What is an Acute Anxiety?

It is defined as a disorder in which there is an episode of intense fear which is sudden in the onset. It is also referred as a panic attack. It is a unique fear in which many symptoms develop suddenly and reached at their peak within 10 minutes. According to the American psychological association these symptoms last for half an hour. They can be short also and last for 15 seconds. They may also form a cyclic series which last for an extended period. The people which are affected undergo anticipatory anxiety and limited symptoms attack. It occurs in those cases where attack has already been occurred. The effect of attack is not constant and it varies from one person to the other. In the first timers it is treated as a emergency service. They think this attack to be a heart attack or any nervous breakdown. It is considered to be one of the most frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experience of a person life.

What is the description of Acute anxiety?

The people who suffer from this attack complain of fear of dying or going crazy. They experience a heart attack or feeling of faintness and flashing vision. They breathe heavy and lose control on themselves. They feel nauseated. It gives a feeling to the person to run from the place where the suffered an attack. It is referred as a fight or flight response. The symptoms start abruptly and there are no specific triggers. These are not uniform and are sub set of an evolutionary response. It is referred as a fight or flight response and it increases the hormone level in the body. It involves mainly adrenaline. It helps in the defense against harm. It occurs due to the involvement of sympathetic nervous system which is referred as a SNS. It causes the dyspnea, trembling, hot and cold flashes, sweating, nausea, dizziness and pain in the chest. One may also feel light headedness, hyper ventilation and tingling sensations. One may also feel the sensations of choking and derealization. These are interpreted with the alarm. It increases the anxiety and leads to positive feedback. The predominant symptoms are the shortness of breath and a chest pain. It is considered to be a heart attack. They occur along with the anxiety disorders and psychological conditions. They do not necessarily indicate a mental disorder.

What are the triggers and causes of Acute anxiety ?

Hereditary is considered to be one of the main causes of trigger anxiety. These run into the families and have an inherited pattern. It plays a strong role in the determination of disease. It may develop in the people who have no such family history. There are many twin studies which have showed that the identical twin has an anxiety disorder whose incidence varies from 33 to 88 percent. There are environmental factors which also play a crucial role in the view of world expressed by the parents. Stress also plays an important role in it. There are biological causes like Wilsons disease, hyper thyroidism, vitamin B deficiency, mitral valve prolapsed, hypo glycemia and pheochromo cytoma. There is also an internal ear disturbance which is referred as labyrinthitis. The vitamin deficiency occurs due to the diet or the infection caused by the tape worm. The people also experience these attacks due to the presence of phobia to a object or situation. There are some short term triggering causes like significant personal loss which includes personal attachment to the partner. There are life transitions, life changes, stimulants like tea or coffee and the use of certain drugs like psilocybin. One must avoid panic provoking situations including the anxiety, negative talk, self talk, mistaken beliefs and with held feelings or assertiveness. The people who suffer from these attacks have a passive style of communication with each other or interaction. It is polite and respectful. It is un assertive. It may lead to the panic attacks. There are certain medicines like Ritalin and fluoro quinolone which cause these attacks. It is a temporary process which starts when the patient takes medicine first. It could continue even if the patient is accustomed to the drug. It would change the dosage or a type of drug. There are different types of anti depressants which can increase the anxiety. It is common for the inexperienced users. The ones prone to anxiety are more common. There are various substances which can lead to these attacks and includes the alcohol and benzo diazepine. It is referred as with drawl syndrome or a rebound effect. The with drawl of alcohol and benzo diazepine is the most common cause of the with drawl syndrome or a rebound effect. When an individual breathes from the chest it may lead to the over breathing, in taking oxygen and exhaling a excess of carbon dioxide. This is referred as a hyper ventilation syndrome. It leads to the respiratory alkalosis and hypo capnia. It also involves the mouth breathing. It leads to the multiple symptoms like rapid heartbeat, dizziness and light headedness. There are few situational bound panic attacks and includes the cognitive and behavioral predisposition to the panic attacks. It is a type of classical conditioning. There are certain pharmacological triggers which includes the depressants and stimulants. They can lead to the panic attacks. It includes alcohol, caffeine and amphetamine. They may also report few phobias of specific drugs. It is referred as a psycho somatic effect. It functions as by non pharmacological means. There are certain cardiac conditions which can lead to the death of the patient. It includes the Long QT syndrome, CPVT or Wolff Parkinson white syndrome. It can lead to the panic attacks. It is very difficult to manage. Anxiety is the main contributing factor in it. The patient with the cardiac problem is not able to differentiate between a cardiac dysfunction and anxiety. In the case of CPTV anxiety may lead to the arrhythmia. The treatment of these attacks lies on basically benzo diazepine, serotonin inhibitors and cognitive behavioral therapy. The people with the cardiac problems experience multiple hospitalizations and un avoidable scenarios. It is difficult to differentiate the symptoms of panic attack and cardiac symptoms without the ECG.

What are the physiological considerations of Acute anxiety ?

The various symptoms indicate that the body is falling but in fact it protects from injury. There symptoms can be understood by the following phenomena. In this there is a sudden onset of the fear with a little provoking stimulus. It releases the adrenaline which is also referred as an epinephrine. It leads to the flight or fight response. It increases the heart rate and rapid breathing which are referred as a tachychardia and hyper ventilation. This is perceived as a dyspnea which is the shortness of breath and sweating which grips and aids the heat loss. The sternous activity hardly ensues the hyper ventilation which drops the carbon di oxide levels in the blood and lungs. It changes the ph and leads to respiratory alkalosis and hypo capnia. It is followed by the tingling sensations, numbness, dizziness, burning and light headedness. The adrenaline leads to the vaso constriction which decreases the blood flow to the head. It also leads to the dizziness and light headedness. It may also result in with drawl of sugar from the brain present in the blood. It goes towards the muscles. The person is not able to catch his breath and he takes deeper breaths to overcome it. It leads to decrease in the carbon bi oxide level in the blood.

What is an Agora phobia ?

It is defined as a disorder in which there is a fear of having panic attacks. There is no fear of certain places and not a bad situation. The patient feels trapped and cannot move from this situation. It is mainly a anxiety disorder in which the person fears of being caught in a difficult situation from where he cannot escape. The people suffering from this disorder are confined to their homes and feel difficulty in travelling to safe places. The word is an English adoption of the Greek word which means a fear of market place. It applies to all public places. If it happens in the public the victim thinks he has no escape and he or she is embarrassed with the situation. So, this disorder is known as to occur in an open space but clinically this is not correct.

What is a panic disorder?

It is defined as a disorder in which there is a repeated attacks or the feeling of severe anxiety about having another attack. It is quite different from the other type of anxiety disorders as in these cases the attacks are sudden and unprovoked.

What are the signs and symptoms of Acute anxiety ?

In this case there are certain diagnostic criteria to know about the symptoms of this disorder. One observes the discrete period of fear or discomfort in which 4 of the symptoms develop and reach the peak within 10 minutes. It includes the sweating, shaking, feeling of choking, nausea, pounding heart, sensation of shortness of breath, dizziness, burning and light headedness. It is also followed by the feeling of unreality, depersonalization and fear of losing or dying. There are chills or hot flashes which are followed by the paresthesias in which there is numbness. The people with the panic attack in some circumstances may form irrational fears which are known as the phobia and they try to avoid the condition. They do this by avoiding the drive or they have a fear not to come out of the house. At this stage it is referred as an agora phobia. It is the harmful side effect of the panic disorder as it can prevent the sufferers from seeking treatment. Almost 90 percent of the patients receive a full recovery.

What is the treatment of acute anxiety ?

It can be treated with the many ways. It includes the psychological therapies, medicines, and other techniques. The longest duration of effect is seen in the cognitive behavior therapy. It is followed by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The cognitive behavior therapy is the first line of treatment for this disorder. It is based on the information provided to the people. The people are told about this disorder and are treated accordingly. The people think that they are going crazy and are suffering from the heart attack. There is a technique known as the cognitive restructuring in which there is a change in ones way of thinking. It helps the people to replace with the realistic and positive ways of viewing the attack. There is a technique known as the paper bag rebreathing. In this case the doctors recommend breathing in the paper bag which is a short term treatment of the acute panic attack. Some doctors do not support this type of treatment and call it as an ineffective treatment. It is quite hazardous to the patient. It can worsen the attack or may lead to the life threatening situations in which there is a lower oxygen level in the blood and increase in the carbon di oxide levels. It is the major cause of the attack. So, it is important to know that the hyper ventilation is truly involved or not. The re balancing of the oxygen and carbon di oxide levels can be very important if it is involved. The re breathing pattern is an important which is achieved by the extension of out breath and by counting or humming.

What are the factors which increase the risk of acute anxiety ?

The menopausal women with the panic disorder and panic attacks have a higher risk of suffering heart attack or stroke. The panic attacks are associated with the other symptoms like pain in the chest etc. It can be seen in the un diagnosed cardio vascular disease and can result in the damage of heart due to cardio vascular stress in the patients with the panic attacks. This study did not locate the cases of panic attacks in the patients without panic disorder or agoraphobia. It may lead to the immediate heart damage and it would not prove the correlation between panic disorder and strokes. It would not contribute to the cardio vascular effects of medication like the benzo diazepine which is received by many patients. One study was done in the elderly people which showed that the consumption of benzo diazepine along with the use of analgesics increase the risk of heart diseases. It was a small study and one cannot rely on it.

What is a limited symptom attack ?

It is defined as a disorder in which the people which are treated with this attacks experience a limited symptom attack. These are less comprehensive and include less than the 4 symptoms.

Anxiety | Anxiety Disorders