Types of Anxiety Disorder

There are 8 common types of anxiety disorder, all of them share different level of anxiety, and the most severe anxiety - fear or specific phobia. You must recognize the problem before finding a cure, please refer to this article for more information.

Types of Anxiety Disorder

1. Panic Disorder - Unpredictable terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly without warning, and some physical symptoms accompanied like sweating, chest pain, irregular or rapid heart beats and other symptoms of anxiety disorder.
2. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - Sufferers will feel extreme and unrealistic worry and tension about their everyday life activities, even there is nothing to provoke the anxiety!
3. Social Anxiety Disorder - Also refer as Social Phobia. Sufferer will experience overwhelming worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations, and they worry about behaving a way that might cause embarrassment or lead to ridicule.
4. Separation Anxiety Disorder - Sufferer having difficulty leaving their parents, attend school, camp, stay at friends's house or be alone.
5. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - Mind trapped in a pattern of repetitive thoughts and behaviors even though they may recognize the thoughts or behaviors to be senseless and distressing. It will lead to compulsive behaviors like repeated hand washing, counting or arranging and rearranging objects.
6. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - Sufferer may experienced very stressful event in the pass, such as physical or sexual abuse, being victim of or witnessing violence, living through disaster like earth quake or bombing. Sufferer will continue to experience the event over and over through strong memories, flashbacks and other kinds of troublesome thoughts.
7. Specific Phobias - Intense fear of specific object or situation, such as snakes, heights or flying. The level of fear usually is inappropriate to the situation and may cause the person to avoid common, everyday situations.
8. Agoraphobia - Sufferer will experiencing abnormal level of fear being helpless in an embarrassing or inescapable situation that is characterized by the avoidance of public places. This may occur alone or accompany with panic disorder. Sufferer will become house bound and isolate themselves from the society, resulting impairment of social and interpersonal relationships.

Types of Anxiety Medication & Anti Depression Pills

Anti-Anxiety Medication

Anxiety Medication - Anti-anxiety drugs, and also known as tranquilizers, are medications that relieve anxiety by slowing down the central nervous system. The relaxing and calming effects have made them very popular: anti-anxiety drugs are the most widely prescribed type of medication for anxiety. They are also prescribed as sleeping pills and muscle relaxants.

Benzodiazepines are the most common class of anti-anxiety drugs. They include:

• Xanax (alprazolam)
• Klonopin (clonazepam)
• Valium (diazepam)
• Ativan (lorazepam)

Benzodiazepines are fast acting—typically bringing relief within thirty minutes to an hour. Because they work quickly, benzodiazepines are very effective when taken during a panic attack or another overwhelming anxiety episode. But despite their potent anti-anxiety effects, they have their drawbacks.

Side effects of anti-anxiety drugs

Anti-anxiety drugs like benzodiazepines will leads to side effects beyond anxiety relief when it work by reducing brain activity.

The higher the dose, the more pronounced these side effects will be. But some people feel sleepy, foggy, and uncoordinated even on low doses of benzodiazepines, which can cause problems with work, school, or everyday activities such as driving. Some even feel a medication hangover the next day.

Benzodiazepines can build up in the body when used over longer periods of time. The result is oversedation. Oversedated person may look like they're drunk.

Benzodiazepines and Tranquilizers common side effects:

• Depression
• Dizziness, lightheadedness
• Impaired thinking and judgement
• Slurred speech
• Drowsiness, lack of energy
• Clumsiness, slow reflexes
• Confusion and disorientation
• Memory loss, forgetfulness
• Blurred or double vision
• Nausea, stomach upset

Long term anti-anxiety drugs like benzodiazepine usage may often lead to depression, and the higher doses user are increasing the risk of depression symptoms and severe suicidal thoughts and feelings. These kind of medication relieves the anxiety and blocks the feelings of pleasure or pain, which causes the emotional blunting and numbness.

Long-term benzodiazepine users are often depressed, and higher doses are believed to increase the risk of both depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and feelings. The medication relieves the anxiety, but it also blocks feelings of pleasure or pain and lead to emotional blunting and numbness.

Paradoxical effects of anti-anxiety drugs

Despite their sedating properties, some people who take anti-anxiety medication experience paradoxical excitement. The most common paradoxical reactions are increased anxiety, irritability, and agitation. However, more severe effects can also occur, including:

• Mania
• Hostility and rage
• Aggressive or impulsive behavior
• Hallucinations

While rare, these adverse effects are dangerous. Paradoxical reactions to these anxiety medications are most common in children, the elderly, and people with developmental disabilities.

Anti-Depressants Medication

There are three main types of anti-depressants:

1. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) - These are often the drug of choice for anxiety disorders because they correct the chemical imbalance in the brain that is the cause of anxiety attacks. They can include Calexa, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. They can have side effects-mainly nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, nervousness and sexual dysfunction. Most of these do not persist, but if they do, the dose needs to be adjusted.
2. Tricyclics - These work by helping neurotransmitters such as serotonin work more effectively in the brain, and are especially effective for panic attacks. They are more likely to have side effects than SSRIs-the most noticeable being weight gain. Others can be drowsiness, dry mouth and dizziness.
3. Monoamine Oxidose Inhibitors (MAOIs ) - These involve dietary restrictions so doctors prefer to try the others first. use a sudden dangerous rise in blood pressure.

MAOIs requires dietary restrictions to limit consumption of foods that contain high level of tyramine, such as cheeses, pickled foods, chocolates, certain meats, beer, wine, and alcohol-free or reduced-alcohol beer and wine.

The interaction of tyramine with MAOIs will cause a dangerously high increase in blood pressure that lead to a stroke. Please refer to your health care professional for a complete list of dietary restrictions.

Some Side Effect of MAOIs:

• Increased appetite
• Restlessness
• Shakiness
• Trembling
• Weakness
• Increased sweating
• Drowsiness
• Constipation
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Stomach upset
• Fatigue
• Dry mouth
• Dizziness
• Low blood pressure
• Lightheadedness, especially when getting up from a lying or sitting position
• Decreased urine output
• Decreased sexual function
• Sleep disturbances
• Muscle twitching
• Weight gain
• Blurred vision
• Headache

MAOIs is the last choice for doctors as it has dietary restriction and more severe side effects.

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