Are you experiencing anxiety? If you feel your everyday activities are hard to accomplish, even the simplest ones seem like a stone. Then, you might be suffering from anxiety.
Anxiety can be considered a disability based on the severity and impact it has on a person’s daily life. It severely impacts your relationships, work outcomes, and daily functioning. In contrast, occasional anxiety is not much of a concern. However, chronic anxiety significantly affects a person’s potential to function. Moreover, legally, many countries claim anxiety as a disability and provide support through accommodations in educational and workplace settings. Recognition of anxiety as a disability holds great importance in understanding the highly adverse effects it has on a person’s life and ensuring that each person struggling with it receives the required support.
This article provides a detailed understanding of anxiety as a disability, its adverse effects on one’s life, and the best ways to treat the signs of anxiety.
What is Anxiety?
An anxiety disorder is a mental illness that involves extreme feelings of fear and worry on an everyday basis, ultimately leaving you more worried about the incomplete task.
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What are the signs of Anxiety disorder?
Common anxiety symptoms include:
- Restlessness
- Extreme tension
- Having an increased heart rate
- Hyperventilation
- Sweating
- Agitation
- Lack of focus
- Disturbed sleeping cycle
The common types of Anxiety Disorder
There are several types of anxiety disorder with different criteria of symptoms:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
In this type of anxiety, a sufferer experiences patterns of worry and tension that are generalized in nature. A diagnosis can be developed if the symptoms stay for at least six months.
Panic Disorder:
This condition comprises frequent episodes of extreme anxiety that lasts for about 10 minutes or more. Additionally, constant episodes of anxiety lead to panic attacks.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD):
A person suffering from OCD exhibits a pattern of repetitive behavior caused due to anxiety and intrusive thoughts.
Phobias:
Involuntary fears of places, things, events, or situations can develop into phobias, disrupting a person’s day-to-day activities.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):
This type of anxiety triggers after a traumatic event, followed by extreme stress signs lasting for more than a month.
Severe anxiety disorders negatively impact the daily functioning of the sufferer. Moreover, they can exhibit a range of stressful signs. Some anxiety disorders are highly associated with previous trauma and can cause the onset of signs of anxiety, such as military combat, airplane crashes, and animal attacks. In contrast, others may have no specific cause.
What are the causes of anxiety disorder?
The causes of anxiety disorders are not fully known. However, there is strong evidence about the link between traumatic events and anxiety disorders. In addition, inherited traits can also play a significant role in the onset of anxiety disorder.
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Biological causes:
A person is at higher risk of developing anxiety if they have a strong history of medical illnesses. In addition, some people may show signs of stress as an indicator of medical diseases.
Some of the most common medical problems linked to anxiety are:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Thyroid problems, such as hyperthyroidism
- Respiratory issues like asthma
- Drug dependency
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Tumors
Your anxiety may be due to an underlying medical condition if:
- If you don’t have a family history of anxiety disorder
- If you did not experience anxiety disorder in childhood
- You are not bothered by anxiety in certain situations
What are the ways to manage the anxiety disorder?
If you are suffering from anxiety disorder, then your mental health expert will provide you with professional assistance to overcome the signs of anxiety disorder. Some of the common anxiety disorder treatment methods are as follows:
Psychiatric medications:
One of the most effective ways to overcome anxiety disorder is the prescription of psychiatric medications. Based on the several types of anxiety, the medication prescription is also varied.
Some of the more commonly prescribed anxiety medications include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which include Prozac (fluoxetine) and Lexapro (escitalopram). Multiple antidepressants have shown positive results in controlling anxiety disorders.
Psychotherapy:
This talk therapy is commonly used to treat anxiety. The mental health expert helps the sufferer by making them understand their signs of stress along with certain associated behaviors, triggers, and coping ways. In addition, if you are seeking anxiety disability benefits, it depends on the treatment.
Struggles of living with Anxiety disorders:
Living with anxiety is not easy. A sufferer can go through a lot while fighting with extreme anxiety signs. Some of the common struggles a person with anxiety can experience are:
Sleep disturbances:
Anxiety revolves around constant overthinking. People with anxiety disorders overthink a lot, which leads to disturbed sleeping patterns. The thoughts are primarily about the future, distressing past, and extreme worry. The worst thing is that an overactive mind can cause sleepless nights when a person wakes up several times a night just to lie down and try to stop thinking. Therefore, an anxiety sufferer must maintain a proper sleep cycle and take necessary precautions to prepare themself to sleep, which can better the impact of anxiety.
Social Anxiety:
It is essential to recognize that not all individuals who suffer from anxiety will have social anxiety. Social anxiety can be from any particular social activity or when in an event, such as the time of speech, presentation, or being at a party. Hosting a large audience, as well as any responsibility of being on stage or in the spotlight, can all lead to a significant amount of anxiety.
Unable To Relax:
Anxiety is not just a mental illness, and it’s not something that we can just ‘get over.’ It is essential to understand that anxiety applies to mental and spiritual areas as well. Extreme anxiety can trigger the onset of several physical signs, such as muscle tension, lowered energy, and constant worrisome thoughts. Ultimately, these physical signs make you unable to relax and negatively affect your overall potential to perform tasks.
Low Self-Esteem:
Anxiety brings along a heightened sense of being fearful about what other people will think, in result intensifying the effects of stress. Guilt and shame have a strong link with various mental health disorders. This happens because the sufferer develops a sense of shame for not being normal.
Going Undiagnosed and Untreated:
Unfortunately, many people who live with mental health disorders like anxiety disorders aren’t aware of what they are living with. They go for more straightforward solutions instead of seeking proper professional help. This results in the worsening of the existing condition of the anxiety disorders. Living with undiagnosed and untreated anxiety can become debilitating and disruptive to everyday life. Sadly, many turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms and behaviors like substance abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, or others.
Summary!
Anxiety disorder is a mental illness comprising worrisome thoughts that can disrupt the way of living of the sufferer. Therefore, it is true that anxiety can be described as a disability. This is significant if the condition greatly hinders the person from performing most day-to-day activities. Individuals with anxiety disorder often find it hard to perform the simple tasks of their routine. Recognizing anxiety as a disability is fundamental to understanding how severe this condition is and how much it can disturb a person’s life. Such acknowledgment guarantees that people with anxiety problems get the help and assistance they need.
If you are also experiencing anxiety and you find yourself wandering in a world of confusion and helplessness. You can now be stress-free as Brainpower Wellness Institute is an ideal mental health platform for anxiety. We have a team of the best mental health professionals highly knowledgeable in treating severe anxiety. You can now end your search for a reliable mental health platform and get in touch with our experts to experience relief from your anxiety signs.
