Anxiety is an emotion we all feel. However, if you feel it on extreme levels – panic attacks, irrational dread, nausea – you could be dealing with anxiety not as an emotion, but rather as a disorder. There are several types of anxiety disorders including social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, and generalized panic disorder.
Anxiety sufferers are not alone. In fact, 40 million adults and 1 in 8 children in the United States also suffer from anxiety disorder. Every thought, experience and emotion we feel manifests through a series of electrical connections in our brains. Many times, these electrical connections become permanent fixtures, and under extremely stressful situations these structures are subject to change. Though researchers are still far from fully understanding the exact cause of anxiety disorder, this biochemical change in connection to extreme emotional and physical stress is believed to be the leading factor.
People who suffer from anxiety disorders are three-to-six times more likely to seek psychiatric and medical help than any other mental disorder, and over one-third of all anxiety patients in the United States improve after seeking medical attention and therapy. Through treatments including talk therapy and psychological analysis, anxiety disorder symptoms can vastly improve over time.