Everybody experiences anxiety within their lifetime at some point. Anxiety is a natural response useful in helping us to avoid dangerous situations and motivates us to solve everyday problems. It can vary from mild uneasiness through to a terrifying panic attack. However, an anxiety disorder differs from normal anxiety in the following ways:

• It is more severe
• It is long lasting
• It interferes with the person's relationships and work life

If anxiety or panic attacks go unaddressed for a long time, they can cause significant damage to a personal mental and physical health.

RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ANXIETY & PANIC ATTACKS

If untreated, anxiety can significantly affect a person's life. Dangers can include:

• Physically: A fast heart-rate, which could lead to a heart attack; High (or very low) blood pressure, which could also lead to a heart attack or stroke; Insomnia and disrupted sleeping habits; Persistent headaches; Digestive issues; Unhealthy eating habits; and muscle stiffness.
• Anxiety can also significantly affect self-esteem and self-worth; people suffering from anxiety often have a sense of worthlessness and lack of confidence, and very little desire to do anything or go anywhere.
• Relationships and Social Issues - anxiety can have significantly negative effects on a person's relationships, and often makes it difficult for a person suffering from severe anxiety to connect with others emotionally.
• A person suffering from anxiety can easily lose interest in daily life activities, and is often unable to think clearly, or has a 'foggy' mind and are therefore likely to make the wrong decisions.
• And severe anxiety can also (not always) make a person angry and even violent.

TYPES OF ANXIETY

• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - the most common type, GAD is where a person feels anxious about something, or someone, almost all the time.
• Social Anxiety Disorder - normally the result of challenging experiences in the past, social anxiety disorder prevents a person from socialising normally, either through a fear of being judged, harmed, criticised etc. It can also be caused by autism, or because of a difficult or traumatic event in the past.
• Agoraphobia - a fear of a place or situation that they believe might put them at risk, for examples crowds, enclosed spaces, manhole covers etc. They often won't leave their house for fear of getting trapped or coming into harm.
• Health Anxiety - this type of anxiety causes the person to have a constant fear of falling ill, or that they are sick already. They keep checking for symptoms, or associate their mild symptoms with something more severe.
• Panic Disorders - with this type of anxiety, a person goes through recurrent panic episodes. Some panic attacks don’t appear to be triggered by anything specific. These are called 'uncued' panic attacks. Other panic attacks may be associated with a feared situation. For example someone with social phobia may experience a panic attack in a social setting.
• PTSD - SEE SEPERATE ARTICLE - online shortly.

Symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks can include:

• Increased awareness of heartbeat
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Fear of dying
• Nausea or abdominal distress
• Feeling of unreality or detachment from oneself
• Feeling dizzy, light-headed or faint
• Lock jaw

SUMMARY

If anxiety or panic attacks go unaddressed for a long time, they can cause significant damage to a person's mental and physical health.