Anxiety is part of indispensable human emotions. It is genetically determined to help the species in its struggle to survive. But, of course, there is a problem: anxiety has the potentiality to get out of control. It can overwhelm a person and drown him or her in fear.
F40.0 Agoraphobia
.00 without panic disorder
.01 with panic disorder
F40.1 Social phobias
F40.2 Specific (isolated) phobias
F41.0 Panic disorder
F41.1 Generalized anxiety disorder
F41.2 Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder
F42.0 predominantly obsessional thoughts or ruminations
F42.1 predominantly compulsive acts (obsessional rituals)
F42.2 mixed obsessional thoughts and acts
F43.0 Acute stress reaction
F43.1 Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
F43.2 Adjustment disorders
People often describe their symptoms as
amplification process, creating more and more fear
and producing a seemingly unbeatable surge.
Fear of fear leads to avoidance behaviour,
narrowing the focus on reasons and consequences
of anxiety symptoms, circling entirely around ideas
of how to end it immediately.
Consequence: all other aspects of life and, therefore, all resources
a person might have, disappear out of sight. Fear takes over.
There is some sort of "competition" between the disciplines
for the most effective treatment. Psychiatry usually recommends medication to
stop the anxiety circle and avoid a "memory effect" while psychotherapy
focuses on explanations to prevent recurring situations and symptoms.
Patients often do want to know why anxiety symptoms appeared in the first place.
And there is a need to integrate these experiences into one's biography.
