Symptoms of Anxiety

• Anxiety is basically your body's natural warning system telling you to go on alert when there is no actual cause for alarm. There are three types of symptoms associated with anxiety physical, metal and behavioral. Those suffering from mild anxiety will usually only suffer from the physical and mental symptoms. Physical symptoms can include sweating, shortness of breath and dizziness. Mental symptoms include worry and poor concentration. With mild anxiety, these symptoms will not be severe enough to interfere significantly with everyday life.
  
  

Causes of Anxiety

• Anxiety is caused by a variety of biological, genetic, psychological and environmental factors. Anxiety and anxiety disorders tend to run in the family and are passed down from parent to child. A number of physical illnesses and substances can also cause symptoms of anxiety to occur. In addition living in a stressful environment or having a difficult upbringing can make a person more prone to anxiety later on in life.
  
  

Treatments

• Mild anxiety does not usually require medication, but patients can benefit from therapy. In therapy the person can learn to cope with their anxiety by using relaxation techniques. Learning to cope with anxiety while it is still at a minimal level can help to prevent an anxiety disorder. Later on if an anxiety disorder does occur, the relaxation tools learned in therapy can help reduce the symptoms of the disorder.
  
  

Anxiety Disorders

• There are many different types of anxiety disorders. Panic disorder is characterized by panic attacks and can lead to another disorder known as agoraphobia, which is a fear of leaving the house. Social phobia is an anxiety disorder based on a fear of social situations. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder brought on by a traumatic event. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder where the person feels compelled to perform the same action multiple times.
  
  

When to Contact a Doctor

• Anxiety reaches the level of an anxiety disorder when it meets two criteria. The first is that there must be significant mental distress. The second is that the anxiety and related symptoms must interfere with an important area of the patient's life. If this is the case, the person should seek immediate psychiatric help to prevent the problem from getting any worse. In some cases medication may be necessary, but some anxiety disorders can be treated with therapy only.