The obsessive- compulsive reaction may become incapacitating,
as in one patient who became so obsessed with cleanliness that she spent
virtually the whole of every day washing and rewashing her hands. Anxiety may
lead to phobic reactions. For example, an individual who experiences an attack
of anxiety while riding in a car, or bus, or air- plane may link his anxious
feeling to the vehicle and thereafter try to avoid riding in such a vehicle.
If
anxiety attacks develop in other situations, he may avoid these, too, until his
activities become tragically limited. Because of abnormal anxiety, some people
develop problem personalities, dealing with their internal conflicts by
assigning the blame to society. Some may become psychotic, unable to deal with
reality at all.
Many develop psychosomatic conditions. There is virtually no
system of the body that may not be disturbed to some extent by abnormal
anxiety: the heart and blood vessels (high blood pressure, fainting, angina
pectoris, migraine, coronary artery disease); the respiratory sys- tem (asthma,
nasal stuffiness, chronic sinusitis); the gastrointestinal tract (ulcer,
gastritis, colitis, constipation); the genitourinary tract (urinary
disturbances, painful menses, sterility); the skin (eczema, acne); the
glandular system (diabetes, pernicious vomiting of pregnancy, pre- menstrual
tension).
Anyone who realizes he is suffering from anxiety should seek help. By
doing so, he can prevent more serious anxiety or anxiety panic states and also
possibly prevents the onset of a psychosomatic illness.
His 1 physician may be able to provide the help; if not, he
can direct the patient to a psychiatrist. As we shall see in a later chapter,
there are available today many forms of psychiatric treatment, some quite brief
yet helpful. The patient who has physical problems that may be linked with
anxiety needs reassurance that they are really so linked and that no serious
underlying physical disease process is at work.
This can come only from expert
medical examination and diagnosis. Unfortunately, many patients who seek medical
help fail to reveal anxieties. They should. There is no shame. Reporting
anxieties may save needless oversearching for physical causes that may not
exist and may permit quicker, more effective treatment. This is equally true
when it comes to mental depression.
