ANXIETY AND PHOBIAS-- SYMPTOMS
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ANXIETY -- A FORM OF
PHOBIAS --These symptoms are easily mistaken by anxious people for evidence
of serious physical illness - their worry about this can make the symptoms
even worse. Sudden unexpected surges of anxiety are called panic, and usually
lead to the person having to quickly get out of whatever situation they
happen to be in. Anxiety and panic are often accompanied by feelings of
depression, when we
feel glum, lose our appetite and see the future as bleak and hopeless. PHOBIAS -- A person with a phobia has intense symptoms of anxiety, as described above. But they only arise from time to time in the particular situations that frighten them. At other times they don't feel anxious. If you have a phobia of dogs, you will feel OK if there are no dogs around, if you are scared of heights, you feel OK at ground level, and if you can't face social situations, you will feel calm when there are no people around. A phobia will lead the sufferer to avoid
situations in which they know they will be anxious, but this will actually
make the phobia worse as time goes on. It can also mean that the person's
life becomes increasingly dominated by
the precautions they have to take to avoid the situation they fear. Sufferers
usually know that there is no real danger, they may feel silly about their
fear but
Are they common? About one in every ten people will have troublesome anxiety or phobias at some point in their lives. However, most will never ask for treatment. |
| SYMPTOMS
Anxiety In the mind:
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In the body:
Irregular heartbeat (palpitations) Sweating Muscle tension and pains Breathing heavily Dizziness Faintness Indigestion Diarrhea |
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This information is from the
Web site: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/public/help/anxiety/anxiety.htm
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