Anxiety disorders
anxiety; panic; fear; worry; depression; stress; compulsive; obsessive; phobia; agoraphobia; post; traumatic; attack; trauma;
Contents
What is anxiety?
- Anxiety is a normal feeling that people have when they are faced with something that could be dangerous or difficult, embarrassing or stressful.
- Exams, job interviews, talking in front of a group, or learning a new skill (such as driving) all make people feel anxious.
What does it feel like?
- Your pulse rate might go up, you may have a disturbing feeling in your tummy (‘butterflies’ in the tummy) and you could feel sweaty.
Anxiety disorders
- Usually when the task or event that is causing the stress is over, the feelings of anxiety go away.
- When these feelings go on and on, and start to get in the way of a normal life, it may be a symptom of an anxiety disorder.
- The symptoms that go with high levels of anxiety fit into several different patterns or ‘types' of anxiety disorder. Working out if you have one of the types of disorder can help you then work out the most useful way of trying to manage the anxiety.
Generalised anxiety disorder
The main symptom of this disorder is excessive and persistent worry, causing feelings of being keyed up all the time, being easily tired, having difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension and sleep problems.
- Young people may worry about sport or school performance, including exams, so much that they are not able to do well.
Panic disorder
People with this pattern of feelings experience great anxiety (panic) in situations where most people would not be afraid, such as being in a crowd or on an escalator. They can have many physical symptoms such as:
- feeling faint or dizzy
- blushing
- having a rapid heart rate
- having difficulty breathing
- sweating
- abdominal pain (and diarrhoea)
- chest pain
- fear that the attack will lead to them dying or totally losing control.
When the panic has gone, there is an ongoing fear that the panic will come back.
Fear of a panic attack can lead them to stop doing things that might trigger a panic attack, such as going outside or going to certain places where they have had a panic attack.
Young people who get panic attacks may have had trouble with fear when they were away from their parents when they were younger (separation anxiety).
Agoraphobia
- Agoraphobia is fear of getting a panic attack if you are somewhere from which it might be difficult or embarrassing to get away. It is the most common type of anxiety disorder.
- People who experience agoraphobia may worry about being in crowded places, lifts and public transport.
- People with agoraphobia avoid going places because they might have a panic attack.
Separation anxiety disorder
- This type of anxiety disorder is more of a problem for children.
- They may feel extremely distressed when left at school or kindy.
- Sometimes they feel very scared that someone close to them (like their parent) might leave or be killed in a car accident, murdered or kidnapped.
- They may show their anxiety by crying and clinging, or get physical symptoms such as tummy pain, and they often have nightmares about separation.
Phobias
- Phobias are intense fears about things or situations that interfere with life. Most people are fearful about some things (such as spiders and snakes) or new activities such as starting a new job.
- Someone who has a phobia about some thing (such as a spider) will feel fine when there are no spiders, but they can become extremely distressed and may have a panic attack when they see a spider, or even a picture of a spider. Fear of having a panic attack might then stop them from doing anything where they might see a spider.
Social phobia
- People with social phobia fear that other people will judge everything that they do negatively, so they either try to make sure that everything that they do in front of someone else is perfect (limiting what they can do) or they avoid contact with others.
- Young people with social phobia may refuse to go to school or to talk with people of the opposite sex.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Young people with this disorder have constant unwanted thoughts which they try to suppress, or they feel they have to perform rituals (putting things straight, washing, checking locks, etc.) to control the thoughts.
- The rituals usually take a lot of time and they interfere with everyday life.
- People with obsessive-compulsive disorder are often really embarrassed by their disorder and try to keep it a secret, even from their families.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
People who have experienced a major trauma such as war, a motor vehicle accident, torture or personal violence such as rape may continue to feel extreme fear long after the event happened.
- They may have distressing memories that keep coming back, dreams, flashbacks or fear triggered by something that reminds them of the event.
- They may feel better when they avoid things that remind them of what happened, but this can restrict their lives and interfere with interpersonal relationships.
- They may be irritable, have trouble with sleeping, have outbursts of anger, and be overly aware of things around them.
If these symptoms go on for over a month then they may be diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder.
Have a look at the topic Surviving trauma for more information.
The causes vary from person to person, and it is not always easy to be certain what has led to the difficulty for each person. Some things that are known to contribute to whether a person has an anxiety disorder include:
- Heredity - anxiety disorders tend to 'run in families' which may be due to genetics, but may be because a child learns anxious behaviours from their family.
- Personality - people who are easily upset, very sensitive and emotional, who are shy and inhibited as children are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder.
- Biochemical differences within the brain may play a part.
What to do if you think you may have an anxiety disorder
- Often people who have an anxiety disorder are very reluctant to seek help because they are embarrassed by the feelings they have, and do not want to admit them to others.
- They may feel that they will be judged as unworthy. They may not have developed good skills at talking about their feelings because they have been shy or have avoided being with others.
- Seeking and accepting help can make a lot of difference. You could go to your doctor, community health centre or community mental health service.
Learning more about anxiety disorders can give you greater understanding, but this will probably not be enough to help you manage the feelings you have.
Things that may be helpful:
- Cognitive behaviour therapy can help - this involves learning new ways of interpreting feelings and different ways of thinking about behaviour.
- Behaviour therapy can help - sometimes including desensitisation to the thing that triggers panic.
- Family therapy - may be useful depending on what the difficulties are.
- Changes in the environment, such as changes at school, may be helpful.
- Sometimes medication can make a difference. Antidepressant medications may be useful.
- Relaxation techniques, exercise and doing things which you enjoy are other things which help you understand your body and your feelings better.
What if your friend has an anxiety disorder?
- Remember that your friend cannot just choose to be less anxious. Saying things like, "don’t worry so much" and "you don’t have to be perfect" will not be useful.
- Encourage your friend to accept that this is a health problem and that they have a right to seek help just as they would for other health problems, such as asthma or a broken bone.
Mel says, "Being a teenager can be very stressful. Schoolwork, changing relationships in the family, part-time work, friendships and relationships, career choices, and wanting to fit in are just some of the anxieties that we have. If you or your friend are not coping too well and beginning to feel anxious for a lot of the time then get help. Talk to trusted adults, talk to your school counsellor and get help to rearrange your schedule or organise a change in shifts at work or make a time to sit and sort out problems with people at home. Do it as soon as you are feeling anxious and take charge of your life before anxiety takes charge of you."
Resources
South Australia
Australia
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Youth Healthline on 1300 13 17 19 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).