As an infant, you learned what displeased or created anxiety in your parents, and as a result you fashioned your behavior, and maybe even your personality, to please them. You also acted in the way they approved because it reduced your anxiety-the calmer they were, the calmer you were. You learned the “good me” (what your parents approved of), the “bad me” (what your parents disapproved of), and the “not me” (aspects of living so dreadful or horrifying, at least according to your parents, that they may be dissociated and not remembered in adulthood, evert when someone else points them out).

According to Harry Stack Sullivan, a feeling of anxiety is most apt to occur in situations in which your dignity and prestige are threatened by other people, and from which you are unable to escape. This includes embarrassing or unfamiliar settings.

Whether or not anxiety develops into a chronic condition that in-terferes with your life depends on your genes, your early family ex-periences, your ongoing stress (which can affect brain activity), medical conditions, toxins you encounter, and drugs and stimulants you take. Let’s examine these in a little more detail.

1.Your genes can contribute to anxiety conditions if you are born a volatile, excitable, reactive type of person who is easily set off by a threat. In this case, you may be especially prone to panic attacks, which are really just your body overreacting by pouring adrenaline out of your adrenal glands and into your bloodstream. This leads to a racing heart, shallow breathing, profuse sweating, trembling and shaking, and cold hands and feet as your body readies itself to either fight or flee. Since there is no real threat, you are left with the chemical reactions flooding your body. Luckily, the adrenaline released during panic tends to be reabsorbed by the liver and kidneys within a few minutes, and the attack subsides.

2. Childhood experiences can contribute to anxiety conditions if you had parents who were overly cautious or critical, if you were neglected, rejected, abandoned, incurred physical or sexual abuse, grew up in a family where one or both parents were alcoholic, or had parents who suppressed your expression of feelings and selfassertiveness.

Jeff, a kindergarten teacher, was sexually abused by his uncle, a pet store owner. Jeff didn’t seem to have any anxiety problems until he turned nineteen, when he developed phobias about animals and heights. He stayed away from high places and animals and was able to complete college and start teaching. Gradually he became unable to leave his house or even his bedroom. He found a therapist who worked with him until he was able to leave his bedroom and eventually his house. He has returned to teaching but continues to see his therapist monthly as a preventive measure.

3. Cumulative stress over many years has also been implicated in the development of anxiety conditions, and a stressful lifestyle that avoids exercise, healthy nutrition, daily relaxation, social support, and self-nurturing activities can put you at increased risk. Years of heavy smoking often precede anxiety disorders, especially agoraphobia, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder.

There are numerous medical conditions that can lead to increased anxiety or panic attacks. You can learn more about these conditions and anxiety treatment on some great sites. Hyperventilation syndrome is a condition in which you breathe in the upper part of your chest. This results in symptoms very much like panic attacks, including lightheadedness, clonazepam, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, and/or tingling in your hands. Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar level, also mimics the symptoms of panic. Hyperthyroidism (excess secretion of thyroid hormone) can lead to heart palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, and sweating that can add to your normal anxiety. Mitral valve prolapse (a harmless defect in the valve separating the upper and lower chambers of the heart that may cause the heart to beat out of rhythm) occurs more frequently in people who have panic attacks. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can worsen panic attacks. Inner ear disturbances can lead to dizziness, light-headedness, and unsteadiness, any of which can add to your anxiety.

Other situations that can set off or worsen anxiety or panic include taking stimulants (cocaine, amphetamines, caffeine, aspartame), high blood pressure, exposure to environmental toxins (pesticides, food additives, lead, chlorine, fluoride, or cadmium, for example), heart failure or irregular heart beats, clot in the lung, emphysema, deficiencies in vitamins or minerals, concussion, epilepsy, parathyroid disease, Cushing’s syndrome, thyrotoxicosis, and withdrawal from clonazepam (especially tranquilizers, sedatives, and alcohol).

Panic attacks or phobias (persistent and unreasonable fear that results in a strong desire to avoid a dreaded object, activity, or situation) can also be triggered by past traumatic situations.

Although you may not know the difference between anxiety and fear, the two terms refer to entirely different feelings. Fear is usually directed at an external danger. The event you fear is identifiable. You may fear stepping off a curb when a car is speeding by at sixty miles an hour, or when a neighbor’s dog suddenly jumps out at you.

Anxiety has no such easily recognizable source and is often called an unexplained discomfort. You may have a sense of danger when experiencing anxiety, but the feeling is vague, and if asked, you may control.”

Anxiety has physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual effects. Physical effects include shortness of breath, heart palpitations, trembling or shaking, sweating, choking, nausea or abdominal distress, hot flashes or chills, dizziness or unsteadiness. Because anxiety is so uncomfortable, you may convert your anxiety into anger or other feelings. Emotional effects include feelings such as worry, anger, panic, and terror. Mental effects include thinking you’re going to die, or that you’re going crazy or are out of control. Spiritual effects include alienation and feeling detached and out of touch with yourself and others.

The root cause of anxiety is rarely-if ever-addressed in a medical model. Only the symptoms are treated. That means you may never learn the source of your anxiety, and, as you may have already discovered, fear of the unknown brings on the worst kind of anxiety.

You may be fearful your anxiety is untreatable, or that it means you are crazy, or on your way to a lifetime of hospitalization and treatment. You may be fearful your anxiety may build into dramatically worsening conditions and phobias. You may be fearful that even though you’re learning to deal with your anxiety, you suspect that new symptoms will appear and you will be unable to control them. You may be fearful that for the most part, doctors, unless they are psychiatrists, think you’re faking it, or that your problems are all in your head. You may be fearful because most doctors don’t have an answer when you ask if your anxiety is going to affect your family, work, and friends. You may be fearful that, over time, your anxiety is going to lead to other, more dangerous, conditions such as heart attacks, suicide, or even cancer. You may be afraid that you will never be able to overcome your anxiety, that you cannot stop its inexorable march as it seems to envelop and overtake every facet of your life. You may be afraid that there are no answers, no cure, no respite from the discomfort you feel and that no one really under-stands what you’re going through.

You just aren’t likely to hear them from the typical HMO or primary-care physician, who may not even recognize or diagnose your condition, much less know how to treat it, especially now that typical HMO appointments are mandated to end in fifteen minutes or less.

You may not be able to obtain an answer from the average psy-chiatrist, either. These doctors must rush through dozens of patients a day, prescribing drugs and monitoring their effects. They simply don’t have the time, and sometimes don’t have the know-how, to delve into the complicated and connected conditions anxiety evokes.

And even those medical doctors who consider themselves experts in treating anxiety rarely venture into the uncharted territory of dealing with the source of anxiety. Most are content to focus on treating the symptoms of anxiety, not the source. They are comfortable prescribing anti-anxiety drugs, but ask these doctors how to help you remove the source of your anxiety and they will probably draw a blank.

Approximately 10 percent of the population of the United States, or more than 30 million people,suffer from anxiety disorders each year, yet only a small proportion receive treatment by clonazepam (klonopin). Many who suffer from high anxiety are too embarrassed or ashamed to discuss their anxieties. For many people, this site may provide the only help they will ever receive.

Let’s take a look at some of the varied conditions that result from uncontrolled anxiety.

Joe just got a promotion because of his Internet sales ability. Now he must contribute to group sales meetings and he knows he’s going to be tongue-tied, stammer instead of speak coherently, and get so restless he won’t be able to sit still. Ruth, a bank teller, has been forcing herself to go to work, and once she gets there, she’s afraid she might say or do something silly, and want to leave.

Adam just entered college, and he’s afraid to speak up in class, even though he knows the answer, and he freezes when he has to take a written exam. Sylvia was raped a year ago. She continues to have repetitive dis-tressing thoughts about the event, as well as nightmares, flashbacks, and emotional numbness.

Why Anxiety Is Such a Problem Today

Anxiety conditions appear as a result of cumulative stress over time. Individuals in Western societies experience more stress than ever before. As a result, they experience more anxiety. The increased pace of modern society, the increased rate of technological change, the relative absence of traditionally prescribed values, a barrage of inconsistent world views presented in the media, terrorism threatsthese and other factors make it more difficult to remain calm and to experience a sense of stability or consistency in their lives. The result is increased stress and anxiety. As anxiety continues to mount in our society, this site can provide the comfort and specific direction anxious individuals need.

These drugs reduce anxiety by depressing the activity of your central nervous system. All these drugs have the serious side effect of making you physically dependent on them, which means you’ll have a difficult time when you try to stop taking them, especially if you take high doses over a long period of time. If you’re taking Xanax or Halcion, withdrawal symptoms can occur daily between doses, worsening the original anxiety symptoms. To top it off, in one clinical trial, 70 percent of persons taking Halcion “developed memory loss, depression and paranoia.” Breggin and Cohen state that, like most psychiatric drugs, Halcion eventually causes an increase of the very symptoms that the drug is supposed to ameliorate.

Besides addiction and withdrawal reactions, if you take these drugs, you can face problems similar to those experienced by people who abuse alcohol, including intoxication without realizing it, slowed thinking, slurred speech, lack of coordination, clumsiness, impaired walking, tremor, poor judgment, drowsiness, drugged feelings, and hangovers with amnesia. These drugs work by impairing brain function and pose a risk of irreversible mental dysfunction. Students taking these drugs can experience severe amnesia and forget the material they studied.

These drugs may cause drowsiness, so avoid driving or other tasks that require alertness. Other possible side effects include depression, apathy, fatigue, decreased activity, light-headedness, memory impair-ment, disorientation, amnesia, restlessness, confusion, crying, delirium, headaches, slurred speech, loss of voice, stupor, seizures, coma, euphoria, nervousness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, agitation, inability to perform complex mental functions, paralysis of half the body, unsteadiness, loss of coordination, strange dreams, glassy-eyed appearance, increased anxiety or hyperactivity, behavior problems, hysteria, psychosis, suicidal tendencies, constipation, diarrhea, dry mouth, coated tongue, sore gums, nausea, changes in appetite, vomiting, difficulty swallowing, increased salivation, stomach inflammation, incontinence, changes in sex drive, urinary and menstrual problems, changes in heart rhythm and blood pressure, cardiovascular collapse, retention of fluid in the face and ankles, palpitations, visual disturbances, twitching of the eyeballs, decreased hearing, nasal congestion, auditory disturbances, rashes, itching, hair loss or growth, hiccups, fever, sweating, tingling in the extremities, muscular disturbances, growth of breasts in males, milk production in the breasts of females, breathing difficulties, hepatitis or jaundice, changes in bloodcell counts, decrease in body weight, swelling of lymph nodes, and joint pain.

These drugs may increase levels or prolong the effects of barbiturates, narcotics, phenytoin, probenecid, and sedating antihistamines. They have potentially dangerous interactions with digoxin. When combined with alcohol and other medications, Xanax can cause death, even in low doses. When taking this medication or any other, never take more than is prescribed, and always ask to take the lowest dose that achieves the prescribed effect.

Living Well with Anxiety provides the type of information about anxiety you may not find out from a doctor, pharmaceutical company, patient organizations, or in other websites about anxiety. In this website I talk honestly with you about the traditional medical approaches to anxiety, including the drugs like clonazepam that are prescribed for specific conditions and their risks. But this website is really about living with anxiety and the kinds of self-care measures you can take to reduce and manage it.

In this website, you’ll find out things your doctor may not tell you about risks, diagnoses, drugs, and alternative approaches that work to reduce anxiety. You’ll also hear the voices of real people just like you who have struggled with anxiety and learned to deal with health-care practitioners, tried different approaches, suffered setbacks, and enjoyed successes. Each person quoted in this website expressed a determination to share his or her own story, difficulties, ideas, advice, and hope with you. That’s why you’ll be able to recognize your own experiences, fears, and frustrations, and be touched and moved by the incredibly honest and direct stories of others who have learned to live well with anxiety. Above all, you’ll know you are not alone in your struggle.