Challenging times and unfamiliar new experiences could cause stress for most people. Extreme stress could lead to anxiety, and anyone can experience it from time to time. Some may perceive anxiety as a normal human emotion and reaction when feeling threats or in danger.
Normal anxiety can be identified by a sense of discomfort, agitation, apprehension, or fear for what danger you expect to happen or imminent uncertain outcome.
However, people have different levels of apprehensiveness; that is why the degree of anxiousness varies from person to person, ranging from average to severe anxiety.
Anxiety has its own bad and good side. Its bad side is that it could serve as a trigger key to several different disorders due to its severity. And when it is not managed correctly and treated, it could lead to panic attacks without a trigger, regardless of where you are. The good side of typical anxiety is that it could serve as a motivator to accomplish something and to be away from a perceived potential threat.
Is there a specific cause for anxiety disorder?
Unfortunately, experts and researchers have not yet distinguished a specific and definitive cause for anxiety. The cause comes from complicated and, several reasons appear to contribute as a stimulus for it to occur.
What is likely to trigger anxiety compromises genetic features. It could be hereditary, stressful situations, fight-flight-freeze induced situations, medical factors, and sudden withdrawal from the usage of prohibited substances.
Anxiety vs. Depression
Some people use anxiety and depression interchangeably, but major vital points differentiate them from one another. Although, they can still occur sequentially and simultaneously. A factor that could determine their difference is looking deeply through your emotion per se. Anxiety is viewed as constant worry that something wrong or dangerous is about to come, while depression is about a person’s hopelessness and unenthusiasm about life as a whole. As feelings of anxiety could vary according to the current situation, depression is about the constant emotion and persistent view that life is not worth living, and hopelessness seems to be eternal in a never-ending tunnel of darkness. Despite their difference, anxiety could be a factor that triggers depression.
Ways How to Treat Them Naturally
Some with manageable stress, anxiety, and depression, do not need to be heavily medicated, although it is advisable to see a psychiatrist. Some would opt for a regular acupuncture home visit to get relief.
Self-help measures, interventions, or strategies are essential to overcome that disturbing emotion and thoughts. Changing your lifestyle is a great way to look at life from another perspective.
Self-care activities like:
- being active
- eating healthy foods and avoiding unhealthy ones
- avoiding caffeine and alcohol
- Avoiding the use of recreational drugs
- quitting smoking
- regular sleep pattern j
Just basically working towards a healthy and happy life is what the “natural treatment” includes. Self-help books would also help overcome unnecessary worries that would intervene in how you work throughout your daily life.
A person has to explore various ways or techniques they could come up with to fight against stress, anxiety, and depression. These mental disorders have to be treated at first sight of their occurrence.
You can create your techniques to manage your thoughts and emotions so that they will not worsen to the point that you will not be able to perform effectively and productively in your everyday life.
Writing all your thoughts in your journals and reflecting on them could help replace negative thoughts with positive and encouraging ones.
Your support system also plays a vital role in overcoming the demons present in your mind and heart.
When self-help approaches do not work, what comes next?
Extreme stress, anxiety, and depression lasting for longer than six months are unmanageable; thus, interfering with your daily life is alarming. When this happens, medical intervention is needed. This could cause the emergence of other mental-health disorders such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social anxiety disorder, and other concerning conditions.
In the United States, statistics show that 40 million people have anxiety disorders, but only 36.9 percent of them receive treatment. With the 63.1 percent of people untreated, they could be the ones that are unaware of how to manage their emotions and thoughts, or they could be the ones who are recipients of the mental disorder stigmas and experience a lack of understanding from family, friends, and other people.
Still, despite any reasons, telling an adult about what you are experiencing, such as physical sensations, worries, and troubled mind, and getting yourself checked up by a mental health professional are ways to help yourself be better again and function better than before.
In medical intervention, the standard way to treat mental health disorders is through counseling, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy, or other therapy treatments. Some may prescribe medications such as antidepressants, benzodiazepines, tricyclics, and beta-blockers.
Working towards your peace is something that you should never be ashamed about.