Some stress and anxiety is a normal response to what is perceived as a negative life event, affecting every age group. This is a natural part of life and it is quite normal to feel anxiety occasionally.
An ongoing state of mental and/or physical tension and nervousness, without the ability to take a break from the anxiety, sets one up for an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders negatively impact a person’s normal day to day functioning, their relationships, their home life, school and or work life.
Remember, children also experience stress and anxiety due to various factors. If not addressed this may lead to mental health issues, violence and suicidal tendencies. Children commonly react to stress and trauma with angry episodes. According to stats Canada, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 24. This does not take into account the unsuccessful suicide attempts.
If you feel yourself constantly on edge, worried, anxious, or stressed (either physically or mentally) and it’s disrupting your life, you may have an anxiety disorder.
Successfully addressing anxiety’s core causes ensures symptom reduction and their eventual elimination.
Various Types of Anxiety
– Depression
– Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
– Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
– Agoraphobia
– Panic disorder/attacks
– Social phobia
– Tourette’s Syndrome
Anxiety disorders boil down to unresolved emotional and or physical traumas, those remembered as well as the repressed memories and emotions. Anxiety disorders may stem from any or a combination of unresolved emotional traumas, and can stem as far back to birth.
Common challenges which can create an anxiety disorder may stem from:
– Health challenges
– Financial difficulties
– Relationship stress (separation, divorce)
– Social phobia
– Grief and loss
– Long term care giving of a family member or a loved one
– Retirement
– Serious accident
– Work place conflict or instability
– Job or career change
– Debilitating phobias
– Abuse – physical, sexual, mental or psychological
– Spiritual conflict
– Dysfunctional family life
– Children leaving or returning home
– Obsessive negative thoughts