What are the symptoms of fear and anxiety? Be careful of these symptoms!

In modern society, the pace of life is getting faster and faster. In addition, many people only pay attention to physical health and ignore mental health, so there are many mental illnesses. Phobia and anxiety disorder is one of the more common ones. So, what are the clinical manifestations of phobia and anxiety disorder?

1. Clinical manifestations of panic disorder

(1) Panic attack:

The typical manifestation is that the patient suddenly experiences a strong fear during daily activities, as if he is about to die (a sense of impending death) or about to lose his mind, which makes the patient unbearable. At the same time, he feels palpitations, as if his heart is about to jump out of his chest, and he has chest tightness, chest pain, shortness of breath, and a feeling of suffocation due to throat obstruction, so he screams, calls for help, or runs outside. Some are accompanied by autonomic nervous system symptoms such as hyperventilation, dizziness, sweating, facial flushing or paleness, tremors, numbness of hands and feet, gastrointestinal discomfort, and some are accompanied by painful experiences such as personality disintegration and reality disintegration. Generally, there is no obvious inducement or cause, and it is unpredictable. During the two attacks, there are no other obvious symptoms except the fear of another attack. The attack is sudden, usually reaches a peak in 10 minutes, and can be relieved on its own within 1 hour. The patient is conscious during the attack and can recall the attack afterwards.

(2) Anticipatory anxiety:

During the intervals between attacks, patients often worry about another attack, so they often feel uneasy and may also experience some symptoms of autonomic nervous system dysfunction.

(3) Help-seeking and avoidance behaviors:

During a panic attack, the patient cannot bear the intense fear and therefore requires immediate medical attention. During the interval between attacks, the patient avoids some activities, is unwilling to stay at home alone, is unwilling to go out alone, etc. Patients with panic attacks are often accompanied by depression symptoms and increased suicidal tendencies, which should be taken seriously.

2. Clinical manifestations of generalized anxiety

It is characterized by anxiety and uneasiness without a clear object or specific content (free floating anxiety is also called floating anxiety), or excessive worry or trouble about certain problems in real life (excessive expectation). The patient's basic inner experience is fear, such as anxiety, uneasiness, and even extreme fear. In fact, there is no threat or danger. The patient's anxiety is inconsistent with reality and is often accompanied by autonomic hyperactivity, motor tension and excessive vigilance.

(1) Anxiety and worry:

It manifests as worry about unexpected dangers that may happen in the future. The patient has an inexplicable anxiety and is restless. If there is no clear objective object and a specific and fixed content of fear and anxiety, it is called floating anxiety. If you often worry about one or two unrealistic threats, or unfortunate events that may happen to yourself or your relatives and friends in life, such as worrying that your family will get into a car accident when they go out, etc., this kind of anxiety is very disproportionate to reality and is called anxious expectation, which is the core symptom of general anxiety. Such patients often have a premonition of panic, and are upset, restless, anxious, and worried all day long, as if a disaster is about to happen, and they always worry about the worst outcome.

(2) Tension and fear:

The expression is tense and the patient is overly concerned about changes in the surrounding environment.

(3) Motor restlessness:

Almost every patient has varying degrees of motor restlessness, manifested as nervousness, restlessness, rubbing hands and feet, increased small movements, inability to concentrate, frequent pacing, constant anxiety, and tremors of the eyelids, facial muscles, and fingers.

(4) Neurosis:

They are overly alert, easily startled in response to external stimuli, easily frightened and panicked. They are narrow-minded, easily irritated, and often lose their temper over trivial matters. Some cases show sensory hypersensitivity, and cannot tolerate any stimulation, are afraid of light, cannot tolerate noise, and are afraid of crowds.