The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy states that anxiety disorders are more common than any other class of psychiatric disorder, but are among those that often go untreated because the patient and/or physician fails to recognize it. Anxiety is an emotion that is thought to prepare an individual to face an obvious or impending threat. However, some individuals may experience excessive anxiety even in the absence of threatening stimuli. This may be an anxiety disorder.
Feelings of Worry
Excessive feelings of apprehension, fear and worry are the hallmark of generalized anxiety disorder, according to the "Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders." Worries may be related to employment, finances, marriage, family or a number of other things.
While it is normal to feel apprehensive every now and then, "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy" explains that patients with generalized anxiety disorder worry daily about many things for a period of six months or more.
Racing Heart and Stomach Upset
Anxiety and fear are capable of activating the autonomic nervous system, or ANS. The ANS serves to maintain balance in the body's systems by regulating appetite, arousal and metabolism. Traditionally, the ANS is split into sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
The sympathetic division arouses the body in response to threat, causing such physiologic changes as the "butterflies in the stomach" sensation experienced with stress. Additionally, the heart rate increases and pupils dilate with sympathetic activation.
While the stimulation of the sympathetic division may execute universal effects, the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system tends to operate more discretely, activating specific organs in response to a particular stimulus. Physiologically, it works in opposition to the sympathetic division, thereby slowing the heart rate, stimulating digestion and constricting the pupils.
Hyperventilation
Often people suffering from anxiety change their respiratory patterns, breathing excessively. This is called hyperventilation and can lead to prickly sensations or numbness in the arms and around the mouth, explains the "MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." It can also cause feelings of dizziness, fainting, weakness and confusion. These physiological changes are due to low levels of blood carbon dioxide, which causes the acidity of the blood to change.
Insomnia
Chronic worry often causes people to have trouble sleeping. Lack of sleep due to anxiety-induced insomnia can cause disabling fatigue and contribute to irritability and lack of concentration, explains the "Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy." Additionally, poor performance at work or school often compounds the anxiety experienced by the patient.
Muscle Tension
Muscle tension is a physical manifestation of emotional anxiety, according to the website FamilyDoctor.org. This may result in pain in the shoulders, back and neck as well as cause headaches. Additionally, according to the "MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia," muscle spasms or involuntary contraction may occur with hyperventilation, which is another manifestation of anxiety.
References
- "The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (Eighteenth Edition)"; Mark H. Beers, M.D., et al.; 2003
- "The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders"; Ellen Thackery and Madeline Harris; 2003
- "MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia"; Hyperventilation
- FamilyDoctor.org: Anxiety and Panic
