Understanding Anxiety Disorders "躁"化弄人

Anxiety disorders are the most widespread of emotional disorders. They affect millions of people every year, and cause their victims to suffer from tremendous worry and nervousness for no apparent reason. Clues as to why anxiety disorders develop can be found in one's genes, psychological make-up, life experiences, or biochemical changes in the brain.

Anxiety disorders come in many shapes and forms. People with panic disorder have chronic, unexpected, and repeated panic attacks where they feel an overwhelming sense of being in danger. Sufferers of generalized anxiety disorder have persistent and exaggerated worries and constantly expect disaster. Those with obsessive-compulsive disorder have unreasonable fears that they try to deal with through repetitive, ritualized activities such as hand washing. A phobia is an irrational and uncontrollable fear of a specific thing, while post-traumatic stress disorder occurs after a terrifying event and causes its victims to have flashbacks or frightening thoughts of the incident.

Although anxiety disorders are devastating to the sufferer and damaging to his or her relationships with loved ones, there is some good news. People afflicted with anxiety disorders can get treatment, and the treatment is generally effective.

Treatments for different anxiety disorders range from medication, including antidepressants and antianxiety drugs; to psychotherapy, including cognitive-behavioral therapy; to relaxation techniques and biofeedback. The majority of patients report significant relief after receiving help.

忧郁症是最普遍的一种情绪失调。它每年都会困扰无数的人，患者无缘无故感到极度焦虑和紧张。忧郁症发病的原因可从一个人的基因、心理素质、生活经历或脑内的生化改变中找到线索。

忧郁症的表现多种多样。患有恐慌症的人，一旦感到自己身处危险之中，就会长时间反复地感到恐慌。综合型忧郁症患者则时时过分焦虑，刻刻杞人忧天。强迫症患者则会有难以理解的恐惧，会通过习惯性的动作来排除不安情绪，如洗手。恐俱症是指对某种特定事物怀有非理性并且难以控制的恐惧。还有创伤后精神的紧张不适，患者在遭遇过一次可怕的事件后，脑子里会不时地出现过去的那件事，而且一想起来就害怕。

忧郁症非但会对患者本身造成伤害，还会危及他（她）与亲密伴侣间的关系。但还是有些好消息的，忧郁症患者可以接受治疗，而且疗效一般不错。

针对不同的忧郁症患者，治疗的方法从药物治疗（包括抗忧郁、抗焦虑药物）、精神疗法（包括认知行为疗法）， 到放松技巧及生物反馈不等。大部分的病人反映，经过治疗，症状都有明显的缓解。