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Monday, April 1, 2019

A - Anxiety #AtoZ #MentalHealthAwareness


"She is constantly worried about herself, her child, the world, the weather something or the other. She is restless always and never at ease, off late she fidgets a lot with her hair or clothes or keys. Anxiety?"


According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 13 globally suffers from anxiety. The WHO reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide.

Anxiety can be normal and often healthy emotion and in certain stressful situations like a major life event, public speaking or taking an exam. But as a mental ailment it consists of extreme feelings that might interfere with daily living and this consistent experiencing of disproportionate levels of anxiety is termed as a medical disorder. Anxiety disorders form a category of mental health diagnoses that lead to excessive nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worry.

Anxiety disorders are the most common and pervasive mental disorders.




The term "anxiety disorder" pertains to specific psychiatric disorders that involve one or several of these types:-
  • ·         Extreme fear or worry
  • ·         Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
  • ·         Panic disorder and panic attacks
  • ·         Social anxiety disorder
  • ·         Phobias


Some common symptoms include:
  • ·         Intense, excessive and persistent worry
  • ·         Fear about everyday situations
  • ·         Fast heart rate
  • ·         Rapid breathing
  • ·         Sweating
  • ·         Fatigue


At initial stages when anxiety begins to grow one can do some self-treatment like physical activity or exercise, a balanced healthy diet, regular sleep and relaxation exercises that may reduce anxious behavior. Joining a support group may also help.

But one must seek expert medical help if this behavior is affecting one’s ability to build and/or maintain relationships, is leading to alcohol or other substance abuse, one is constantly feeling sad and slowed down.

Emergency help must be sought in cases of suicidal thoughts and your daily activities are being impaired by it.

A new kind of anxiety disorder has lately been identified as Social media anxiety disorder. According to the experts, almost 20% of people with social media accounts cannot stay away without checking them for more than three hours. Just being away from their Facebook or Twitter account for a few minutes can cause severe anxiety.

Other common symptoms are:

  • ·         Overwhelming need to share things with others via social media
  • ·         Interrupting real life conversations to check social media accounts
  • ·         Lying to others about how much time they spend on social media
  • ·         Withdrawal from friends and family
  • ·         Trying to stop or reduce your use of social media more than once before without being successful
  • ·         Loss of interest in other activities
  • ·         Neglecting work and life to be on Facebook or Twitter
  • ·         Experiencing withdrawal symptoms access to social media is withdrawn
  • ·         Spending over six hours per day on social networking



Anxiety is one of the most common forms of mental health challenges. It can affect your overall health and quality of living. Research suggests that those suffering from an anxiety disorder run a higher risk of experiencing physical health problems like hypertension too.



DISCLAIMER: All the information being provided her has been sourced from the internet and books and some also via personal experiences. It has no medical authentication per se so suggestions if followed must be done in consultation with a trained mental health professional.


For further information you can look up:



This post is a part of April Blogging from A To Z Challenge.

You can find all my posts here.




56 comments:

  1. While we all feel anxious every now and then but having an anxiety disorder can truly disable you. I have a friend who has to take a pill before boarding the aircraft, every single time, she gets panicky and agitated and cannot think straight. I think anxiety is very common yet very few seek treatment.
    Thanks for an informative post, Pooja!

    Shilpa Garg #AtoZChallenge

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  2. Very Informative blog about anxiety :)

    Atithi Devo Bhava

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  3. Anxiety is such an everyday emotion that sometimes one wonders if it is something worth going to a doctor about. Good pointers there, Pooja. I was surprised to read about social media anxiety. Looks like anxiety disorders may grow.

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  4. Very informative. Thanks for sharing

    A for Alvin

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  5. Thanks Shilpa, yes as a disorder anxiety can be debilitating.

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  6. Thanks TSW and Dee Dee glad you people found this informative.

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  7. Yes Rachna we often feel it is just normal but it has a huge impact on long term mental health.

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  8. Very informative Pooja. There are several layers to anxiety that we often ignore.

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  9. Glad that more of us bloggers are choosing tow rte about mental health. I am keep to red the rest of your posts on this too, seeing how well articulated this one is!

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  10. Mental Health Matters and we tend to ignore little signs our mind and body shows. Anxiety is growing day by day in people,little awareness is the need of hour. Great post :)

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  11. I used to be a lot more anxious than I am now. As I get older I'm more relaxed about things that used to bother me. Now I have different worries but I don't really worry about any of them much.

    Good topic for the Challenge. Hope others find the information useful. It's the kind of stuff that always catches my attention.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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  12. While some anxiety can be healthy, anxiety disorder is a disease. You have pointed out many common symptoms one can watch out for.

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  13. Yes Sonia, we don't see anxiety as a serious issue we must

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  14. Arlee thanks for sharing your experience, yes we must develop ways of managing anxiety. Your encouragement means much.

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  15. It's something I experienced for a long time, but just came to know the seriousness about it and the details last year, when I went for therapy after my hubby suffered from an episode of Bi Polar Disorder.
    GAD has changed my life, in some ways, but it's changed me as a person. It's made me a lot mature and aware about the reality of Life and why I need to learn to take it lightly.

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    1. so sorry to hear that Shilpa, good you are seeking help and getting better.

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  16. Many times, we use the term "anxiety" even when we are just a bit stressed out, but full-blown anxiety is so much more than stress. Shortness of breath, clenched stomach, dilated pupils that just seem to forget to blink, inability to think straight... and it has serious repercussions on our digestive health too!

    Informative post!

    Find my post for today @ Acceptance Is the Key to Happiness

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  17. An excellent article. As technology advances so does the harm it cause. So we have social media anxiety. Even among social media, I recently read somewhere that there are anxiety related issues specific to the type of social media. There was one particular illness related to Instagram. The name slips my mind now. But it starts with an N. Very informative post.

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  18. We must have all suffered through anxiety disorder at some point. Just that we either don't realize it or acknowledge it. In a time when we need to be more vocal about mental health, I'm really glad that they found a channel through your powerful pen.

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  19. Excellent post. Anxiety and mental health should be taken seriously. Hope things change soon.

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  20. Glad you wrote about this, Pooja. In today's world of social media anxiety rears its head at all times and for people of all ages. Detecting early symptoms and taking precautionary measures or consulting an expert are ways that must be taken seriously to handle it.

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  21. I am so glad you choose to write on this theme buddy. My younger brother is battling this for some time now and it makes me real hard work to prevent him from getting trapped in his negative thoughts

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  22. Very informative and detailed post. Glad you came up with this theme. Looking forward to it.

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  23. Thanks Chicky for your feedback yes it does have physical manifestations.

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  24. Thanks Jai yes technology sometimes is a big culprit

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  25. Thanks Sonia Chatterjee yes that's the idea adding my voice to the mental health discourse.

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  26. Yes Varsh social media is adding to some of these issues, awareness is the key

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  27. So sorry to hear about your brother's struggle Roma but I am sure with appropriate treatment and care he will heal soon.

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  28. A certain amount of anxiety is not bad. But if it begins to affect one's daily life that then needs attention.
    Very informative piece. In today's hi-speed, pressure-laden life, a lot of people are down with all forms of anxiety.
    Great start to the A to Z Challenge.
    -- Pradeep | My post: http://bit.ly/TT-AtoZ-A

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  29. I joined FB again recently after an year away. The prime reason was when I realised it was the root cause of my anxiety. I had to take full year off. Now i take care to check it only once a day. Awareness, action and will are all so important to fight anxiety.

    Great post there!

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  30. Oh Anxiety. My constant friend, lol
    Thanks for helping to educate people. I've been anxious my whole life but did not have the words or knowledge to know so. Education and awareness is so much better now!

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  31. You have chosen a very timely and helpful theme. By the way you handled "A" I look forward to the rest of the letters!
    I hope your posts educate a lot of readers about mental health. I already see some of them misunderstand anxiety.
    It is often brushed aside as "normal," like depression ("oh, we all get a little depressed at times...) it can be completely debilitating.
    And, Rachna? Yes, it is worth seeing a doctor over!

    https://theversesmith.blogspot.com/

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  32. I myself suffer from anxiety and your post is very informative. Thanks a lot. Looking forward to reading more.

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  33. This was a very well explained post. Most of us become anxious at some point or the other. But when it supersedes the normal thought then it becomes dangerous.

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  34. I knew that anxiety was a big killer but to this extent scares me. Thanks for this post.

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  35. Sometimes we fail to recognize whether it is anxiety or stress. As you said anxiety may lead to several problems. Great post!

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  36. Nice to read about these useful tips and information on anxiety

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  37. Really informative post. Thanks for sharing.

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  38. Nice post. I m also writing about mental health:) I will learn from you, how to write better.

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  39. I suffer from anxiety. It makes life very challenging. Coping as best as i can

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