Managing, recognizing, controlling, understanding the effects of DSM-5
Anxiety is the experience of being worried, nervous or uneasy about an event, situation or an unsure outcome. Anxiety is at the core of a group of disorders known as anxiety disorders which have affected about 29 percent of the U.S. population within some point of their life.
An anxiety disorder can create troubling issues within a person’s personal, economic and physical aspects as well as social interactions.
General anxiety can be difficult to cope with especially when in a stressful situation, and it can make it hard to focus in social or in work settings. The hard truth is that when realizing and focusing on how anxious you are, the downfall is that doing that often leads to an anxiety attack.
Out of all mental disorders, anxiety disorders have the earliest age on-set and can also contribute to medical conditions such as asthma, hypertension, chronic pain, irritable bowel and heart disease.
There are five anxiety disorders that can be recognized throughout the DSM-5 which are known as specific phobia, social anxiety disorder (social phobia), panic disorder, agoraphobia and generalized anxiety disorder.
When looking at each disorder and how they compare or contrast to each other, they can be simply looked at by the amount of fear or panic there is versus the anxiety aspects the person is having within the type of situation that may stress them.
Those that may deal with specific or social phobias can feel fear or panic when faced with the obstacle they fear but also worry about them coming face to face with their stressful situation.
While those who experience panic disorder can begin to have panic attacks as well as severe anxiety and will constantly worry about it recurring.
People who have agoraphobia, tend to figure out a way to avoid certain places and situations which are often places that involve streets, crowded places, malls, theaters as well as lines.
What is the cause of this phobia is the fear of not being able to escape quickly during a frightful situation or experiencing an embarrassing encounter.
Lastly, we have generalized anxiety disorder which is when someone excessively experiences anxiety and worry about minor or major events and the different possible outcomes they could have, especially the negative ones.
Although many disorders can be difficult to control or live with there are always treatments that can help and make life a little easier.
Talk therapy is always a helpful solution when dealing with anxiety disorders as it helps a person talk and work out their specific anxieties or phobias.
Cognitive therapy can often help as well as it often can neutralize unwanted or distorted thoughts that contribute to the disorder.
Small coping skills could also be deep breathing, mediation, journaling and visualization. Remember that no matter what obstacle is in your way, it is always a possibility to overcome it.
