Anxiety the omni Present in 21st Century.

ANXIETY THE OMNI PRESENT IN 21ST CENTURY.

In the past people did not recognize mental disorders. There interest was
chiefly focused on physical elements and diseases as time passes on knowledge
and information increases. This knowledge and informations helps individuals to
identify mental diseases. In the present century most of the people experience
variety of mental pain and are suffering from different types of mental diseases. In
the modern times most of the people are suffering from a typical type of neurotic
disorder known as anxiety disorder. Hence anxiety disorder may be considered as
the disorder of present century.

INTRODUCTION :

Psychological disorder is a mal-adaptive pattern of behavior and thought that

cause, the person who experience considerable distress. Among them
psychological disorder centers on the accordance of anxiety which refers to a
disturbing state of mind in which individual feels arousal accompanied by
generalized feeling of fear. If such feelings become very intense and persists for
long period of time and produce harmful effects is known as anxiety disorder.

We are in the 21st Century where science and technology has advanced to a
optimum level. But most of us seem to have anxiety disorder for instance before 4
years ago in S.C.S. (A) college Puri, violence broke and a good number of college
properly were damaged and there was a massive disturbance.

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When the college opened most of the students had a fear in their mind
regarding the atmosphere of its college, which is just a sign of anxiety.

Individuals wants are unlimited so when their desire were not fulfilled, they
encounter with anxiety.

Psychologist Ross defines Anxiety as a series of symptoms which arise

from faulty adoption to the stress and strains of Life. An anxiety is a painful
emotion experience produce by excitation in the internal organs of the body
Anxiety disorder commonly occurs with mental and physical illness.

1. Nature of Anxiety Disorder:

In most severe case people with anxiety disorder may be unable
to adjust or sleep smoothly at their home or may spend much of
their time in performing maladaptive behaviour, Anxiety disorder
continuous at least 6 month and can get worse if it is not
threated. Person suffering from anxiety neurosis may feel emotion
like hostility, aggression, anguish etc, Freud suggest that in
psychopathology anxiety is a term that designates particular
types of disorder which is very complex and mysterious. For an
example. A lady is attracted by a beautiful diamond necklace and
wants to grab it and at the sometime she is afraid of being killed
by the electric current or wire attached to it. In this case she is
more likely to experience anxiety.

The source of danger or anxiety lies in the external world.

For instance fear for animals like snake, fear for insects
(Crocodiles, Lizard) fear for social behavior (Giving a speech
making is social contact ) are real anxiety is often diffuse
unpleasant.

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2. Types of Anxiety Disorder :

After discussing the nature of anxiety it was important to discuss about the
various types of anxiety disorder. Let discuss briefly about it.

People with anxiety disorder feel an overwhelming apprehension that seems

un wanted. In DSM-IV there are some principles of anxiety disorder are listed such
as Generalized anxiety disorder, panic attack disorder, phobia, obsessive
compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder.

i. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) means a disorder in which people feel

anxious all most all the time . The symptoms of Generalised anxiety disorder also
fluctuate, you may notice that better and worse times of the day or better and worse
days in general and while stress doesnt cause of General Anxiety disorder, it can
make the symptoms worse. Not everyone with Generalised Anxiety disorder (GAD
) has the same symptoms but most people with (GAD) (Generalised Anxiety
Disorder, experience a combination of a number of physical and psychological
symptoms. Muscle tension, trouble in falling asleep, stomach problem, nausea,
unsteadiness, Restlessness are physical symptoms of Generalised Anxiety disorder.
Irritability, inability to relax, Difficulty concentrating, Inability to control. Fear are
the psychological symptoms of Generalised anxiety disorder. Generalised Anxiety
Disorder can be very debilitated making a difficult to carry out even the most
ordinary daily activities. They feel chronic exaggerated, worry and tension even
though nothing seems to be provoke, People with Generalised Anxiety Disorder
are always anticipating disaster and they often worry excessively about health,
money, family or work Generalised Anxiety Disorder occurs twice as frequently
among women than men. Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) refers to a disorder

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in which Individual experiences longterm consistent to anxiety with knowing, why
such people afraid of something that are unable to articulate what it is ? Because of
their anxiety they are unable to function normally and cant concentrate upon their
life. Even after going to bed, people suffering from Generalised Anxiety Disorder
(GAD) are not likely to find relief from their worries people with Generalised
Anxiety Disorder (GAD) worry, excessively, generally worries about social
evaluation because social evaluation can happen almost any where and at anytime
where the anxiety in Generalised Anxiety (GAD) is pervasive. In most often
Generalised Anxiety Disorder(GAD ) begins in childhood or adolescence but it
also begins in adulthood which is more common in case of women and
uncomfortable feeling of apprehension by one or more bodily sensation.

Objective Anxiety V/S Neurotic Anxiety :

Freud differentiate between objective anxiety and neurotic anxiety by the

presence or absence of an objective threatening stimulus. objective anxiety is
considered as the response to a realistic threat where as neurotic anxienty is taken
to be irrational threat where as neurotic anxiety is taken to be irrational response to
an internal conflict which had no objective or realistic basis. Fear being regarded
as identifiable threat (such as closed ,spaces, darkness or heights) An anxiety
regarded as a response to a threat which cant be easily recognized (such as
interpersonal anxiety experienced during social encounters ). Both anxiety and fear
may exist simultaneously or follow each other. Stimulus arising from anxiety and
fear may be internal, external, immediate or future, definite or vague, conflictual
and non-conflictual.

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ii. Panic Attack Disorder:

Sometimes many Individual feel a very high level of

psychological arousal coupled intense fear of lossing control
which is known as panic attack disorder. There are various
symptoms such as placing heartbeat, heavy sweating and
shortness of breath. In some cases panic disorder may be
associated by agrophobias, a condition in which fear being caught
in a place or situation in which escape might be difficult or being
trapped in circumstances in which medial help might not be
available during panic attack disorder. Panic disorder is a real
illness that can successfully treated. Usually panic attack subside
in 20 to 30 minutes and rarely last more that one hour. The life
time longevity prevalence of panic disorder is about 2% for men
more than 5% for women.

Panic disorder is diagnosed as with or without agrophobia.

Agrophobia derives from the greek word agro which means
market place, it is a cluster of fears centering a public places and

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being enable to escape or find help. Many patients with
agrophobia are unable to leave the house or do because of their
great feeling of distress. Patient who have panic disorder could be
dangerous or embarrassing. It has estimated that there are
approximately 80% of patients report that first panic attack as
having occurred often one or more negative life events.

iii. Phobia :

Phobia is intense irrational fear of specific situation. A phobia is

persistent with disproportionate fear of specific object or
situations that presents little or actual danger to a person.
According to shan Mugan defined, Phobia as a fear, mediated
avoidance out of proportion to danger passed by a particular
object or situation. In DSM-IV there are 3 main categories of
phobia such as

a. Specific Phobia

b. Social Phobia

c. Agro Phobia

Specific phobia may involve fear of various aspects of

environment.
Such as water or height, social phobia involves fear of social
situation in which a person is exposed to a security of others and
each afraid of acting in a humiliating or embarrassing way.
Agro phobia may involve somewhat paradoxically a fear of
both open and enclosed spaces. There are also some other
Phobias exist must seem to be involve fear of animals that is
bees, spiders, snakes and various specific situation that is

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enclosed spaces, travelling or empty rooms. Phobiatic fear differs
from normal fear in 5 respects.
1. It is more intense and paralyzing
2. The stimulus which arouses the fear is not an adequate
stimulus to create normal fear.
3. The original fear-experience is forgotten due to repression.
4. A sense of guilty is always involved in the original
experience.
5. The fear appears to the person to be absurd and unjustice.

Phobias are more commonly found in children and

adolescent than in the case of adult. For instance of ghost and
darkness are very commonly observed among children and
adolescent. These are six types of phobia are given below.

In fear of high place is called Acrophobia, fear of water is

called Hydrophobia, fear of dog is called Gynophobia, Fear of fire
is called Pyrophobia, fear of blood is called Hematophobia, fear of
open place is called Agrophobia.

(iv) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

In obsessive compulsive Disorder people are trapped by

unwanted thought called obsessions. Means in this anxiety
disorder individual become trapped in repeatious behavior knows
as compulsions and they seem unable to prevent the recurrent
modes of thought. In the other words it is such an anxiety
disorder in which individual unable to stop thinking the same
thought or performing the same behavior. Such individuals are
known to be suffering from obsessive Compulsive disorder.

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Obsessive compulsive disorder is a particulars type

personality disorder of a specific nature in which the person
concerned recognizes to be irrational but overall he has loss
control. In both obsessions and compulsions the patient is well
aware of irrational nature of his thought and reaction. Popular
examples of obsessive reactions are washing hands 11 times
before eating, praying God 5 times each and every time before
Going out, counting steps each time while proceeding for the
office etc. These actions are reduce the anxiety and gave
satisfaction to the ego of the individual.

(v) Post Traumatic stress Disorder:-

In this disorder people persistently experience the traumatic

events in their thought like people who live from natural disaster
they precisely experience the PTSD. It is such a disorder in which
people re-experience the traumatic events in their dream and
persistently avoid stimuli linked with the traumatic events such as
difficulty in falling as sleep, irritability & difficulty in concentrating.
Therefore generally post traumatic stress disorder can steam wide
range of traumatic events, natural disasters, accidents etc. Many

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people who survived from natural disasters also experience
intense guilty. Because they have survived with lack of love who
have died and it affects their conscience. Hence PTST is a painful
condition.

After discussing the various types of ancient disorder it was

important to know about what are the various causes of anxiety
disorder because without known the cause of anxiety we will not
better able to eradicated its occurrence.

3. CAUSES OF ANXIETY DISORDER :

Mainly there are there are three causes of anxiety Disorder.

(1)Biological factors.
(2)Psychological factors.
(3)Psychosocial factors.
(1) Biological factors
Biological factors of anxiety disorder includes the problem that
are associated with bio - chemical abnormality in the brains
responsible for the disorder. Research findings revealed that
problems of anxiety disorder due to the dysfunctional process of

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various neurotransmitters with in the brains . Three major
neurotransmitters are involved in the anxiety disorder such as
serotonin Non epinephrine, GABA (Gamma Amino Butyric Acid).
Serotonin plays a role in the regulation of mind, aggression,
impulses, sleep body temperature, pain etc.
Non epinephrine is involve in the Fight or Fight response
regulation of mood, body pressure etc.
GABA ( Gamma Amino Butyric Acid ) plays a role in induce
relaxation sleep and preventing over excitation.
Genetic factors:
Genetic or hereditary factor is a leading cause of anxiety
disorder and including in biological factors. people are more likely
to have an anxiety disorder if they have relative who also suffers
from anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder may induced from
hereditary or genetic or may induced from familiar influences.
2. Psychological Factors :
Psychological factors includes two main theories of though that
are attempted to explain the psychological influences of anxiety
disorder. These two factors are
i. Cogritive theory
ii. Behavioural theory
The idea expressed by these theories help us to understand
the cognitive and behavioural factors responsible for anxiety
disorder.
a. Cognitive Theory :
Cognitive theory suggests that fears can be reduced when people
are able to experience the thing that they fear, is not as

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dangerous as they once believed. In anxiety disorder cognitive
theory also helps to over estimated the dangerous situation and
its potential consequences.For an example : People who have fear
of spiders or snakes or fear of flying or fear of height may over
estimate or avoid dangerous situation through the help of
Cognitive theory.
b. Behavioural Theory :
Behavioural theory suggests that people learn to associate the
fear, felt during a stressful or traumatic event with certain cues
.when the cues reoccurs, the cause is that the fear may be re-
experienced. It is very uncontrolled for the person to handle any
situation after the association built between the fear and the
cues. Cues may be external or internal. For an e.g- An external
cue might be a certain smell, occur at the time of stressful event,
when this smell occur again even at a time when there is no
danger. A person is reminded the previous event and becomes
fearful.
3. Psycho-social factors :
Psychosocial casual factor include psychoanalytic and behavioural
views. According to the factor the intense conflict devlop between
the impulses from the id and ego may produce the anxiety
disorder. Freud believed that aggressive impulses that had been
blocked are responsible for arising the anxiety disorder.
Wolpe suggested that conducting stimuli of anxiety may
arise from the environmental and hereditary factor responsible for
the stimulating the psychosocial development.

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In recent years, many studies conducted by Barlow, Mandler,
Mineka and Kelly reports that different cognitive process that
leads to psychosexual developmental factor of humanbeings
plays a important role in etiology of anxiety disorder.
The fear and anxiousness arise due to stimulating
psychosocial factor have uncontrollable and unpredictable
oversive effect. As a result, due to this reason the person may be
stressful, superising and unsocial towards others. During
psychosocial factors if a person has experience with predictable
stressors may arise bad mood, highly criticized bad effects on
behavior surffers from sleepness and arise chronic anxiety.
In addition to this psychosocial schemas that develops early in life
may causes a person irritable dangerous and threatening
behavior towards others. More over they are prone to interpret,
ambiguous information in a confusing manner.
4. Prabable Theraputic Procedure :
There is a general conception that prevention is better than
cure.Many theraputic procedures are in use for the prevention of
anxiety disorder.
Desensitization :
In order to modify the fear of anxiety disorder the major
strategies involving desensitization. Though this technique many
fearful behaviours that are develop anxiety may reduce. For an
e.g : A girl who was fearful of any situation where men might be
present, So for reducing her anxiety she was first taught to relax
while imagine herself in a social situation in which man were

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present. Then she was encouraged to attain such gathering and
herself able to do. So without experiencing the usual fear.
Treatment were proceeded through each step of the behavour
hierarchy until she could behave normally in hetrosexual relation.
Deep Relaxation :
Many studies have examined the affectness of various
behavioural relaxation techniques on selected stress related
illness.For example : Simple tension headches have proved quite
ameneable ( control ) to general relaxation treatment procedures.
The same kinds of procedures have not been quite as effective
when used to treat essential hyper ten relaxation techniques
which is sometimes called as anxiety. Management training
including breathing exercise intended to help the patient to
prevent anxiety and relief the muscle tension associated with the
fight or fight reaction.
Yoga :
While the traditional treatment of anxiety disorder with
meditation and psycho therapy is effective. The stress reducing
effects of yoga and meditation can reduce excessive levels of
stress and anxiety and can greatly enhance the effects of
traditional therapies. Recent medical studies have show that a
regular practice of yoga and meditation is effective at lowering
levels of anxiety. Excessive anxiety can be alleviated through a
slow ,gentle yoga practice is focusing on posturing the calm and
heart and the mind, balance the emotions and release body

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tension. Pranayama ( Yoga breathing ) and meditation will also be
helpful to calm the mind and body and to reduce stress and
negative thinking.
Besides the calming effects of a general yoga practices
restorative poses, in version and forward bends are especially
calming to the body and mind helping to reduce and prevent
excessive anxiety.

Non- a-days through media various yoga, pranayama

programmes were telecast through out the world, which was
helpful for reducing anxiety in our day to day life. The breath
plays a major role in many cases of excess anxiety. During
feelings of anxiety, the breath becomes shallow, rapid which in
turn reinforces our nervous systems state of anxiety. When
practicing pranayama, yogic breathing exercises, the nervous
system in naturally calmed. With a regular practice we can learn

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how to consciously maintain a slow deep breath at all time to
prevent and minimize excess states of anxiety.
Group Therapy:
Group therapy was found to be effective in dealing with a
variety of problems and it rapidly become an important
therapeutic approach in civila an life. Group therapy has
traditionally involved or relatively small group of clients in a clinic
or hospital setting, using a variety of procedures depending on
the age, needs and potentialities of the clients and the orientation
of the therapists. An interesting form of group therapy is
psychodrama, based on role-playing techniques. A clients,
assisted by staff members or other clients is encouraged to act
out problem situation in a theater like setting. This techniques
frees the Individual to express anxieties and hostilities or relive
traumatic experiences in a situation that stimulates real life but is
more shelted.

Bio-Feed Back :

Historically, it was generally believe that voluntary control

over physiological process, such as heartrate, Galvanic skin
response and blood pressure was not possible. The importances
of the automatic nervous system in the devt. of abnormal
behavior has long been recognized. Autonomic arousal is an
important factor in anxiety states. Thus bio-feed back treatment
is a behavior technique is meant to reduced this arousal and its
anxiety component. In this treatment approach a person which
thaught to influence his or her physiological process which is
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known bio-feed back several steps are typically in the process of
bio-feedback treatment.

1. Monitoring the physiological response that is to modified.

2. Converting the information to a visual or auditory signal.
3. Providing a means of prompt feedback.
The effects of bio feed back procedures are generally small
and often do not emerge situations outside the laboratory, when
the biofeed back devices are not present.

Coping Technique :

To prevent our normal anxious feeling from going too far try
to identify situations that make your anxious, consider actions
that will threat and try them out. Avoid potentially dangerous
ways of coping with anxiety like smoking, alcohol, drug
dependence or abnormal eating patterns express your feelings to
someone you trust and can talk with comfortable ,thus often lead
to a relief of anxious feeling.

5. CONCLUSION:

There is no question that the various kinds of anxiety disorder can

severely impair a persons functioning in work family and social
environment. So in my opinion people can recover from anxiety
by self focusing applying intelligence. Besides this those who
suffer from anxiety disorder can work with a qualified and
experienced therapist such as counsellor who can help them to
recognize and regain control of their feeling and thoughts and
maintain a smooth and pleasurable life.
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