Anxiety disorders

It is widely very uncomfortable and vaguely uneasy feeling. It accompanies relevant physical
symptoms(chest palpitations, increase in blood pressure, tachycardia, sweating, tremors, etc) and
behavioral changes(supersensitiveness, pacing up and down, etc).
Anxiety is the natural response which appears when the body adapts to an unfamiliar environment.
However, when the anxiety gets beyond the normal degree and appears in inappropriate situation,
then it is an anxiety disorder.


Causes

  • Psychological causes : People experience fear and anxiety in various aspects including environment and
    interpersonal relationship as they live. These experiences will gradually be internalized psychologically over time.
    For example, when people experience severe tremors in public, they can feel unexplained anxiety in the reminiscent of
    the situation.
  • Biological causes : such psychological or social anxiety factors cause the imbalance of neurotransmitters in the autonomic
    nervous system and the brain, and leads to the disorder.

Kinds of Anxiety

  • Generalized anxiety disorder

    Patients usually adhere to anxiety and worry without special reason and tensions are continued at the same time.
    It accompanies symptoms of exacerbation in autonomic nervous system such as headache, feeling of choking
    and heart palpitations or physical symptoms such as several gastrointestinal symptoms.

  • Panic disorder

    extreme anxiety suddenly comes up without reasons and extreme symptoms such as feeling like dying, breath
    clogging and heart palpitation are shown. Panic attack is the extreme anxiety appearing without specific causes.
    In many cases, people visit the emergency room since they are alarmed by extraordinary fear but no special
    findings are shown according to the tests. Nevertheless, those who experience it usually worry about
    panic attack which comes without notice and anxiety level gets higher in everyday life.

  • Agoraphobia

    It is referred to as the situation in which people cannot do outside activities because panic attack and anticipatory
    anxiety gets worse. Depending on the person, generally people feel difficulties in the place where they had
    experienced panic attack(subway, bus, airplane, elevator, etc.) but in severe cases some cannot even get out of
    the house at all.

  • Social phobia

    It is sometimes referred to as anthropophobia or stage fright. Usually people get along with it without any
    problem but when they are not able to tolerate the uneasiness when they are in front of other people to make
    a presentation or tell a story, oftentimes they avoid such situations.

  • Obsessive compulsive disorder

    It is the anxiety disorder to repeat certain thoughts and behaviors regardless of their willingness.
    There are many problems mainly related to contamination or confirmation.
    For example, a person washes hands throughout the day because he feels like having the dirt in hand.
    They repeat to check whether the door of house is closed or gas valve is closed many times. When this obsessive
    behavior is made, anxiety is temporarily reduced. However, obsessions are eventually repeated and unreasonable
    behaviors are being repeated.

  • Post traumatic stress disorder

    It is the disorder which can be created, after people experience the emotional stress which almost everyone
    can experience as shock. It is the anxiety symptom caused by shock such as accident, assaults and disasters.
    Patients experience the moment of accident again and sensitive or daze state lasts.
    They sometimes stay overnight due to nightmare.

Treatments

  • Medication therapy

    Because symptoms of anxiety disorder are caused by
    abnormal activities of autonomic nervous system and
    the brain neurotransmitters, medication effectively soothes
    symptoms.

  • Cognitive therapy

    It is the counseling therapy to correct a wrong stereotype.
    It is the course to review and objectively look at thinking in
    several aspects. Because change of thinking may bring change
    of emotion and anxiety, it is the effective therapy of anxiety
    disorders.

  • Behavioral therapy

    It is mainly used in treatment of fear(fear of height,
    claustrophobia, etc). It is the training method to remove
    anxiety as it is being exposed to the situation that induces
    actual anxiety.

  • Individual psychotherapy

    Support psychotherapy which finds unconscious source of
    anxiety through in-depth psychotherapy or supports actual
    psychological difficulties can be performed.

  • Group therapy

    In general, cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy is
    combined as a group to give the treatment. Since successful
    experience can be shared and support group is formed,
    good effect can be shown.