Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Anxiety is typically characterized as a feeling of worry or unease, accompanied by apprehensiveness about something that feels imminent with an uncertain outcome. Sometimes this becomes a mental preoccupation with racing thoughts that persist no matter what a person may do. Often anxiety is experienced as nervousness felt in one’s physical body that may include nausea, sweating, tingling, constipation, inability to relax or even headaches. Panic attacks can occur out of the blue, creating a feeling of extreme anxiety and fear that one is having a heart attack with difficulty breathing. There are countless reasons for feeling anxious or worried in our fast paced society today. Individuals can experience anxiety related to any category of life, such as parenting, test taking, driving, interpersonal conflict or fears of intimacy to name just a few. Anxious thoughts and feelings that are just occasional and of short duration are no cause for worry. It is only when anxiety becomes chronic that sleep becomes difficult and stress symptoms become persistent. Some people discover that they are self-medicating with excessive alcohol or drug use. There are effective ways to eliminate anxiety without the use of medication but you must be willing to take personal responsibility to change something in your life that is likely responsible for causing the anxiety.

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