By Manun Thakur
Every person has experienced some level of anxiety at one time or another. Each person’s reasoning and degree of severity may be different. Feelings of tension, anticipating thoughts, and physical changes like elevated blood pressure or heart rate, nausea, or tense muscles can all be signs of anxiety.
When a threat is detected, body alarms go off, enabling evasive action. These alerts are characterised by a quicker heartbeat, increased sweating, and increased sensitivity to the environment. A rush of adrenaline brought on by the impending threat triggers the fight, flight, or freeze reaction in the person. This enables people to defend themselves against any threats or escape them. A person may occasionally have a sense of disconnection between their mind and body, which makes them feel out of control. Anxiety symptoms might range from stomach aches to a pounding heart.
“Anxiety is a serious issue, a mental health condition that can cause severe panic attacks and even lead to fainting, please do not take anxiety lightly and seek help at the earliest.” – Manun Thakur, Founder and C.E.O. – Veda Rehabilitation and Wellness.
Here Manun shares his viewpoint on how symptoms can be divided into three groups & after understanding what are the treatments :
The physical symptoms include sweating, chest pain, difficulty breathing, a rapid heartbeat, vertigo, a feeling that “things are not real,” numbness and tingling throughout the body, nausea, vomiting, tight muscles, lack of energy and fatigue, tremors, or digestive problems.
The cognitive symptoms include frequent anxieties, doubts about one’s ability to manage stress or emotions, bleak future forecasts, other pervasive disturbing thoughts, trouble focusing, or an obsession with physical sensations.
The behavioural symptoms include avoiding everything that causes anxiety, such as anxious individuals, places, circumstances, and physical sensations, as well as using drink and/or drugs, acting aggressively, verbally abusing others, snapping at them, and engaging in compulsive behaviours.
Treatments:
a. Psychotherapy: To address anxiety symptoms, cognitive behavioural therapy, exposure therapy, supportive psychotherapy, and insight-oriented psychotherapy can be used. The behavioural approach to treatment must include both biofeedback and relaxation.
b. Prescribed medications: benzodiazepines, beta blockers, MAO inhibiters, etc. are some of the commonly used groups of drugs that can be prescribed by a psychiatrist to manage the symptoms of anxiety.
c. Exercise: it triggers the release of certain chemicals in the brain, as well as help in channelling the excess or built-up energy and/or restlessness due to anxious thoughts and feelings.
d. Nutrition: studies have shown that adding certain foods that includes nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B, and reducing intake of caffeine and alcohol can help with the symptoms.
e. Relaxation Techniques: body scan exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, breathing techniques, visualisation practices
(Manun Thakur is the Founder & CEO, Veda Rehabilitation & Wellness. Views are personal)
