Diagnosing Anxiety Symptoms
In the US, anxiety is the most common mental health problem among adults. Diagnosing anxiety symptoms can be difficult to do, because the symptoms are not always clear cut and they manifest themselves differently in each person. Of adults 18 years of age and over in the United States, about 18% suffer from some type of anxiety disorder and experience anxiety symptoms regularly.
When diagnosing anxiety symptoms, sufferers should look for some of the most common anxiety symptoms, which are a racing heart, feeling nauseated, hot flashes, shaking, difficulty swallowing and breathing, sweaty palms, a red face and so on. These anxiety symptoms can appear at any time, in any person, and in a variety of degrees.
You may think that Americans are more anxious than other people around the world, and to a degree they are. In England, for example, about ten percent of the population suffers from anxiety symptoms regularly. In Germany, the figure is about 6%. Worldwide, the average number of people who are diagnosed with anxiety is between 10% and 20%.
Even though nearly 1/5 of the US population suffers from anxiety symptoms, diagnosing them correctly is not as easy as it may seem. For example, because some of the most common anxiety symptoms are a racing heart, tightness in the chest, and dizziness, anxiety symptoms are often confused with heart attack symptoms, which can make getting a correct diagnosis difficult. Women who go to the hospital with symptoms of a heart attack are very likely to be diagnosed with anxiety symptoms when they are actually suffering from physical problems.
Anxiety is a disorder that affects more women than men. People who suffer from anxiety symptoms tend to go to the doctor more often and are also about six times more likely to be admitted to a hospital for psychiatric reasons than people who do not suffer from anxiety symptoms.
There are two groups of people who are often misdiagnosed: senior citizens and children. Children are often not given the proper treatment for their anxiety symptoms, because many doctors will diagnose a kid that is exhibiting anxiety symptoms as having attention deficit disorder. Children are also more likely than adults to be very nervous during a doctor’s visit, so diagnosing anxiety symptoms is very difficult.
Senior citizens visit the doctor more often than most people, so why are their anxiety symptoms difficult to diagnose? The answer is that they often don’t complain about their mental health, only going to the doctor to talk about the cold that they caught or the back pains that they are now experiencing. Too much tension and anxiety in their lives may just be causing these illnesses and aches.
Science is getting better at diagnosing anxiety. In 2006, scientists found that anxiety can be detected through a blood test. Perhaps one day, this test can be given to everyone to diagnose anxiety symptoms. In the meantime, doctors will have to continue the imprecise diagnosis of anxiety symptoms.
