How do you know if someone has an anxiety disorder?

After working under pressure for years, without breaks or vacation, your body and mind slowly get exhausted, and you become anxious. You are suffering from an anxiety disorder. But how do you know if it really is an anxiety disorder? Of course it is important to speak to your doctor about whether there could be another medical cause. However, in most cases you are likely to have an anxiety disorder if you feel anxious or panicky during extended periods of time. You no longer want to take any initiatives because you are avoiding certain situations. You no longer enjoy the simple things in life such as a sunset or a beautiful flower, because your anxiety is constantly in your way. If you recognize some of these symptoms, chances are that you are indeed suffering from an anxiety disorder.

Exhausted caused by panic or an anxious feeling

If your anxiety is long-term, it starts dominating your life and causes you to avoid more and more situations. Life becomes exhausting and you start to get fatigued. It can even be so that you develop depressed feelings on top of your anxiety. Slowly but surely, fear of fear takes over your entire life. Once you have come to this stage, it becomes difficult to stop worrying without special treatment or, for example, an online self-help program. The advantage of an internet self-help program is that you can start using it right away, without waiting lists, and that you do not need to speak to anyone in your environment about the problems which you are experiencing. he results of online self-help are as good as - and often even better than - those of therapy.

Anxiety by disregarding yourself

This sometimes happens if you disregard yourself a lot, meaning you do not set limits toward others and no longer indicate what you can and cannot do. As a result you bite off more than you can chew, causing an overload in your system, yet you keep working until your system breaks down. You are mentally exhausted and become anxious. You long for a vacation while you believe that you need to keep working harder because you have less and less energy available to use for finishing all that needs to be done. Symptoms include: heart palpitations, sweaty hands, anxiety caused by normal things, avoiding behavior or fleeing behavior, panic, being agitated, starting to doubt simple things, worrying and being unable to stop worrying, no longer being able to go to public places or places where a lot of people are present, ... Not everyone has the same complaints, which is why a test can often be useful in order to confirm a diagnosis.

Test if your anxiety is an anxiety disorder

Your anxiety levels and underlying levels of stress can be tested by taking this simple online test. This test shows your general level of stress as well as your level of anxiety or anxiety disorder. On top of this, it shows other factors: tension, anxiety, or even depressed feelings. This test can help you to acknowledge the problem, and you can even follow your development after, for example, having started the online self-help program against stress and anxiety. Give the test a try.

Paul Koeck, MD