Anxiety can come out of no where. You are tending day-to-day responsibilities when out of the blue you feel it coming on. You feel like you are going to die. The following symptoms take over your body: rapid heart beat, pressure on your chest, you can’t breathe, palms sweating, feeling dizzy and you feel like you may pass out. You may end up in the emergency room fearing the worst. The doctor tells you it wasn’t a heart attack it was a panic attack. This is one form of anxiety called panic disorder.
Panic disorder may lead to a pattern of avoidance of places or situations where panic attacks have occurred. For example, if a panic attack strikes while driving you may develop a fear of driving. If you start avoiding that begins to greatly restrict your life.
You can also suffer from other forms of anxiety which are the following: obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, PTSD, and generalized anxiety disorder.
For those who have experienced anxiety and/or panic attacks it can be very scary. But like depression, anxiety is also treatable. Therapy can help you learn to increase your awareness of negative, catastrophizing thoughts that often contribute to exacerbating anxiety, learn how to control those anxious thoughts, learn breathing and relaxation exercises that can help reduce the anxiety and increase an overall ability to greatly reduce and manage your anxiety.