What is an anxiety disorder(s)
Anxiety disorder is a common mental illness characterized by feelings of uneasiness, worry, and fear. While anxiety can happen to anyone if you have an anxiety disorder, you will feel an inappropriate and unreasonable amount of agitation, worry, and fear.
It comes next to depression as one of the most common mental health issues among the elderly. In fact, they are closely interrelated and as difficult to diagnose. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), about 50% of seniors with depression also suffer from an anxiety disorder – according to the CDC.
There are several types of anxiety disorders, i.e., generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Of the six, generalized anxiety disorder and phobias are the most common among seniors. This article, therefore, shall focus on these two so you will know what they are, their symptoms and how to cope with them.
Read on…
Generalized anxiety disorder
General anxiety disorder causes worry or fear that gets worse over time. It will affect your social life, your job, and day-to-day activities. Seniors with severe cases of GAD become withdrawn and reclusive.
The most common symptoms of GAD are:
- Excessive, uncontrollable worry/anxiety
- Edginess, nervousness, or restlessness
- Chronic fatigue or tires out fast
- Irritable or low-fused
- Poor sleep quality or difficulty falling/staying asleep
- Tensed muscles
Generalized anxiety disorder is caused by any or a combination of the following:
- A history of anxiety in the family
- Prolonged exposure to stressful situations like an illness or combat duty
- Excessive use of caffeine or tobacco
- Abuse when young.
How to cope with generalized anxiety disorder
Anxiety can increase your heart rate, causes palpitation and chest pains. It increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and other coronary events.
It is necessary, therefore to deal with it deals you in.
Here’s how…
1. Don’t withdraw
When you start feeling anxious, don’t withdraw from people or from a crowd. Rather, stay put and get involved. Join activities that can foster a sense of belonging, of giving you some purpose.
2. Talk to someone
Don’t go at it alone. Find someone to talk to – a friend, brother or sister, your confessor on anybody open to idle talk. When you do, don’t talk about your problems but anything to take your mind off your anxiety. Besides, nobody is interested in your problems.
A good conversation is therapeutic. It makes you forget your problems, it feeds the mind and is a learning experience.
3. Laugh
We all know how difficult it is to have a good laugh when you are as tight as a piano string. But that’s one of the best options when you are driven up the wall by anxiety.
Laughter boosts the mood, diminishes pain and protects you against stress. A good humor lightens up your burdens and helps you release anger.
The question is how?
Turn on your TV set and watch one of those funny sitcoms. Or read online or offline jokes. Recall some of the best days of your life that gave you much enjoyment and laughter.
4. Be positive
Like laughing, being positive when you are shaking in deep anxiety can be as difficult as turning night into day. Ironically, that’s precisely one of the best ways of coping with a generalized anxiety disorder – think positive.
Yes, it is going to require a great amount of effort but it is well worth it. Other than banishing your anxiety, being positive can reduce or delay cognitive decline and cardiovascular damage, among others.
5. Exercise
I feel that “exercise” is an over-used word where elderly health and well-being are concerned. But no matter how often it is repeated, exercise could never be over-emphasized for people in the golden years of their lives.
Exercised maintains or improves muscle mass and balance, it induces a good appetite and promotes better sleep. It reduces stress, makes the brain release the “feel good” hormones and contributes to longevity.
Phobia
How are phobias developed
I developed claustrophobia from some movies I saw as a young child but I could not pin a cause for my fear of heights. And maybe you, too, will find it difficult to recall the cause(s) of your phobia. At any rate, phobias are triggered by any or some of the following:
- Unforgettable incidents or traumas. Having been stuck in an elevator in the past will most likely make you fearful of using an elevator again. Images of the past will come rushing in just be the mere mention of it.
- Learned responses. As a child, I and some friends loved to shoot house lizards with rubberband-propelled darts. Images of those we killed and buried somehow developed in me a fear of dead animals – including people. Not dead lizards only. I fear anything that slithers like snakes and other reptiles.
- Genetics. Some research shows that phobias are inherited, too. It means you are more prone to develop a phobia that exists in the family.
- Long-term stress. This can cause feelings of anxiety and depression, and reduce your ability to cope with particular situations. If repeated regularly, over the long haul, a phobia may set in. It’s kind of “here we go again,” kind of thing.
How to cope with a phobia
We all have phobias of one form or another. That’s perfectly normal. They are nothing to be ashamed of or be embarrassed about.
It becomes abnormal when they drive you with fearful anxiety; throw your world upside down. If they do, then these practical tips will help you cope with them:
1. Avoidance
I have a phobia for heights. Luckily, I am not afraid to fly. What I dread most is to stand on a ledge of a tall building, looking down.
How to beat the phobia? Keep away from the ledge and instead of looking down, enjoy the panorama of the surrounding landscape. This will take your mind off your fear.
2. Increase your tolerance
This involves gradually exposing yourself to the situation you are fearful about, i.e., heights, bugs, crowded streets, then withdrawing when your anxiety level builds up.
Keep this cycle of exposure and withdrawal until you get over your phobia. Some allergies are treated this way. Over time, your phobia will just fade away like a wisp of smoke.
3. Meet it head-on
While increasing your tolerance is gradual acclimatization to the source of your phobia, meeting it head-on is facing your phobia directly in the face and see who blinks first.
While this may seem to be fraught with danger, but this is the best and fastest way of removing a source of your anxiety.
4. Join a support group
Oftentimes, you may feel weak and powerless to cope with your phobia alone. You can get over this state of helplessness by joining the group.
A support group can help you realize that you are not alone; that so many people out there are are also driven to anxiety over one or more phobias. A group makes you feel empowered and accepted and it is a good hedge against depression.
5. Try medication
If nothing of the above works, try medication – but only after consulting your doctor.
Take note, however, that these drugs will only address the effects of your phobia, not cure you of it. One of these drugs, for example, are anti-depressants like Xanax which can only lessen your feelings of anxiety, or beta-blockers which block the stimulating effect of the adrenalin in the body.
Anxiety disorder is a common mental health issue among people regardless of age. Though it may not have serious and lasting impact on younger people, it is a cause for concern among seniors because of its side effects.
More worrisome is the fact that anxiety disorder is difficult to detect and diagnose. More often than not, it is taken as a sign of aging. Well, they are not and if you feel any of the above symptoms, consult your doctor before it’s too late.
~oOo~
