Anxiety, the monster-like disorder that affects more than 23 million Americans. Anxiety is a normal reaction to a threatening situation and results to an increase in the amount of adrenaline from the sympathetic nervous system. This increased adrenaline speeds the heart and respiration rate, raises blood pressure, and diverts blood flow to the muscles. These physical reactions are used for escaping from serious danger however when the reactions cause anxiety in many normal everyday situations throughout, they may be detrimental, or harmful, to a normal lifestyle. An anxiety disorder is a disorder where feelings of fear alarm, or anxiety …show more content…
There are three types of phobias: agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobias. People with agoraphobia fear that something extremely embarrassing will happen to them. ( This phobia tends to start between the ages of 15 and 35 and is twice as common in women as in men. Anxiety occurs when the person is in or thinks about being in a place where escape may be difficult or help may not be available. The condition is managed with behavioral techniques such as therapy and it is said that these techniques may be more helpful than drug therapy. Social phobia is a fear of being the focus of attention or of doing something extremely humiliating. Patients are afraid that others will think they are stupid, weak or crazy. Anxiety can occur from being in a particular situation or the minor thought of being in the situation. People with social phobias realize that their fears are irrational or mere but they still experience the dread and anxiety. Treatment consists of cognitive-behavior therapy which is a type of psychotherapy in which negative patterns of thought about the self and the world are challenged in order to alter unwanted behavior patterns or treat mood disorders such as depression.or medication or a combination of the two. (). People experience specific phobias - intense, irrational fears of certain things. Some of the more common specific phobias are dogs, closed-in places, heights, flying etc. Specific phobias tend to run in families and are more common in women. They strike more than one in ten people and no one knows just what causes them. Important career or personal decisions may be affected by a person's specific phobia but many of the feared things are easily avoidable There are currently no drugs recommended for specific phobias however, certain medications may be prescribed to help relieve anxiety symptoms.