How Do I Know I Have An Anxiety Disorder?

Many of the most common anxiety disorders, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder, are well known. This, naturally, may lead people who suffer with anxiety or their nerves to wonder if they themselves are suffering from these clinically defined illnesses.

While some sufferers are born with their anxiety disorders, many find that they do not “trigger” with their illness until later on in life. Do not assume that because you have previously had no problems with anxiety that you will not be suffering from a disorder now or in the future; they can appear quite suddenly. If you have “triggered”, you will find a definitive change in your thought patterns and behavior cycles. This is something you will notice as different from normal and how you usually are, and is often easily recognizable as an anxiety problem. If this sounds familiar, seek medical help – but have cheer, for those who “trigger” and can definitely identify a change in their behavior are more likely to get the correct diagnosis and treatment.

The problem is more compressed for those that are born with an anxiety disorder, as they have no period of “normality” to be able to compare their thought patterns with. These sufferers’ tend to exhibit symptoms from an early age, and will often be diagnosed by the time they are 18.

If, however, you are a somewhat nervy person, you must ask yourself: do my nerves stop me living life as I should? Are you able to live a normal, functional life despite your anxiety issues? If so, you may have an anxiety problem, but it is not a clinically asserted disorder as such. If your anxiety does affect your life, seek medical help for a diagnosis.

Mental Health In Your Child: Look, Listen and Learn

There is a difficulty that presents itself to all parents when their child reaches the age of 13 or so; are those mood swings natural teenage, hormone-driven angst – or are they something more?

Mental health problems, such as anxiety disorders or depressive illnesses, tend to begin to manifest around puberty – clouding the issue all the more. There is also puberty itself to contend with, meaning that many teenagers may be experiencing the beginnings of a mental health issue, but do not want to confide in their parents. It is a primary worry for parents, as they watch their child grow – how do you know if your child is going through a natural change, or if it’s a medical problem?

The real trouble is, there is no real way to know. Many teenagers themselves may not know. Studies done by a UK Obsessive Compulsive Disorder charity show that many sufferers’ do begin to exhibit signs during their adolescence, but do not even see for themselves that they are developing a problem. It is often put down to normal teenage moods, and it can mean decades of miserable suffering in silence for the unfortunate individual.

As a parent, you want to protect your child, and if they do have an anxiety disorder, you want to help them. Learn to observe the way your child behaves. Reinforce with your child that you are there for them, and let on in other ways that you are understanding of mental illness. Hopefully, when if they do experience problems, they will then feel they can talk to you, and help can be sought.

Is “Mental” Health Really Just In The Mind?

Imagine you are asked to describe what depression, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Bi Polar Disorder are. Would you say “mental health problems”, or similar? Most would, and there is a general perception that these problems are purely based in the mind. There is still something of an attitude that people with mental health and anxiety problems should be able to “snap out of it” or get over it, just like that. Yet many mental illnesses actually have physical reasons.

For example, clinical depression. A much-misused term, depression is now used to describe someone feeling a bit low. However, if someone has full, clinical depression, they will experience long periods of horrifically low mood, low motivation and a general feeling of emptiness. A cruel illness, but one that is described as being mental, and a regular target for the “pull yourself out of it!” brigade.

Yet depression does have a physical basis. Depression is caused by a lower-than-average amount of serotonin in the body. Also known as the “feel good” hormone, serotonin controls the mood, personality and feelings of an individual. If serotonin levels are low, the individual will experienced depressive, low thoughts. This is a physical problem with mental evidence, but it is physical nonetheless – anti-depressants work on increasing serotonin levels, and tend to have a decent success rate.

Furthermore, preliminary scans have shown those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder have enlarged lobes at the front of the brain. These lobes control our worry and anxiety mechanism, and when enlarged, the anxiety goes into overdrive – resulting in what we know as OCD.

So these mental illnesses are, more often than not, physical in basis after all – and one can no more “shake off” or “get over” a hormone imbalance than one can “shake off” a broken leg!

What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety is at the crux of a great deal of mental illnesses. The pain of a mental illness is that it comes from within you and attacks you with weapons you have unknowingly given it. Due to this, anxiety is a very powerful influence on mental illness – because no-one knows what you are afraid of better than you do, your brain will in its disordered state confront you with the things that scare you and make you anxious. As a consequence you will find it all the harder to beat the problem because part of you is causing it.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or GAD is an illness which is characterized by worry about everyday, mundane things. It is typically a disproportionate worry about something that, in all likelihood, will not be a major problem. Typical flashpoints for GAD are things such as money, work and relationships – things that may well be going well for the sufferer, but due to the disorder will begin to niggle in their mind.

An individual with GAD may be in an excellent, well-paid job with prospects for the future, a stable and happy relationship and have numerous good friends. The disorder will pick at one or more of these and present the individual with the fear that something will go wrong. Most usually, it will use a small problem and expand it until the problem is all the sufferer can see. Usually treated using anti-depressants and cognitive behavioral therapy, GAD can become debilitating, but if it is tackled head-on the sufferer can overcome it and lead a happy life.

The Myth of Mental Illness

Despite all appearances to the contrary, the world is still somewhat old fashioned. An excellent example of a continuation of long-held views is no more apparent than with the general perception of mental health problems.

It is understandable that, in years gone by, there was a general distrust for those who did not appear to be as mentally healthy as one could hope. Yet as time has passed, we as a species have been able to learn more and more about mental health issues. We should know by now that not everyone who has a mental health problem is crazy – or, a favorite of the down market media, “schizo”. Mental health is varied and layered – and what is “normal” anyway?

Just because an individual is diagnosed as suffering from a mental illness does not mean they are not “normal”. All it means, in the basest of ways, is that part of their brain malfunctions. This does not mean they are going to start wielding a knife or break down crying. The vast majority of those who suffer with mental health issues carry on exactly as normal, hiding their condition – which, in turn, can worsen it. There is still a terrible stigma toward mental health problems across the globe.

Many people fear those with mental health – by default, regardless of their condition – do so out of ignorance. It is important to remember that, across the span of your life, you will meet hundreds of people with clinical diagnosed mental health problems – and you will have no idea. A few select cases of those suffering from extreme forms of mental illnesses have lead to a general, and incorrect, assumption of perceived danger. Until the stigma fades, mental health will still be a dark area, where sufferers’ feel they cannot be honest about how they are feeling.