Daily activities can get to the best people and cause anxiousness. However, some may feel that anxiety affects them more and even takes over their everyday life. This unhealthy level of anxiousness may be caused by an anxiety disorder. There are various classifications of anxiety disorders, and it is important to understand all types of anxiety. Anxiety is the body’s response to threats, and it heightens the body’s awareness. Anxiety is helpful in keeping a person safe when felt
Anxiety is the body’s response to threats, and it heightens the body’s awareness. Anxiety is helpful in keeping a person safe when felt appropriately, such as in life-threatening instances. However, for others, anxiety is felt even when there is no threat present.
Anxiety and stress may be confused as the same conditions since they both trigger a release of hormones that heighten a person’s heart rate, speed, and reflexes. It is also true that anxious feelings may coincide with stress. However, stress is usually caused by an external source such as an argument or a deadline, and usually subsides once the source is gone. Having an anxiety disorder on the other hand, causes anxious feelings even when there are no external stressors.
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
While there are different types of anxiety disorder, there is one main symptom occurs in all types of anxiety, which is the persistence of fear or worry in instances where most people wouldn’t normally feel anxious about. Other common symptoms include:
- Apprehension
- Restlessness
- Spacing Out
- Jumpiness
- Pounding heart
- Shortness of breath
- Muscle tension
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
The Different Types of Anxiety
Understanding all types of anxiety is important in order to know if symptoms are present in a person, and to know if treatment should already be sought.
- Panic Disorder
A person who has a panic disorder would usually experience repeating and unpredictable episodes of panic attacks, and would also worry about experiencing it again. Agoraphobia, or the extreme or irrational fear of crowded spaces or enclosed public places, may come along with a panic disorder. This is usually brought about by the fear of being unable to escape or find help when a panic attack occurs. People with agoraphobia are likely to avoid shopping malls or riding in airplanes.
- Phobias
A phobia is characterized as an unreasonable fear of a particular activity, object, or occurrence that does not really pose a significant level of danger. The most usual phobias include fear of heights, or animals. Severe cases of phobia might cause a person to do extreme measures to avoid what they fear. However, avoidance only intensifies the phobia.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
People with OCD are usually occupied with involuntary thoughts, and exhibit behavior that they themselves cannot regulate or stop. These thoughts are persistent and can be troubling. For an instance, a person with OCD may always worry that he might not have locked the door, or that he might have not washed the dishes enough. People affected with OCD tend to experience compulsions, and do an action again and again.
- Social Anxiety Disorder
A person with Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized as having an exhausting fear of being unfavorably perceived by society, or being publicly embarrassed. Socially Anxious people usually have an unreasonable level of self-consciousness, and can sometimes appear as being overly-introverted. Severe cases of Social Anxiety Disorder may cause a person to completely stay away from social situations.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
People with PTSD are those that have gone through a traumatic or life-threatening experience. PTSD occurs as an aftermath of the event, and is characterized by flashbacks or nightmares of the experience, being overly vigilant, getting startled easily, disengaging from other people, and avoiding situations that may trigger memories about the event
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD is characterized by having a persisting feeling that something wrong will happen, which causes distraction from everyday activities. People who have GAD worry all the time, but do not usually know exactly what causes their worries. Physical symptoms of GAD include fatigue, restlessness, and insomnia.
The Herb that Solves them All
There are a number of ways to address anxiety disorders such as breathing exercises, counseling, and medication. However, perhaps the easiest way to treat anxiety disorders is through supplementation. One herb that helps with all types of anxiety is the Tongkat Ali. This herb is scientifically known as the the Eurycoma longifolia, and can be found in South East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. One of the most popular functions of the herb is to improve the testosterone levels in the body. It contains a small group of peptides known as “eurypeptides,” which help release testosterone from the binding hormone called sex-hormone-binding-globulin.
Testosterone and Anxiety
Anxiety, depression, and irritability are common symptoms of low testosterone in both men and women. Researchers are not sure about what causes the correlation between testosterone and mood, but a regulated level of testosterone, especially in older adults can enhance a person’s mood and state of mind.
There are symptoms that are common for both low testosterone and anxiety. They include:
- Sadness
- Low sex drive
- Memory Problems
- Irritability
- Concentration problems
- Insomnia and other sleep problems
How does Tongkat Ali Help with Anxiety?
A scientific study about the extract’s effect on stress hormones and psychological mood state has been conducted on moderately stressed subjects. The results of his study show that the extract exhibits significant improvement in stress levels and psychological mood states. The controlled group who were given the extract had an 11% decrease in tension, 12% decrease in anger, and 15% in confusion. The same group also had 16% reduced cortisol exposure.
There are a lot of situations in day-to-day life that cause anxiety. Anxiety is helpful in keeping people safe, as it heightens the body’s awareness. However, persistent anxiety, even without a reasonable matter to be anxious about, can be detrimental to life. Tongkat Ali is a wonder herb that has many benefits, including mood regulation.
REFERENCES:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/05/anxiety.aspx
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/anxiety/anxiety-attacks-and-anxiety-disorders.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3669033/
