• Have you ever taken a moment to look around and observe peoples’ actions? If you have, you may have seen people looking around anxiously or someone with a panicked expression. Those people may be possibly experiencing General Anxiety Disorder. GAD is one of the main anxiety disorders, though there are many more, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Anxiety is a confusing topic. There are many things that cause anxiety, multiple types of anxiety, it is confused with other disorders, and anxiety is fairly difficult to treat.
    So what exactly is anxiety? According to Living with Anxiety, anxiety is normal and is the outcome of “fear and apprehension.” Anxiety is also stated to be uncomfortable: majorly involving negative feelings and thoughts (Montgomery and Morris 1). In Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic Peurifoy states on page two that anxiety is usually the outcome of an indistinct threat. Also in Living with Anxiety, anxiety is said to be confused with depression and panic even though they are different feelings (Montgomery and Morris 52). According to the National Institute of Health, anxiety disorders have been found to affect approximately forty million American adults every year. A great example of someone who lives her life with anxiety disorder is Samantha Schutz. Her poetic novel I don’t want to be Crazy is a great story of someone who lives life with anxiety.

    Many things contribute towards the suffering of anxiety. However shocking it may be, one of the main ‘contributors’ towards anxiety is gender. Says the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry and Living with Anxiety, there is seemingly a higher rate of anxiety in women rather than men. Though, this fact could be argued that possibly it is just that women show anxiety more than men. Gender is not the only determining factor of anxiety. Another is Stress. Stress is said to be the ability to be able to cope with what life throws at you (Montgomery and Morris 12). Lastly, personality traits, genetics, and the environment all seem to play a role in phobias, fears, and anxiety (Peurifoy cool .
    One specific type of anxiety is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).People with GAD constantly worry over things that are not exceedingly important (National Institute of Health). In Panic Disorder by Stanley Rachman and Silva Padmal, Rachman and Padmal note that “Generalized anxiety is characterized by persistent, excessive, unrealistic anxiety about possible misfortunes” ( cool . The National Institute of Mental Health implies that GAD sufferers have a hard time getting through the day, possibly because of broken sleep or ongoing headaches. To be clinically diagnosed with generalized anxiety, one must have the anxious or worried feelings for at least six months. Generalized Anxiety Disorder may be genetic is some cases, but no real explanation can be given on why people have developed this disorder.
    There are some major disorders that may possibly cause or relate to anxiety. One of these is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is described to be when one must repeatedly do and/or think about something to make oneself feel secure. Technically, obsessions are “persistent ideas, thoughts, impulses or images that a person sees…initially,” stated by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in Living with Anxiety (Montgomery and Morris 122). In OCD, the
    “physiological” aspects of a patient has expressed a superior importance over “personality or childhood factors.” Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is caused by a traumatic experience and has a major source of environmental impact over other things (Peurifoy cool . The National Institutes of Health points out that patients with PTSD “may startle easily, become emotionally numb” or loose interest in previously enjoyed activities. In Living with Anxiety, it is stated that anxiety and depression are very similar. The main difference is that anxiety is set off by feelings of fear, where as depression is the lack of feeling altogether. Montgomery and Morris claim that they do both, however, involve uncomfortable and “unpleasant” feelings (7). Lastly, social anxiety is easily confused with social phobia. Social anxiety is more general and social phobia is more likely to be centered on one or few situations (Montgomery and Morris 80).
    Panic is often easily confused with anxiety. Panic attacks are intense moments of fear for no particular reason. Some symptoms may include shortness of breath, dizziness, accelerated heart rate, trembling, or chest pain (Peurifoy 3). Dr. Barlow argues that panic is not just a “high level of general anxiety” but is something different from anxiety (Montgomery and Morris 52). Though Rachman and Padmal state that panic disorder is classified as a more specific form of anxiety (7). These two disagreeing arguments are an ideal example of how anxiety and panic do not have a perfected definition. Though, another fact from Dr. Barlow says that studies have shown the panics are in most cases, inherited and anxiety in majority is not. He goes on to point out in Living with Anxiety on page 52, that panic is fear set off by “a false or learned alarm” causing large amounts of anxiety. In Panic Disorder it is acknowledged that panic was categorized as a separate disorder in 1980, but discovered by Bossier de Souvages, documented “in a French medical text…in 1752, intense anxiety states were described” (Rachman and Silva 9). A later person who recognized panic disorder was a 1960s psychiatrist in New York Psychiatry Institute, Dr. Donald Klein. Around 1980, Klein found that panic patients were helped by imipramine, a drug that more commonly treats depression. This led to the conclusion that panic disorder was in fact different from anxiety.
    There are different ways that one may manage anxiety. There are some obstacles to overcome first, and one of which may be ‘being a perfectionist.’ If someone is a perfectionist, it may not always be a good thing. They may become too hard on themselves and this may possibly lead to negative thoughts (Peurifoy 134). The National Institute of Mental Health notes that before a possible anxiety patient is treated, their doctor must be sure that they truly do have the condition and not just a physical issue. Doctor must also be sure that the patient does not have any other disorders that the medication may have a negative impact on. One way to cure anxiety that is mentioned in Anxiety: An Evolutionary Approach is psychological therapy. Though, only “46% of GAD [Generalized Anxiety Disorder] patients show a significant response to psychological therapy.” In Living with Anxiety it is claimed that exercising helps relieve stress, which typically lowers anxiety (182). Lastly, According to Joseph Wolpe’s 5-step plan, using imagination may help alleviate anxiety (Peurifoy 204).
    So, this ‘inside scoop’ on anxiety is one to remember. Anxiety can be so mind-boggling despite how simple it sounds. Ergo, be sure to look out for yourself, your friends, and your family. If someone starts acting a little off, perhaps confront them about anxiety. Tell them what anxiety is, what causes anxiety, what disorders are related to it, what disorders are confused with anxiety, and if the situation is at the point where it needs treatment, then tell them what procedures to take to be treated.



    Works Cited
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    Bateson, Melissa, Ben Brilot, and Daniel Nettle. "Anxiety: An Evolutionary Approach." The
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    "Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): When Worry Gets Out of Control." NIMH RSS. N.p.,
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    Montgomery, Bob, and Laurel Morris. Living with Anxiety: A Clinically Tested Step-by-step
    Plan for Drug-free Management. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 2001. Print.
    Peurifoy, Reneau Z. Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic. New York: Warner, 2005. Print.
    Rachman, Stanley, and Silva Padmal. De. Panic Disorder. Second ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.
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