www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cr7IomSy8s

Hi all! Found this video that gives an excellent overview of Anxiety related conditions. It’s crazy to think that anxiety costs the United States more than $45 Billion dollars a year between treatment, medication, and lost productivity. Fortunately there are things we can do to treat anxiety holistically. You can read our Panic Away Review for details.

The top ten symptoms of general anxiety:

1. Fatigue or insomnia
2. Fidgeting & twitching
3. Headaches
4. Nausea
5. Muscle tension & aches
6. Heart palpitations
7. Difficulty swallowing
8. Trembling
9. Irritability
10. Sweating & hot flashes

So what is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)? It’s described as an obsessive worry or general sense of doom that is felt about any variety of issues. Even though there’s sometimes a basis for the fear and anxiety, the response is irrational and usually blown out of proportion dramatically. These symptoms are must be chronic, persisting over at least 6 months, for a formal diagnosis to be made. Unfortunately, GAD rarely goes away on it’s own, so you’ll want to seek support or treatment to help alleviate the condition.

Sometimes GAD is confused with panic attacks. Panic attacks are a different type of anxiety, which usually result from a specific trigger or a situation in which there is also an underlying phobia at the root, such as a claustrophobic person being trapped in an elevator. There may also be a trigger that is unrelated to the underlying cause of general anxiety disorder, such as a person in a stressful job interview who experiences a panic attack – but who has also been experiencing GAD, caused by a divorce – for the previous year. Common symptoms of a panic attack include rapid heartbeat, perspiration, dizziness, dyspnea (labored breathing), trembling, uncontrollable fear, hyperventilation, tunnel hearing or vision, etc. Panic attacks may be a rare occurrence, or they may happen regularly, but as  you can see, panic attacks and general anxiety can occur in a person simultaneously, making both conditions more difficult to treat.

General Anxiety Disorder can have very real negative effect on your life, including stressing  your body and flooding it with cortisol. There’s no need to suffer since there are a variety of proven treatments to lessen or eliminate GAD from your life. Being proactive also lessens any chance for panic attacks or depression to set in.

We’ve reviewed a number of products that are designed to treat panic attacks and general anxiety in a holistic manner. The one eBook that stood head and shoulders above the rest is called Panic Away. You can read our full Panic Away Review Here. We we highly recommend that you check it out, and we wish you well on your path to healing!

You’re not alone!

First, it helps to know that many people have chronic anxiety disorders. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “over 35 million people—nearly 17 percent of the American population—suffer from anxiety disorders.”

What are the symptoms of anxiety disorder?

The top symptoms of general anxiety disorder include:

• fatigue or insomnia
• fidgeting
• twitching
• headaches
• nausea
• muscle tension and aches
• difficulty swallowing
• trembling
• irritability
• sweating
• hot flashes

You may experience any or all of these symptoms. These symptoms occur as the body goes into ‘flight or fight’, and result from the extra levels of cortisol in your body. If left untreated, these symptoms can elevate into severe anxiety disorder.

Severe anxiety disorder adds several more elevated symptoms including:

• rapid heartbeat
• dizziness
• dyspnea (labored breathing)
• uncontrollable fear
• hyperventilation
• tunnel hearing
• vision problems

The cause of these additional symptoms is that severe anxiety disorder is often linked to overlapping anxiety disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or panic attacks. The most severe cases may also include anxiety depression.

Steps for treating severe anxiety disorder

The complex and overlapping conditions of this disorder make it vitally important for you to seek professional help and obtain a diagnosis so that you can physically and emotionally stabilize. During this time it is also important to enlist the help of a trusted support network.

There is hope! – Follow these 4 steps:

1. Get a check-up with your primary care physician. Since some anxiety problems stem from physical problems. It’s best to see your general practitioner first, who can refer you to a qualified psychiatrist if necessary.
2. Read more information on anxiety and mood disorders, so that you can have an informed conversation with your doctor. No need to bombard yourself with tons of information, but something you can read in a few afternoons will help you feel more empowered when you see your psychiatrist. We have links to some helpful resources on our sidebar.
3. See a psychiatrist, who will test and interview with you in order to provide a diagnosis and treatment plan. Once you have heard this plan it’s important to follow it closely. If you don’t agree with the diagnosis, seek a second opinion until you are satisfied and will commit to the treatment. We recommend that you look for a doctor who integrates both traditional and homeopathic treatments, rather than strictly prescribing pills.
4. Seek homeopathic and natural remedies that will support your treatment plan. Diet and exercise has been proven to play a major role in our mental and emotional health. Diet specifically can help with balancing some chemicals in the brain that affect mood. Naturopathic or homeopathic doctors can be a great resource if your psychiatrist isn’t inclined to this approach.

By working with qualified professionals who can help you stabilize and minimize your anxiety disorders, you’ll feel better prepared to make a few lifestyle and dietary changes. This holistic or ‘whole’ approach to mind, body and spirit is shown to bring about the best chance for long term healing. We recommend that as part of these 4 steps, you take a look at Panic Away, which is our eBook of choice for helping people overcome anxiety and panic attacks due to its easy-to-read language, the many testimonials from other anxiety sufferers, and the audios and email coaching provided with the program.

What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?

Virtually everyone has occasional bouts of anxiety, or anxious thought patterns. In contrast, GAD is a  state of periodic and elevated anxiety, often characterized by excessive thinking and dwelling on the “what ifs”.  As a result, you may feel that there’s no way out of the vicious cycle of anxiety and worry.  You probably have general anxiety disorder if you have recurring anxiety, as opposed to occasional worry.

What happens when you have GAD?

To illustrate how anxiety can escalate into GAD, we’ll use the analogy of a water faucet. If the faucet is working properly when turned off,  we experience a relaxed home environment – which equates to a relatively anxiety-free existence. However,  if the faucet has a leak and is dripping periodically, you could equate this disruptive dripping noise to that of someone with general anxiety.

Over time the pipe remains intact, however the leak gets worse. What was a minor disturbance can escalate into a loud, steady stream, which can no longer  be ignored. This situation is how general anxiety disorder feels – it demands your attention. Worse yet, this unstable situation is a breeding ground for the pipe to burst – or in our analogy, for a panic attack to occur.

What causes GAD?

General anxiety disorder is caused by recurring anxiety. The major causes of anxiety are:

• Repressed emotions
• A chemical imbalance
• Nutritional imbalance
• Physical, mental or emotional exhaustion caused by stress

Steps you can take to eliminate General Anxiety Disorder

Once you know the causes of anxiety, you can work to reduce or eliminate anxiety entirely. Here are four steps that you can take to help eliminate GAD:

1. Educate yourself. There are many excellent holistic books and classes that help reduce or eliminate anxiety by teaching the principles of the mind-body-emotion connection, as well as anti-stress techniques.
2. See a qualified medical professional to get a diagnosis in the event that you have a nutritional or chemical imbalance. You may want to do one or all of the following: a.)  a blood screening, b.) a checkup with your physician, and c.) discuss your situation with a psychiatrist (Ph.D.) who understands medications. Your doctor can help you select the appropriate course of action if required.
3. Meet with a therapist or support group, which can assist you by teaching healthy ways to deal with conflict, rather than repressing emotions. Therapy can also help with issues around physical, mental or emotional exhaustion, which are often at the root of anxiety.  A therapist can give you strategies that create more life balance, time, and personal boundaries that support optimal health.
4. Exercise as a Stress Reducer: Exercise produces the good hormones, such as endorphins, that keeping your mind and body balanced. Some people benefit from Yoga, a practice that incorporates relaxation techniques into exercise and movement.  Whatever you choose, find something that you enjoy  so that you stick with it. Many people (myself included) enjoy a daily walk as a great way to unwind and spend time outdoors.

The good news is that both general anxiety disorder and panic attacks respond well to treatment. It takes commitment to educate yourself, identify options and take action, but it is well worth the time and patience when you are rewarded with a better quality of life and a greater sense of peace. We recommend the Panic Away program as a good holistic option for treating panic attacks. You can read our Panic Away Review by Clicking Here.

What are panic attacks?

Panic attacks fall into the category of anxiety disorders, but are more acute and disabling than general anxiety. A noted researcher and expert on anxiety, Dr. Claire Weekes, states that a panic attack is “an anxious thought about change in the rhythm of the body that can send the body into a tailspin of anxiety”. This tailspin brings about a variety of physical symptoms:

Symptoms that you may be having a panic attack:

• Cardiovascular- such as increased heartbeat and heart palpitations
• Respiratory- A feeling of suffocation, smothering, tightness of the chest, and irregular breathing
• Vision- Blurred vision, seeing stars
• Digestion- Nausea, constipation
• General- Dry mouth, trembling, numbness and tingling in the fingers and hands, physical exhaustion, tired and drained; excessive sweating, and shakiness

What makes a panic attack worse is that many of its’ signs mimic those of a heart attack. These symptoms can make the victim fearful for their life. The good news is that while panic attacks do put some stress on the body, they don’t permanently harm you in any way.

What causes Panic Attacks?

Before a panic attack occurs, the stage is usually set by long term general anxiety, which exhausts the emotions, mind or body. This anxiety creates a situation of hyper-sensitivity to potential triggers, which can put you into an emotional tailspin. These triggers can be either external or internal.

For example, one person may suffer from general anxiety because of  long-term exposure to a stressful office environment. An external event, such as hearing rumors of a massive upcoming layoff, can cause fear that serves as a trigger for a panic attack.

Alternatively, a person that suffers from general anxiety may be exposed to the same stressful environment. Hearing the layoff rumor, they may actually be relieved. However, while jogging at lunch time their heart starts to beat too rapidly. This rapid heartbeat is likely a symptom that’s been going on for some time due to the stressful office environment, but the jogger may interpret their symptoms as a heart condition. The fear for their health can serve as an internal trigger and cause a panic attack.

Whether a panic attack is caused by an internal or external trigger, there are a number of treatment options available that treat panic attacks and general anxiety.

Treatment options for panic attacks and anxiety:

• Medication: Tranquilizers such as Xanax or Valium, as well as anti-depressants such as Prozac or Zoloft. These are aimed at correcting ‘chemical imbalances’.
• Therapy: Traditional talk therapy, hypnosis and guided imagery: Aimed at changing our response to certain inputs.
• Relaxation, Spiritual healing, BioFeedback, and Yoga: These therapies teach techniques to calm the mind and/or body
• Holistic Programs: These programs usually combine education, visualization, physical and relaxation techniques and are aimed at treating both general anxiety and panic attacks.

As treatment options go, we believe that medication definitely has its’ place. It’s always a good idea to see a professional for proper diagnosis before starting any treatment plan. This is especially true as most experts say that some disorders, such as manic-depression, are best treated with the incorporation of medication. Once the body chemistry is stabilized, other therapies may compliment or replace the medication and ensure long-term success.

For the majority of cases, however, medication may be unnecessary. Non-medical therapies such as relaxation, biofeedback, talk therapy, and holistic programs can provide a good, holistic solution. We are particularly impressed with the Panic Away holistic program, which stands above other products on the market. The reason for this is twofold. First, Panic Away treats panic attacks and general anxiety all within one program. Second, it also takes a holistic approach to healing the whole person – mind, body and spirit. This multi-pronged treatment is laid out in simple steps that are easy to remember and effective. You can read our Panic Away Review by Clicking Here.