have not been so carefully studied, but there is a lot more research being done to figure out which approaches are best for which kinds of problems.
That sounds like quite a blow. Certainly a long term marriage (no matter how well or poorly it's been going) is one of the major structures of life. To lose it really means you need a lot of support and inner strength -- at just the time when you may not feel very strong at all!
It would be normal to have an increase in anxiety symptoms or problems after such a loss -- it can take a while to regain your equilibrium. It sounds like you are working hard to learn about the problem and that you are comfortable going for the help you need, which is very positive.