Anxiety Disorder: The Mind Which Plays All The Game

Introduction

The problem of anxiety in the population has a long history and has been present for ages. The condition originates from perceived increased levels of fear that denies people confidence in their private and social life. Anxiety is commonly identifiable with women especially regarding hysteria condition that arises from womb wandering. The victims show some relative high rate of nervousness, heart palpitations, and profuse sweating. The state denies individuals the opportunity to exploit their potential, and this may limit their productivity in society. Researches show that women are likely to demonstrate high levels of anxiety in comparison to men based on their anatomical characteristic. However, whether in women or men anxiety disorder mostly originates from some unconscious conflicts within the mind of an individual. According to Koerner (2002) in 2001, the number of Americans suffering from anxiety disorder was about 10 million. The anxiety falls into two different categories that include panic and phobia. The paper looks at anxiety disorder preferences, it causes and various mechanisms to treat the condition.

Problems of Anxiety Disorder

Women are at a higher risk of suffering from an anxiety disorder as compared to men of the same age. The identification is in line with the innate nature of being susceptible to higher levels of stress from the different environment during their interaction. The hormones that give the feminine essence in women also make them more susceptible to the condition. Indeed, the fluctuation levels of estrogen in women based on factors such as menopause, pregnancy, and menses affects their mood. From a historical perspective, women are notable as being highly attained to the surrounding environment as they protect their children. The fear of a different environment hurting their children makes them nervous and influences higher anxiety. Different types of disorder are evident in society such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) characterized by excessive worry. The distress interferes with the daily activities of a person, and physical suffering is evident in such victims. Panic disorder is the other form of anxiety and characterized by irregular racing heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, and tingling sensations. The situation arises when a person worries about events such as approaching examination or job interviews. Another type of anxiety is social phobia characterized by the fear of getting humiliation from a group of people. The victims display signs of self-consciousness and shyness, and this limits their capacity to perform in social events.

Individuals who are in constant use of social media platforms are at higher risks of suffering from different types of anxiety disorder. Social media allows people to interact virtually through the use of internet in platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. A social platform such as Facebook influences social anxiety disorder where some people feel disconnected from different social experiences. It is common to find individuals posting their social activities in social media with the intent of getting comments. The posting displays some sense of accomplishment in life and individuals who do not make to such places feel demotivated. The incidences make some people lose their confidence and feel inferior. Facebook allows users to tell their friends about their locations and the actual activity they are engaging in such as fun day. In platforms such as Instagram, users concern is to get many followers who like their pictures. Incidences, where a person posts his or her photos and gets few likes, makes such a person feel unattractive. Through the various social media sites, people are increasingly posturing about every facet of their lives. Constant uploading of images and events to get comments contributes to possible obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Social sites such as LinkedIn allow users to identify the number of views of their profiles. However, individuals who not registered to the premium mode cannot get to know the exact a person who viewed their profile, and this contributes to generalized anxiety disorder.

Anxiety Disorder and Its Treatment Options

In responding to the problem of anxiety disorder in society, large pharmaceuticals are developing drugs aimed at reducing the impact of such issues. SmithKline has carried research on obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder and provided some medication such as Paxil for these health problems. Through the guidance of the FDA, the company is carrying campaigns to enlighten society about the disease. Some of the efforts involve a 1999 slogan that challenged people to avoid being allergic to others through their behavior. The process involved the use of patients suffering from diseases to sensitize the population to seek medication. It is identifiable that empowering people with information reduce the chances of suffering from medical illnesses silently. Besides, through the campaigns, it is possible to sensitize people on the need to avoid situations that threaten their confidence. Indeed, SmithKline played a primary role in enhancing public perception of anxiety, and the need to seek medication to lowers its adverse effects.

However, despite relying on drugs for treatment on anxiety disorder in the population, there is the need to consider the use of psychotherapy approaches. According to Mental Health Weekly Digest (2018), the appropriate method to solve anxiety disorder is anchoring positive experiences in the victims. The approach requires a standard treatment that exposes the person to the stimuli inducing fear in them. The process is relevant in ensuring that the victims learn that certain stimuli remains harmless, and thus no need to fear them in the future. Indeed, human brains continually change; therefore, it is possible to change them through exposure to adverse or good experiences. Through therapy, psychologists can offer help to patients to boost their resilience to different experiences in their life. The psychologists help the patients to understand the neural process that induce fear and how to avoid them. The approach promotes the victims to avoid falling prey to fear thus lowering levels of suffering from the post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychotherapy approach helps victims of anxiety disorder to develop reward hormone that assists in responding to unnecessary fears. Therefore, psychologists’ intervention is necessary for boosting memory formation and preventing post-traumatic stress.

Researchers are also showing a positive influence of Neurofeedback (NF) to treat the rising cases of anxiety disorder in society. Neurofeedback approach aims at reducing the asymmetry that exists between right and left areas of prefrontal parts in the brain. The procedure is working positively in response to health issues such as depression and anxiety. The method helps regulate the activity of cortical electroencephalograph (EEG) through relying on signals that originate from acoustic and visual parts. However, the effectiveness of the treatment is possible if coupled with psychotherapy sessions. Neurofeedback allows patients to have various courses with psychotherapists that help to restore their body balance. Through the intervention, victims regain from severe depression especially those suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) that relies on remission criteria. The method works through reducing the asymmetry that is existent in the brain prefrontal that conditions the mental wellbeing of an individual. NF allows reduction of depression symptoms that are evident in individuals suffering from any form of stress disorder. Researches show reinstating alpha-asymmetry (AA) is a considerable approach to solving the bio-behavioral aspect of individuals suffering from anxiety.

According to Mental Health Weekly Digest (2018), the mode of treatment chosen by the medics influences the effectiveness of anxiety disorder resolution. Psychotherapy shows relative high rates of recovery of victims of anxiety disorder in the population. Research shows that patients who undergo psychotherapy sessions maintain relatively good health than those who seek medication. Indeed, a significant number of individuals who get medicine suffer from anxiety relapse upon completion of their doses. Therefore, the use of drugs is not relatively effective in treating the health problem. Research to compare the effectiveness of psychotherapy and drug treatment showed a significant difference in response to the intervention. Indeed, the use of approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy allowed participants to show lowered disorder for about 24 months after the intervention. Psychotherapy enables physicians to engage the patient in understanding the stimuli of their fear. The physician then offers the patient a guide on how to overcome such fears and build confidence to face any uncertainties. The patients, therefore, get empowerment to resolve issues that directly influence their panic or phobia characteristics. Besides, a therapy session allows the therapists to observe changes in the behavior of their patients thus changing their approach gradually.

Conclusion

Anxiety disorder is a problem that affects a significant number of people in the population and appears in the form of enhanced fear or panic. The condition is relatively high in women due to hormonal changes and their role as caregivers to their children. Anxiety disorder manifests in different ways that could either be through panic or social phobia. Individuals suffering from the condition experiences issues such as tingling sensation and lowered confidence in social events. Social media users have higher chances of suffering from an anxiety disorder. Different approaches are available to respond to the health condition such as medication. A drug such as Paxil from SmithKline helps in responding to the problem. The medical intervention seeks to balance the prefrontal area of the brain reducing issues of asymmetry that affect thinking. However, there are also different psychotherapy interventions that aim to help people handle uncertainties and fear. Therapy sessions allow victims to understand various stimuli for their worries and different ways to respond to them. It is essential that medics consider using therapy session as opposed to medication because of its long term positive effect on the anxiety disorder patients.