There are different types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and PTSD. All are cases that are categorized in the same group of mental illnesses. One of the most common anxiety disorders is PTSD, which for short stands for, Post-traumatic stress disorder. This disorder occurs mostly with war veterans and is one primary cause of suicides in America. The risk of suicide is elevated for those suffering from these different types of anxiety disorders. The reason for this is because individuals with anxiety disorders experience depression more than the average person, this interferes with everyday activities leading to an impaired life. Many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of exposure therapy in the treatment of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite the convincing outcome literature, a concern that this treatment may exacerbate symptoms. (Hembree, 2003) Symptoms of an anxiety disorder include sleep loss, depression, and nausea. Risk factors of this disorder could include drug abuse, mental illnesses, and even suicide. Researchers find that anxiety disorder can be both inherited an
d or caused by an environmental situation. An example of an environmental situation where an individual has developed anxiety disorder would be like a person who had a traumatizing childhood and shows traits of extreme anxiety. In many cases, exposure to negative experiences in early childhood is the cause of this disorder.
Therapies and treatments that are used to help treat people with an anxiety disorder are mainly put through psychotherapy and different types of medication prescribed by a doctor. Psychotherapy is used to help talk to people about their anxieties, other treatments include prescribed medications like antidepressants which are used to treat depression symptoms found in people with anxiety disorders. Another way people with anxiety disorders could benefit is by joining a support group. Talking with a group of individuals about your problems and hearing about theirs is an efficient way to open up and could help with people that suffer from this type of disorder. Another way to treat anxiety disorder could be as simple as exercising at the gym, this is a good stress management technique and is suggested by researchers.