Anxiety Disorder and My Realizations

Watching movies, indie films and short clips containing some psycho matters (psychopathic or neurotic person) is not new to me, but seeing a short documentary showing the complete view of a specific disorder caught my attention. It is a documentay aiming to inform and entertain at the same time. It is entertaining because while learning some new facts about the topic it also helps you to understand some familiar words better. Like for example the term “anxiety”, before I just look at this word as a description for those people who are emotionally disturbed, but while watching it I fully understand what was the complete and exact definition of that single word. Anxiety is a state of intense apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation, often to a degree that normal physical and psychological functioning is disrupted. It is a generalized mood condition that can often occur without an identifiable triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which is an emotional response to a perceived threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is related to situations perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable. Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fear and anxiety which only came under the aegis of psychiatry.

The first example of anxiety discussed is about the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). It is a pattern of mental and physical defects that can develop in a fetus in association with high levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can stunt fetal growth or weight, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures, which can result in psychological or behavioral problems, and cause other physical damage. The main effect of FAS is permanent central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. Developing brain cells and structures can be malformed or have development interrupted by prenatal alcohol exposure. This can create an array of primary cognitive and functional disabilities including poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behavior, and poor cause-effect reasoning as well as secondary disabilities like predispositions to mental health problems and drug addiction. Signs and symptoms of this are Pre or post-natal growth deficiency, central nervous system disfunction and abnormal facial features like thin upper lip, smooth philtrum and small eye width. People having Fetal Alcohol Syndrome appears to be normal but never reach their potential. They are also clinically suspect but appears normal. Another type of anxiety disorder is the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or commonly known as OCD. This one really got my attention because I remember Emma Pillsbury of Glee, she also have OCD and currently taking up some medications. OCD is not new to me because of Glee series. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions. Symptoms of this disorder include excessive washing or cleaning, repeated checking, extreme hoarding, preoccupation with sexual, violent or religious thoughts, aversion to particular numbers and nervous rituals, such as opening and closing a door a certain number of times before entering or leaving a room. These symptoms can be alienating and time-consuming, and often cause severe emotional and financial distress. However, OCD sufferers generally recognize their obsessions and compulsions as irrational, and may become further distressed by this realization. The last anxiety disorder discussed was the Panic Disorder. It is characterized by recurring severe panic attacks. It may also include significant behavioral change lasting at least a month and of ongoing worry about the implications or concern about having other attacks. People having this usually have a series of intense episodes of extreme anxiety during panic attacks. There is no single cause for panic disorder, however, panic disorder has been found to run in families, and suggests that inheritance plays a strong role in determining who will get it. Panic disorder is common among mid-teens to adulthood and according to what have said, women are three times more likely to have panic disorder than men. 

Being able to watch that short documentary is a good experience for me, because aside from the knowlege that it gave, it also shows me how to deal with people having anxiety disorders. I like the film because of its content even though its quite short because of the limited time that we have and I am looking forward on watching the other half of the movie.