Anxiety and Depression - The Silent Roller coaster
I'm sure that there aren't many folks around that haven't felt the grips of anxiety or depression at some time.
If you think about it, it would be hard to find anyone who feels deliriously ecstatic all the time.
Mood fluctuations are both normal and natural and are part of what makes us humans tick.
However, if there are periods of low mood or anxiety that are persistent and prolonged, or are made worse by certain feelings or conditions, its possible that further investigation may be necessary.
It's pretty obvious that feelings of sadness or a depressed mood are natural reactions to a loss or an unhappy event, but sometimes these feelings become disproportionate to the event or loss that has been suffered.
Invariably, depression is characterized by feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, lack of self-worth, pessimism and self-criticism.
With anxiety, you can also add in feelings of overwhelming, inability to cope and worry.
In the more severe cases, thoughts of suicide and self-harm may be felt.
These psychological symptoms, because of their influence on the central nervous system, can bring about some physical symptoms as well.
The most common physical symptoms encountered are fatigue, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, lack of interest in activities, headaches, body aches and diminished sex drive.
Anxiety, too has been given as a cause of such habits as smoking and fingernail biting.
Depression and anxiety can quite often be found together within a victim.
Anxiety is a natural response to stresses, but just like depression, it becomes an issue when the duration and intensity of the anxiety is disproportionate to the situation encountered.
For example, it is quite a natural response to feel anxious when confronted with a daunting task, when placed in a stressful social situation or when something is perceived as dangerous.
However, in a case of anxiety disorder these feeling of anxiousness may prevail well after the stressful situation no longer exists.
These feelings of anxiety may reach such intensity as to become so debilitating that they interfere in a person's ability to perform their normal daily functions Anxiety disorders may present as specific phobias where the anxiety is triggered by a particular event or situation.
One instance of this would be arachnophobia, which affects the victim with an excessive and irrational fear of spiders.
Anxiety may, on another hand, be far less specific, and may be a generalized form of the disorder.
This form of anxiety disorder is non specific, but presents as a chronic state of worry and tension, even though there may not be an immediate apparent cause.
Sufferers of both depression and anxiety have a tendency to withdraw from others, which brings with it an inclination to self-medicate.
This may lead to abuse of alcohol or other substances which may be difficult to detect due to the characteristic withdrawal.
It goes without saying that this does nothing to help their condition, and may in fact trigger a downward spiral, resulting in a total loss of control.
If you think about it, it would be hard to find anyone who feels deliriously ecstatic all the time.
Mood fluctuations are both normal and natural and are part of what makes us humans tick.
However, if there are periods of low mood or anxiety that are persistent and prolonged, or are made worse by certain feelings or conditions, its possible that further investigation may be necessary.
It's pretty obvious that feelings of sadness or a depressed mood are natural reactions to a loss or an unhappy event, but sometimes these feelings become disproportionate to the event or loss that has been suffered.
Invariably, depression is characterized by feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, lack of self-worth, pessimism and self-criticism.
With anxiety, you can also add in feelings of overwhelming, inability to cope and worry.
In the more severe cases, thoughts of suicide and self-harm may be felt.
These psychological symptoms, because of their influence on the central nervous system, can bring about some physical symptoms as well.
The most common physical symptoms encountered are fatigue, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, lack of interest in activities, headaches, body aches and diminished sex drive.
Anxiety, too has been given as a cause of such habits as smoking and fingernail biting.
Depression and anxiety can quite often be found together within a victim.
Anxiety is a natural response to stresses, but just like depression, it becomes an issue when the duration and intensity of the anxiety is disproportionate to the situation encountered.
For example, it is quite a natural response to feel anxious when confronted with a daunting task, when placed in a stressful social situation or when something is perceived as dangerous.
However, in a case of anxiety disorder these feeling of anxiousness may prevail well after the stressful situation no longer exists.
These feelings of anxiety may reach such intensity as to become so debilitating that they interfere in a person's ability to perform their normal daily functions Anxiety disorders may present as specific phobias where the anxiety is triggered by a particular event or situation.
One instance of this would be arachnophobia, which affects the victim with an excessive and irrational fear of spiders.
Anxiety may, on another hand, be far less specific, and may be a generalized form of the disorder.
This form of anxiety disorder is non specific, but presents as a chronic state of worry and tension, even though there may not be an immediate apparent cause.
Sufferers of both depression and anxiety have a tendency to withdraw from others, which brings with it an inclination to self-medicate.
This may lead to abuse of alcohol or other substances which may be difficult to detect due to the characteristic withdrawal.
It goes without saying that this does nothing to help their condition, and may in fact trigger a downward spiral, resulting in a total loss of control.
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