A small word which can describe a large set of emotions, which usually can be worry, worried, frightened, scared, paranoid, feeling persecuted right up to schizophrenia/paranoid schitzophrenia.
Anxiety, within reason, is just a part of life; everybody experiences at some point. It is connected to the fight or flight syndrome that we, as have all animals, have
deep within us, enabling us to survive.
It can become a problem when anxiety takes over most of your feelings and therefore, your life. There are many medical definitions of this state of being, such as generalised anxiety disorder, non-specific anxiety disorder, persecution complex and many more. If necessarry, there are medications/
drugs available to
help alleviate the symptoms and sometimes tackle the cause of these anxiety states.
If a diagnosis does not include one of the main mental illnesses, then it's often likely
people will be prescribed one brand from a group of benzodiazepine
drugs: The most
well known of these is probably Valium. These
drugs are addictive, can cause nasty side effects and
long term side effects and, if used for too
long can actually make the original problem worse, with paradoxical effects. The withdrawal from this drug can result in some of the worst withdrawal symptoms known, and can last for years.
If prescribed a {benzodiazepine] it should be for no longer than a two week period What has become known as talking cures are a safer, cheaper alternative and can actually do something to
help the original problem, rather than just masking it.
In some cases, such as paranoid schitzophrenia
drugs, usually anti psychotics, can be of great
help and allow the sufferer to live a far more '
normal' life.
Anxiety is just a state of mind, and, even when having a panic attack and it feels as if you
may die, emotions are not generally known to kill you.