With the fast-paced nature of our modern world, there is no denying that there are many elements that could trigger our anxieties. In fact, anxiety disorders are so common that it affects over 40 million adults in the US alone with only 37% of these people seeking treatment.
Anxiety inhibits a lot of people from pursuing their goals and achieving their full potential. With these staggering numbers, people still think that they can live with that fear and opt not to seek professional help. Luckily, anxiety disorders are easy to treat, so it is advisable that you seek professional help, especially if you suffer from anxiety attacks.
The following 4 points will tell you why.
1. It May Affect Your Immune System
If you have experienced an anxiety attack before, then you already know how crippling the experience could be. Your body will recognize an external element as a trigger and will initiate a fight-or-flight reaction to protect you from that particular threat.
With the rush of chemicals and stress hormones (Adrenaline, Norepinephrine, and Cortisol) in your bloodstream, your body will quickly react by increasing your heart and breathing rate to get more oxygen to your brain so it can function to its fullest capacity. Your eyes will be dilated to increase perception and your immune system will get a brief boost in these seconds.
Once you’re not under the influence of an anxiety attack, these symptoms are going to disappear. However, frequent anxiety attacks may confuse your body, forcing it to enter that alert state more often that, sometimes, it won’t be able to return to functioning properly. This might result in weakening your immune system, making you more perceptible to diseases. The only way to avoid it is by seeking the help of a specialist.
2. To Prevent Physical Symptoms from Affecting Your Life
We’ve all probably experienced the adverse effects of anxiety on our physical health. You may have, for example, had a bad stomach ache before an interview or didn’t get much sleep because you’re anxious over that big event the next day. In the case of anxiety attacks, the physical symptoms can be even worse.
An anxiety attack might leave you with a painfully fast heartbeat, strained muscles, excessive sweating, and an inability to breathe, which might pose a danger, especially to people with respiratory problems like asthma. Therapists over at https://www.thrivetalk.com/online-psychiatrist/ advise patients to seek professional help when they notice negative physical symptoms due to anxiety attacks, especially if they’re too intense and are inhibiting you from living normally.
For example, if you notice signs of anxiety attack whenever you’re doing a regular daily task, such as talking to someone over the phone, then you should consider seeing a psychiatrist.
3. To Avoid Overworking Your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)
Anxiety attacks are no fun to deal with and they can occur regularly with no way to dissipate their effects, especially if you’re not seeing a specialist to help you through your anxiety. Getting anxiety attacks continuously will increase your body’s secretion of stress hormones, so you’ll have more percentages of these hormones than a regular person, which will, of course, result in side effects like headaches, nausea, lightheadedness, and depression.
These factors will have negative effects on your sympathetic nervous system in the long run, as the SNS is responsible for some biological functions as well as the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). When your SNS is exhausted with continuous anxiety attacks, it won’t function properly and remain in an underactive state, which is why you might have trouble sleeping, focusing on normal tasks, and find it hard to recover from injuries or illnesses. A proficient psychiatrist will recognize these signs immediately and will recommend a recovery plan.
4. Anxiety Attacks Might Encourage People to Use
It is quite common for people with anxiety disorders to develop substance use habits to relieve symptoms of anxiety. They seek respite from addictive substances, adding more problems to their plates.
Considering the stressful nature of anxiety attacks to people who suffer from them, they’re more likely to avoid these attacks by consuming alcohol or benzodiazepines prescribed by their doctors instead of seeking professionals to help them deal with the anxiety in a therapeutic environment.
There is a thin line between healthy anxiety and unhealthy anxiety. If you can easily manage your anxiety, then you don’t have to worry about it affecting your life. However, the line should be drawn when you start experiencing anxiety attacks. Waiting for your anxiety to fix itself isn’t going to end well, so seeking the help of the right people should help you deal with your anxiety and retake control over your life.
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