Any type of anxiety disorder can have great negative consequences on one’s life. This is especially the case with those individuals that try to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs.
Alcohol is a very cunning substance and it can trick you easily, especially if you suffer from anxiety disorder. This is because it can reduce your symptoms of anxiety and depression making you believe that you have found a solution to your problems. This of course, is far from the truth.
What alcohol does, in reality to you, is make you develop alcohol dependency and turning you into its slave. As days go by you drink more and more of it until you eventually become an alcoholic and find yourself with having instead one problem (anxiety disorder) having at least two.
Individuals that suffer from anxiety disorders use alcohol for different reasons. Those individuals that suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder abuse alcohol in order to boost their self-esteem. Patients that suffer from anxiety attacks may use alcohol to calm themselves. Others that suffer from certain phobias use alcohol to ease their fear, etc.
They all use and abuse alcohol to reduce their symptoms, without knowing that even though initially that may be the case, in the long run they will always find themselves in worse shape than they initially were.
Alcoholism is an anxiety disorder symptom when alcohol is used as medication. Alcohol is many things but it is definitely not a medication for anxiety disorders or any other mental illness. Just because many people self-medicate with alcohol, that doesn’t make it medication.
It is not unusual that alcohol abuse is an anxiety disorder symptom because many people that suffer from anxiety disorders get tricked by it, due to its initial effects on their symptoms that are explained above. However the diagnosis can be made only by a health professional and nobody else.
Aggressive Behavior as Anxiety Disorder Symptom
Aggressive behavior can be an anxiety disorder symptom but it can also be a symptom for any other mental illnesses.
Typical example when aggressive behavior is an anxiety disorder symptom is when individuals that suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (one type of anxiety disorder) experience flashbacks and get aggressive because they feel threatened.
Self-isolation as Anxiety Disorder Symptom
Self-isolation is a typical symptom of Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia). People that suffer from this type of anxiety disorder often tend to isolate themselves in order to avoid the overwhelming fear that they experience in social situations.
Self-isolation should never be ignored and it should be addressed appropriately with a health professional’s guidance and help. One of the reasons why self-isolation should not be ignored is the fact that more than often it leads to alcohol abuse and even suicidal thoughts.
It is very important that when individuals isolate themselves they should never be bullied out of their self-isolation because if they are not well prepared to take that step they may become very aggressive and become even more ill.
Panic Attack as Anxiety Disorder Symptom
Panic attacks or anxiety attacks are always associated with anxiety disorders and regarded as anxiety disorder symptoms. This however is not always the case. For example there are people that experience panic attacks due to their physical condition and not because they suffer from anxiety disorder.
As you can see alcoholism, aggressive behavior, self-isolation, panic attack are all possible symptoms of anxiety disorder but there are also many other disorders that they can be symptoms of. This is why it is important to always go to the health professional and get the appropriate diagnosis and treatment.