Anxiety and Eating Disorders

POLL: Do you have an eating disorder and experience anxiety? Please take a moment to participate in the poll, located in the sidebar to your right, and share your experience.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety:
 1 : a painful or apprehensive uneasiness of mind usually over an impending or anticipated ill
      b : a cause of anxiety

 2 : an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one's capacity to cope with it.

Generalized anxiety disorder :
an anxiety disorder marked by chronic excessive anxiety and worry that is difficult to control, causes distress or impairment in daily functioning, and is accompanied by three or more associated symptoms (as restlessness, irritability, poor concentration, and sleep disturbances)
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Everyone feels anxious at times. The "fight or flight" response is a normal response that is intended to keep us safe. Adrenaline rushes through our bodies which in turn moves us towards action. It's normal to feel stress, or to worry over major changes in our lives such as divorce, a new job, tests, etc. It's when anxiety interferes with our daily lives, keeps us from doing what we need to do, or hinders us from enjoying our lives fully that it is time to reach out for help.


Some Facts:
via NIMH~

Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobia).

Approximately 40 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 18.1 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders frequently co-occur with depressive disorders or substance abuse.

Most people with one anxiety disorder also have another anxiety disorder.

Nearly three-quarters of those with an anxiety disorder will have their first episode by age 21.

via adaa~
A 2004 study found that two-thirds of people with eating disorders suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives and that around 42 percent had developed an anxiety disorder during childhood, well before the onset of their eating disorder. Other studies also confirm that an anxiety disorder usually the onset of an eating disorder, but panic disorder often follows.


Some Signs and Symptoms that may indicate you have an Anxiety Disorder:

Are you constantly worried?
Do you feel as though danger is imminent?
Do you feel tense most of the time?
Do you experience intense feelings of panic?
Are you easily startled?
Do you have irrational fears?
Do you avoid ordinary activities/events because they cause you to experience feelings of uneasiness?
Do you often feel on edge?
Do you also experience shortness of breath and/or rapid heartbeat?
Are you often irritable?
Have you lost your energy?


Self-Test Links for Anxiety

Anxiety Tests 
Anxiety Self-Test
Anxiety Test 


Resources:

Anxiety and Depression Association of America (adaa.org)
Anxiety Org
Anxiety Disorders Foundation
Mental Health Resources
Eating Disorders Resources
Meditation
Breathe and Visualize 


*Please take a moment to participate in the poll located in the sidebar.
Thank you!

Previous Poll Results



Sources: definition source:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
stats: hhttp://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml#Anxiety
stats:http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/eating-disorders
picsource:http://www.flickr.com/photos/babs4180/4347305428/