The leading causes of stress include finances, work, family responsibilities, and health issues. Stress can be detrimental when worry is constant, but help is available with talk therapy and medications.
Anxiety symptoms include trouble relaxing, sleep issues, and difficulty concentrating. People with anxiety often report physical symptoms too, such as headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, sweating, and nausea.
A psychologist or psychiatrist can diagnose the condition by asking about anxiety symptoms. Taking an online anxiety test can also help you identify whether you have a problem. Anxiety tests include questions about symptoms such as excessive worry and inability to control that worry, fatigue, trouble concentrating, difficulty sleeping or eating, and problems with alcohol or drug use.
Social anxiety is a particular type of anxiety in which people fear social interactions because they worry others will judge them. About 15 million Americans have social anxiety disorder. The condition can interfere with normal relationships, work, and education. Social anxiety symptoms include sweating, blushing, shortness of breath, dizziness, fast heartbeat, nausea or vomiting, and trembling in social situations.
Another physical manifestation of stress and anxiety is a panic attack. A panic attack produces paralyzing fear that causes real, physical symptoms. Panic attack symptoms can include a pounding heartbeat (palpitations), sweating, shortness of breath, shaking, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, and chills. Sometimes these symptoms resemble those of a heart attack.
Worry and anxiety can become so severe that a person is no longer able to go to work or function in his or her day-to-day life. This phenomenon is sometimes called a nervous breakdown. It’s not a real medical term, but rather a description of symptoms. The inability to function is serious, and it requires help from a mental health provider.
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Have you ever taken a personality test? It’s an intriguing idea—you answer a few questions online and come away with insights into your personality, from hidden strengths and weaknesses to your ideal job to your perfect soulmate.
In real life, online personality tests can be overblown, and perhaps inconclusive. How … Read More
There’s no simple answer when it comes to learning how to deal with negative people. You no doubt can relate to exchanges like these:
“Let’s get away for the weekend!”
“But then, how will we get the grocery shopping done?”
“I’ve applied to medical school!”
“With your grades?”
“I’m pregnant!”
“Why would you want to … Read More
Ever wonder why you spend hours binge-watching a TV series even though you’re on a tight deadline? Or why you feel compelled to clean the house when faced with an overwhelming project? Or why you keep putting off that oil change for your car? The reason could be—wait, just a … Read More
Remember that old adage, “Don’t get mad, get even?” Sounds a bit cathartic, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t love to get one over on the guy who cut you off in traffic? Or tee off on the solar energy salesman knocking on your door? Or give a verbal whooping to the … Read More
Approximately 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives, according to PTSD United, and, as a result, up to 20 percent of those people go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
PTSD is a mental health condition that … Read More
Forgetting things, being easily distracted, and feeling restless are all signs of adult ADD, a biological brain disorder that has been reclassified as ADHD. Adult ADHD is increasingly common, affecting 5 percent of adults, according to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA).
So what are the symptoms traditionally tied to adult … Read More
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common form of anxiety disorder marked by uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and the urge to engage in repeated behaviors or rituals (compulsions). OCD will affect 2.3 percent of adults in their lifetime. Research by the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) revealed that approximately 1.2 percent … Read More
With apologies for sounding like a high-school valedictorian discussing success, I’ll start at the top: Before you take a stress quiz, you need to know what stress is. Merriam-Webster says stress is a state “of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium.”
That … Read More
It might not surprise some, but there’s actually considerable evidence that men are physically less vulnerable to stress and anxiety than women. Research suggests, for instance, that the body’s stress response is less readily activated in men than women and less long-lasting.
In addition, fluctuations in female hormones such as … Read More
You leap from a plane and plummet toward the earth at 120 miles per hour, waiting for your parachute to open. You surf aggressive waves with abandon. Or… you tense up at the creaking sound near your front door at 3 in the morning. Whether you’re a skydiver or surfer … Read More
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