From Proyar Laboratory we want to share with you the 1st part of an exclusive article for Proyar Laboratory, written by Dr. Jorge Alonso. Physician, MN 67,640, Director of the Phytomedicine postgraduate program at U.B.A. and President of the Latin American Society of Phytomedicine.
Anxiety Disorders – Insomnia (Part 1)
We define anxiety as the emotional state in which a sensation of permanent anguish and desperation is experienced, due to causes not consciously known. It can affect people of all ages and especially those who are subjected to constant family or work tension. Also those who have rooted in their behavioral patterns a sense of perfectionism towards everything they do and say (excess of responsibility). A very frequent consequence of people who suffer from anxiety is the difficulty falling asleep. Likewise, insomnia is a frequent complication of patients with depression.
Causes
Anxiety can be acute or chronic, being more frequent in women than in men. Anxiety disorders can be of physiological and/or psychological nature; and may have a genetic tendency. The reiteration of stress situations in a patient with anxiety (assaults, traffic accidents, kidnappings or natural disasters) can end up causing a panic attack or gradually installing a generalized anxiety disorder and even obsessive-compulsive disorders (the so-called "OCD").
A known reason or a subconscious trauma not externalized (war experiences, unconfessed loves, personal traumas of childhood, adolescence, job dissatisfaction, etc.), can constitute a cause of anxiety. Anxiety can also be the result of a drug reaction (abuse of psychoactive substances), glandular disorders, hypoglycemia, cardiovascular diseases, post-addictive stages (when quitting tobacco, alcohol), etc.
Epidemiological data
It is estimated that 56% of the general population presents more than one anxiety disorder. Statistics indicate that 8.8% of people have had in the last year of their life one of the most frequent anxiety disorders, generally not very invasive, and which is known as simple phobia. Another 7.9% of the population has had a much more disabling anxiety disorder: social phobia. It is calculated that 2.3% of people have had panic attacks, a growing phenomenon in these last 5 years in Argentina. Finally, 2.8% have developed agoraphobia without panic (it is the appearance of anxiety when being in places or situations where escaping may be difficult, or not having someone to ask for help.)
Treatment
For decades anxiety and insomnia disorders have been and are treated with synthetic molecules known as benzodiazepines, which act by binding to a specific brain receptor called GABA, thus slowing down nerve discharges. While this process is effective, unfortunately it can generate addiction and dependence problems, which means that over time more doses may be required or even paradoxical effects such as ceasing to work.
Among the side effects of benzodiazepines are: sedation and drowsiness, decreased attention, anterograde amnesia (forgetting recent events, with preservation of memory of old events), decreased mental acuity and muscle coordination (which can lead to risks in subjects who drive or work with potentially dangerous machines). These effects are potentiated with alcohol. Other nonspecific actions of these drugs are: weight gain, headache, allergic skin reactions, menstrual irregularities, alterations in sexual function, etc. To all this we must add the possibility of generating withdrawal syndrome when wanting to abandon treatment.
Continued in second installment.
