everything there is to know about anxiety disorders

[David]

Just thought we'd pool in info about this.

As psychiatric illnesses go, Anxiety disorders take the cake where both adults and kids are concerned. There are so many causes for anxiety disorders – could be genetics, brain chemistry, personality or various things that happen in the course of life. Apparently something like forty million adult Americans are victims of anxiety disorders. The thing to remember is that these are treatable. Unfortunately only a few actually get diagnosed and get treated. General anxiety disorder comes in the form of an overdose of worry that may last about six months and the person might worry about issues related to health, money, career, etc. The worry manifests itself as trembling, muscle aches, sleeplessness, stomach upsets, dizziness and short-temperedness. The point is to recognize it and get it treated so that it doesn’t interfere with life in general.

[Jeff]

Another kind of anxiety disorder that is very common and shows up in many forms in people is obsessive-compulsive disorder. People who suffer from this are constantly worrying about things that are mostly anxiety or fear blown out of proportion. Much of this centers around worry about becoming contaminated or a deep fear of behaving inappropriately – or acting violently. These obsessions result in making the person follow a routine very compulsively – say like washing hands, saying the same thing over and over, hoarding stuff, under the impression that their anxiety will be relieved by these activities. The thing is, these people know that these compulsions are irrational – yet cant seem to control themselves. They have to make sure things are in the exact place, position or order. They even believe that one’s negative thoughts can cause harm.

[Marie]

Yes – I had an aunt who would do that. Its just that we thought she was ‘like that’ until she passed on. She would always worry about cleaning up, make a ritual out of bathing for hours. She would keep on checking things all the time, always doubting whether the stove was turned off or whether she switched an appliance off. She couldn’t stop repeating things – saying them you know. What used to be the most irritating was her absolutely precise way of doing things without any scope for deviation in routine. She hoarded old stuff like crazy – even things like newspapers, rubber bands, milk bottle caps and would never throw anything away. Obviously all this must have interfered with her day-to-day routine. If only we had thought it was a serious problem! Is there any way where you can test to find out?

[David]

I looked around the Internet and found a “yes-no” questionnaire that can help figure out whether you do suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Depending on the score you can decide to seek help or show the completed test to your health care provider. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a chronic illness and a type of anxiety disorder that shows itself through obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior. The person is aware that these thoughts and behaviors are silly and baseless, but can’t seem to stop them anyway. These people worry too much about the circumstances of their life over a long period of time. Don’t confuse obsessive-compulsive disorder, with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder though. OCPD is a mental disorder where the person is preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency – whereas someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder is more concerned with trying to rid himself or herself of the anxiety.