| A war of the mind | 11/17/2012 | | | |

Anxiety can be described as a generalized feeling of apprehension and nervousness. With that, physical traits of shallow breathing, increased heart rate, sweating, and tensing up are included with anxiety. Everyone may have an anxiety attack within their lifetime but others suffer from what is called anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder is general term for the many different forms and variations of common psychiatric disorders. The term anxiety disorder can be divided into three different disorders, those being panic disorders, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. ("Anxiety and depression" ) Each one of these is different from the other and must be dealt with differently as well.
General anxiety disorder is characterized by extreme worry. The amount of worry that the individual has is not appropriate for the actual reasoning behind what is making them worry. The individual’s worry is irrational and very excessive. They also anticipate for everyday things to go horribly wrong, such as financial problems or even relationship problems. Physical symptoms like nausea, headaches, and rashes are some of the many symptoms related with General anxiety disorder.
There are various causes that are related to General anxiety disorder. One potential cause is that it is genetic. An individual may show slight symptoms at an early stage in life and it grows worse as the individual encounters more stress. Another potential cause is the overuse of certain substances. Any substance that an individual is addicted to can lead to an anxiety problem, especially when that item is in a state of being taken away from them. Another possible cause gives a more neurological reasoning. People suffering from General anxiety disorder have been shown to have disruptions within their amygdala, the part of the brain in charge of emotional reactions. Learning the cause of the disorder is very important when considering the treatment. Pharmaceutical treatments for General anxiety disorder are typically antidepressants known as “Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors”. These are mainly used for patients suffering from depression but are also used to treat anxiety disorders. Pregabalin is another drug used from the treatment of General anxiety disorder. Pregabalin is sued to control the amount of neurotransmitters being released. It has shown to be effective in fighting anxiety but not as much as cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a treatment that comprises of a therapist having one on one time with the patient. The therapist tries to understand the patient’s thoughts are influencing his/her behavior. If done right, the therapist can take the individual’s bad thought patterns and turn them around. The use of exposure therapy is also included within cognitive behavioral therapy. This lets the patient progressively learn to deal with a situation they would normally be terrified of. (Arborelius, Owens, Plotsky & Nemeroff , 1990) These, non-pharmaceutical treatments, have been shown to be the most effective in the treatment of general anxieties. A phobia is the extreme fear of a certain situation or object. An individual that has social phobia would avoid doing many regular activities, such as eating, drinking, and talking, while other people are in their presence. Social phobia is also known as social anxiety disorder. In many cases, the individual may not mind preforming normal tasks in front of people they do not know but are fearful when having to interact with someone of authority. (Ettinger, 2010) They case is different for every individual of what situation or situations that they may have a phobia of. The treatment of the individual depends on what they fear and how bad they fear it. Since social anxiety disorder and general anxiety disorder are similar, the treatments are similar as well. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors are used but still do