Is it really anxiety disorder?
“Doctor, I don’t sleep well at all. I feel nervous for no reason, my hands tremble at times. Sometimes I feel like my heart is beating hard or skipping a beat. It scares me. I get moody easy, sometimes I’m depressed. I can’t seem to concentrate at work. What’s wrong with me?”Poor guy, depending on which kind of doctor he’s talking to, he’s either going to get tested for hypoglycemia, food sensitivities, metal poisoning or, in the case of someone seeing a psychiatrist, he just gets an anti-anxiety medication prescription without testing.
The symptoms described by this person are directly off of websites of medical descriptions of poisoning (specifically metals like lead), food allergies and “anxiety”. Funny how these symptoms are so similar yet treated so differently.
Anxiety Disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. with 19.1 million (13.3%) of the adult U.S. population (ages 18-54) affected, according to the website www.adaa.org.
According to “The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders,” a study commissioned by the ADAA and based on data gathered by the association and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year, almost one third of the $148 billion total mental health bill for the U.S.
The top two drugs prescribed for anxiety disorders are Ativan and Xanax. Over 53 million generic prescriptions were filled in 2005, up from 51 million in 2004, which was up 7.9% from 2003 figures as revealed in the magazine Drug Topics, March 2006. This doesn’t even count the Valium used in America at 12 million in 2005, but Valium is also used to reduce involuntary muscle spasms and so can’t be linked to the psychiatric disorder labeled anxiety disorder entirely.
Anxiety is listed on many anxiety information websites for having common symptoms that are sometimes different for each individual with some or all of the same type of symptoms. You can have several types of anxiety from generalized anxiety disorder to more dramatic anxiety attack disorder. There are thoughts associated with anxiety as well as the physical and emotional components.
Debates as to the nature of anxiety are rampant and controversial. From the “chemical imbalance” theory to behavioral model, people want a workable solution to what they are experiencing as the discomfort to the individual experiencing the sensations is undeniable.
It occurs to me, now being a Registered Nurse for some 29 years, that maybe we should be looking at medical causes for anxiety rather than theoretical, phantom causes. Anxiety has specific symptoms voiced and observed by anyone. It is my opinion, apparently voiced by others as well, that one does not go about attempting to negate the symptoms with mood altering medications like Xanax and Ativan that have themselves shown to be harmful. Medical conditions such as hypoglycemia, metal poisonings and food allergy/sensitivities mimic the conditions of anxiety. All of which can be researched and corrected or at least, in the case of diabetes, controlled with more exacting remedies
Reporting on the website Onlinelawyersource.com, “Lead poisoning statistics show there are still a high number of people adversely affected by the metal’s harmful effects, but these lead poisoning statistics may not even be a real indicator of how serious the problem is. During the 1960s, 60 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood was considered the level for concern. In the 1980s, this level was lowered even more to 25 micrograms, then to 10 micrograms in the 1990s. An April 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine included an article concluding lead levels even below the 10 micrograms can be harmful, especially in children. The researchers wrote, “Our findings suggest that considerably more U.S. children are adversely affected by environmental lead than previously estimated.”
According to an article by Thomas Smith on the website Consumerhealthreviews.com, “Diabetes, Hypoglycemia, Hyperinsulinemia are so widespread in the United States that it is estimated that over half the population exhibits one or more symptoms of these life destroying diseases. Symptoms of Adult onset diabetes are now being routinely noted in six year old children. Obesity and it’s related Endocrine dysfunction are commonly observed in teenagers. Heart Failure, a symptom of advanced Type II Diabetes, remains in the top three killer diseases in the Westernized countries.”
And here’s another statistic you should be concerned about. Experts estimate food allergy occurs in 6 to 8 percent of children 4 years of age or under, and in 4 percent of adults. Approximately 150 Americans, usually adolescents and young adults, die annually from food-induced anaphylaxis, according to www. niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/allergystat.htm. In a list of conditions related to food intolerances from the American Family Physician website psychological and neurological disorders are present. “There may also be a feeling of “impending doom”–a feeling that something bad is going to happen, pale skin because of low blood pressure, or loss of consciousness (fainting).”
www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_kenneth_060404_is_it_really_anxiety.htm