A lot of factors can be considered major contributors for the psychological and physical anxiety symptoms. A person may feel anxiety that is caused by a more basic health problem or he may suffer from anxiety due to a mental state or of a certain phobia. The problem in diagnosing anxiety is that this disorder is complex and often mixed with a number of indefinite causes. Anxiety diagnosis is often a difficult task for specialists trained in diagnosing and treating mental health problems.
Anxiety disorders, chronic and long-term problems they often are can start from a distressing event like the loss of someone you love one or a major illness.
People with anxiety often are clinically depressed which makes determining whether anxiety or depression as the primary problem rather difficult. Some people suffering from anxiety, especially from post traumatic stress disorder often suffer from sexual problems like feeling pain during copulation, erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and low sex drive.
People with these kinds of sexual problems (and some of them have these problems that have not been caused by anxiety) are often embarrassed to talk about them with their doctor but they need to tell their doctor in order for him to make the right diagnosis and provide the right treatment plan for the patient.
Questionnaires
Medical specialists need pertinent information from the patient in order to properly identify their disorder especially when it comes to anxiety. Through questions asked by the specialist about your family medical and mental history as well as your own medical and health history, the specialist can get some information which may serve as clues that would indicate a psychological or medical cause for your anxiety problems.
Some of the questions the doctor can ask may be a bit personal for you. This is to see if there is a pattern in your condition and the seriousness of your issue. Although these questions are personal and can make you uncomfortable, you need to understand that the doctor does this not to pry into your personal life but to find a way to help you overcome your anxiety problems – you can let the doctor be aware that you feel uncomfortable answering these questions, this will force the doctor to modify his questions and consider your sensitivities.
Children who suffer from anxiety may need to be left alone by their parents when the doctor asks him certain diagnostic questions. He may feel that if the child answers these questions privately, the child may give more accurate answers than when a parent is around to hear them. If you know beforehand the type of questions the doctor will ask your child then try to openly discuss them with your child prior to the appointment. Some of these questions will be for test for ADHD or ADD
Mental Health Assessment
Doctors usually refer their patient to a psychiatrist or psychologist if they deem their patient suffers from severe anxiety. The psychiatrist or psychologist will give a psychiatric health test to the patient as well as specialized procedures to determine what the causes of the patient’s symptoms are. The specialist will study if the patient’s symptoms indicate anxiety disorder, he will also see if this disorder is the reason for his social disability.
The patient should have been suffering from symptoms of anxiety disorder for a minimum of six months in order to be diagnosed with having this problem. The symptoms should be severe enough that they greatly impact his life every day.
Blood Testing
A blood test is needed to see if certain physical issues are the causes of a patient’s anxiety problem. Blood tests can see if the patient has diabetes, thyroid problems or heart problems that can be causing a person’s anxiety. Elevated amounts of insulin and hyperthyroidism are two physical health problems that may result in physical symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety. High blood pressure that is chronic or hypertension can also create problems associated with anxiety. No lab tests yet exists that help diagnose anxiety. Tests are the only ones that can determine anxiety in a person.
Urine Tests
Urine tests are indispensable to record the amount of drugs in your body. Chronic utilization of barbiturates, amphetamines and opiates can result in or increase anxiety signs.
Blood Pressure Tests
When the doctor suspects you suffering from anxiety, he then might require you to go through blood pressure observation exams to assess if you’re likely to suffer from hypertension.
Electroencephalogram
An electroencephalogram or EEG for short is primarily used to observe the brain’s electrical activities. Specialists might require the administration of this test to see if epilepsy is the one forcing anxiety in the patient.
Goldfarb Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center
1339 Pleasant Valley Way
West Orange, NJ 07052
Phone: 973-325-8884
www.acupuncturewestorange.com
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