Anxiety disorder as a pathology: causes and clinical manifestations

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Treatment of anxiety personality disorder in Moscow, as in any large city, is relevant. This deviation is characterized by a person’s reluctance to communicate, a feeling of being an inferior person and high sensitivity to criticism directed at him. Social withdrawal in this case is caused by the fear of being ridiculed or humiliated. The disease takes various forms and manifests itself between the ages of 18 and 24 years. At the same time, concomitant disorders appear. Diagnosis is carried out using testing. Psychotherapy and medications are used to provide assistance.

What is increased anxiety?

Increased anxiety is a person’s high sensitivity to anxiety and stressful life situations. The condition is more often registered in children of preschool and high school age, as well as in women with psycho-emotional instability, concomitant neurological diseases, and mental childhood trauma.

A slight increase in a person’s stress level is considered as an individual personality trait, as a feature. If stress becomes intrusive and worsens the quality of life of the patient or others, then they speak of mental pathology. The prevalence of the disease among other affective disorders is 33%, 25% occurs in childhood.

Diagnosis of Anxious Personality Disorder

Treatment of anxiety personality disorder in Moscow at Dr. Isaev’s clinic is carried out only after an accurate diagnosis has been established. To do this, the doctor conducts a conversation with the patient and then evaluates the results of psychological testing. The following identified signs are considered diagnostic criteria in this case:

• constant pressure;
• confidence in one's low value to society;
• constant worry about the opinions of others;
• rejection of criticism;
• reluctance to enter into a relationship when there is no confidence in the person’s sympathy;
• the presence of restrictions in professional and social work.

Identification of an anxiety disorder is carried out after receiving all the examination data and making a differential diagnosis with other mental disorders. Similar symptoms are observed in the following diseases:

• social phobia;
• dependent disorder;
• psychopathy of schizoid type;
• histrionic or borderline personality disorder.

Treatment of social phobia is carried out when a person is not afraid of communicating with another person, but simply cannot tolerate certain social situations. Treatment of psychopathy is carried out under the condition of fear of approaching strangers due to fear of loss of identity. Dependent disorder is characterized by the presence of a phobia of separation, rather than the contact and criticism itself. If a person's behavior is marked by attempts at manipulation and a violent reaction to a negative attitude, then this phenomenon is not considered anxiety, and treatment for hysteria or borderline disorder is carried out.

Causes and risk factors

Anxiety disorder in a person is a tendency to excessive feelings of fear, anxiety, a sense of danger, accompanied by an obsessive anticipation of a threat, up to the development of panic attacks. If the anxiety is justified, the person will always tell its cause, but with pathology, the root cause is never determined. The most common causes of anxiety are:

• features and disorders of the nervous system of any origin, form;
• characteristics of the environment, family;
• increased psycho-emotional stress, stress factor;
• previously suffered stress and shock associated with a threat to life (the person could have witnessed the tragedy, he became aware of the incident);
• severe diseases of internal organs associated with persistent disturbance of water and electrolyte balance, brain hypoxia;
• somatic diseases;
• hormonal disbalance;
• alcoholism;
• melancholic personality type;
• very severe brain injuries, meningeal infections.

The main role occurs in early childhood. Anxiety may develop much later, decades later. The condition develops in an unfavorable environment for the child’s development and unstable relationships with parents. Some medications for the treatment of diabetes, certain thyroid diseases, and mental disorders (as a side effect) can trigger the pathological process.

Types of emotional state

Personal anxiety is an individual predisposition to strong emotional stress in situations in which other people also experience anxiety, but much less pronounced or internal, completely invisible, easily controlled. The term itself comes from personality characteristics, subjective qualities. Such a reaction to the world prevents a person from communicating normally, adapting to society, and soberly assessing himself.

Anxiety can arise in a specific situation, which for an individual turns out to be a serious stress. And throughout life, this person feels normal, only observing symptoms of increased anxiety in stressful situations.

Classification

The classification allows you to determine the nature of the disease, phobia, and patient management tactics. If childhood anxiety is more influenced by age-related chronologies, then in adults it is important to take into account the sphere of occurrence, the degree of impact on the psyche, severity, forms:

1. By impact . Clinicians distinguish between mobilizing and relaxing anxiety. In the first case, the human body becomes excited and prepares for danger; in the second, the will is paralyzed and the person is unable to adequately assess the degree of danger.
2. Sphere of emergence . Increased anxiety occurs depending on the environment. There are educational, social, interpersonal anxiety, and the problem of choice. Pathology often becomes the cause of low self-esteem and inadequate demands on others. The usual problem of choice in any place of stay can cause stress; there is no ability to control emotions.
3. By expression . There is reduced anxiety (a person underestimates even a real potential threat), optimal (a person’s anxiety is accompanied by the mobilization of the body’s resources to resist danger), increased (excitability and fear arise for no reason, provoke panic, and in the event of a real danger, hysterics develop, paralyzing fear).

The condition requires special attention, since both conditions pose a threat not only to a person’s psycho-emotional health, but also to his life, if the danger to life is real.

What diseases can be hidden behind?

Diagnosis of the condition in children and adults is the field of activity of psychoneurologists, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists. The final diagnosis is made on the basis of a physical examination, interview, tests, assessment of the anxiety scale, study of life and clinical history.

An increase in the level of stress and anxiety should be differentiated from depressive states, maladjustment reactions, the initial stages of schizophrenia, as well as from other psychiatric diseases caused by the development of phobias, obsessive thoughts and conditions.

Literature

1. Karavaeva T.A. Principles and algorithms of psychotherapy for anxiety disorders of a neurotic level // St. Petersburg Research Psychoneurological Institute named after. V.M. Bekhterev", 2021.
2. Generalized anxiety disorder: clinical recommendations // Developer of clinical recommendations: Russian Society of Psychiatrists, 2015.
3. Zabylina N. A. Issues in the diagnosis of mixed anxiety and depressive disorder // Journal of Siberian Medical Sciences, 2008.
4. Shitov E. A. Neurotic and somatoform disorders: guidelines for students in the discipline “Psychiatry” // State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education Ryaz State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Russia. – Ryazan: RIO Ryaz State Medical University, 2013.

How and why do signs of anxiety appear?

Anxiety is a normal state that triggers a self-preservation mechanism. Clinicians highlight not only psychological disturbances during stress, but also real physical sensations. Psychological symptoms of increased anxiety:

• frequent worries, premonitions, insecurity;
• sleep disturbance, decreased activity;
• unreasonable fear for loved ones, feelings of fear, mental heaviness;
• fear of a new environment;
• difficulty communicating with others;
• decreased performance, impaired concentration of thoughts - the entire field of thoughts is occupied by anxiety (patients constantly experience stress, are afraid to do unnecessary actions);
• inadequate self-criticism, tearfulness.

Other changes occur before arousal occurs. Physically, the disease is manifested by sweating, redness of the face and neck, increased breathing, pulse, heartbeat, a lump in the throat, bloating and loose stools. Outwardly, the person looks tense, nervous, clenches his fists, fiddles with buttons, clothes, his own fingers, and bites his nails.

What happens if you don't get treatment...

An increased level of anxiety without adequate treatment leads to serious mental disorders in the future, especially in patients at special risk. In children, over a long period of time, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, numerous phobias, and psychasthenic accentuation of character are formed.

Adolescents change behavioral responses. The disorder in adults disrupts the normal rhythm of life, obsessive states make adequate socialization difficult, and suicidal thoughts may appear. In the absence of treatment, patients lock themselves at home, deprive themselves of communication, plunge into deep depression, and sometimes become alcoholics.

The results of treatment, if medical recommendations are followed, are stable and last a long time. It is dangerous to leave symptoms unattended to avoid serious complications. The site contains many comments and answers to requests from patients with similar symptoms, and reviews of treatment. Articles will help you obtain information about the condition, but consultation with a specialist is also required. If the patient can cope with negative emotions and begins to control thoughts, then the degree of arousal will decrease significantly.

Anxiety disorder is a serious psychiatric illness that requires mandatory correction. Prevention consists of timely diagnosis, accurate diagnosis, adequate medication or psychotherapy, and early consultation with a doctor. Complications of a pathological condition always complicate treatment and are often irreversible.

Symptoms of Anxious Personality Disorder

Before you begin treatment for an anxious personality disorder, you should accurately identify all the symptoms of this pathology. You can already notice some deviations from the norm in a small child. This usually manifests itself this way:

• timidity;
• shyness;
• fear of new acquaintances;
• difficulty answering at the board;
• reluctance to be the center of attention;
• severe discomfort in an unusual situation.

The patient prefers to spend time alone, watch movies, read books and fantasize. His social circle is small and consists mainly of relatives. Constantly keeping strangers at a distance is not due to a lack of need for social contacts, but to the fear of making oneself a laughing stock, of being humiliated and rejected. For such a person, even completely neutral statements from people can cause a strong negative reaction and be perceived as a personal insult.

At the same time, the patient experiences a strong need for emotional intimacy, but he can accept it only under the condition of complete acceptance and goodwill. Even the most insignificant deviation from a gentle atmosphere turns into a tragedy for the patient, evidence of humiliating rejection. For this reason, they often remain lonely. Treatment for anxiety personality disorder should begin as early as possible, since the lack of help will greatly reduce the quality of life of such a person.

When trying to establish contact, a patient with such a disorder experiences great awkwardness and tension. He is not characterized by spontaneity; from the outside he looks shy, clumsy and incomprehensible. Some patients with this disorder, in an attempt to establish communication, may ingratiate themselves with others, and some of them may simply avoid any new acquaintances. They expect constant humiliation, and with their behavior they provoke society into displaying negativity. And this leads to even greater isolation.

Avoidant behavior not only leads to problems in your personal life. It is impossible to build a career under such conditions. A person with an anxiety disorder cannot make professional connections, speak in front of large numbers of people, lead others, or take full responsibility for their decisions. They usually remain in the role of a quiet and inconspicuous subordinate, have difficulty changing their place of residence and work, and rarely make friends among colleagues.

If a patient ends up in a team where he is treated negatively, then this situation leads to rapid decompensation of his condition. Attempts to relieve tension with the help of alcohol or psychoactive substances in such individuals end in addiction to alcohol and drugs.