Fear and Anxiety

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Fear and Anxiety

• By David Thompson

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Fear is a basic emotional sensation and response
system feeling initiated by an aversion to some
perceived risk or threat.
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Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear
associated with constant uneasiness and distress
of the unknown.
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Anxiety and fear are similar feelings that we
have of danger, but they are not the same. It is
when you come short of information on danger that
you are anxious about it, and when you have
enough information on it, you are not anxious but
just cautious about the fearful danger.
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Symptoms

• Physical Symptoms
• Twitching/Trembling
• Muscle Tension
• Headaches
• Sweating
• Dry Mouth/Difficulty Swallowing
• Abdominal Pain (found mostly in Children)

• Other Symptoms
• Dizziness
• Rapid Heart Rate
• Rapid Breathing
• Sleep Disorders/ Nightmares
• Lack of Concentration
• Irritability
• Fatigue

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Common Causes of Anxiety

• Recreational and Medicinal Drugs
• Performance Anxiety (Tests, Public Speaking,
  Sports Performance, etc.)
  
• Anxiety Associated with Post Traumatic Stress
  Disorder (PTSD)

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Why is Anxiety Such a Great Problem?
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According to the American Psychiatric Nurses
Association

• Anxiety is a disease fuelled by a single event
  that can snowball into countless other medical
  problems

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Other Medical Problems Brought on By Severe
Anxiety

• High Blood Pressure
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Sleep Deprivation
• Eating Disorders
• Fibromyalgia

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Everyone is susceptible to anxiety. Its not
something you catch or inherit.
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Post 9/11 Symptoms

• Alcohol Abuse
• Poor Diet
• Reduced Exercise
• Agoraphobic Behavior
• Schizophrenic Behavior

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Anxiety and Terrorism

• 35 of Americans exposed to 9/11 experienced
  symptoms of Anxiety (2003 poll)
  
• Roughly 76,230,000 people mild to moderate
  symptoms
  

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• Anxiety and fear are the two primary side affects
  to any affect of terror
  
• Looking of ones shoulder and worrying what could
  happen next
  
• This is exactly the reaction terrorists want
• Anxiety fuels more anxiety

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Anxiety Related Doctors Visits Excluding
Psychiatric
                                                  
                                                  

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Anxiety Related Doctors Visits Including
Psychiatric
                                               
                                                 
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What Does This Mean?

• There is a small increase in general doctors
  visits posts 9/11.
  
• There is an even larger increase in psychiatric
  visits post 9/11
  
• These numbers are hard to prove as there is an
  increasing trend of doctors visits in general
  over the last 10 years.