Anxiety by Martha Langenbahn, EdD
Recent studies indicate that anxiety can make certain physical problems more likely. WebMD has recently reviewed a study on anxiety that indicates that people with anxiety disorders were more likely to have thyroid disease, respiratory disease, gastrointestinal disease, arthritis, migraines, and allergies. Anxiety disorders appeared to precede physical health problems.
Compared with people who had physical health problems only, the ones with anxiety reported a worse quality of life and more days when they couldn’t handle daily life.
Anxiety disorders take on many forms. Some of them are obsessive-compulsive disorder, where one has rituals in order to control the anxiety; panic disorder, where one gets physical symptoms such as fast heartbeat, sweaty palms, dizziness, and shortness of breath; phobias, which are fears of certain things or of social situations; and generalized anxiety disorder, where one worries about a number of things. People who have the symptoms of anxiety are urged to discuss the situation with their medical doctor to rule out any physical cause.
Anxiety is treatable. See your family doctor and/or a mental health professional. Sometimes medication can be helpful. Therapy can and is usually very helpful. The current treatment of choice is cognitive/behavioral therapy. Stress management can also be helpful.
