Anxiety Disorder Nos

When a person’s symptoms do not entirely match a specific form of anxiety. This person would be given a diagnosis of anxiety disorder not otherwise specified, or NOS.

Anxiety Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) is a diagnosis that applies to anxiety that cannot be classified exclusively as a pure anxiety disorder and it can coexist with adjustment disorder or depression.

Anxiety Disorders NOS is characterized by abnormal or inappropriate anxiety and it can include a large number of disorders. It usually describes Anxiety or phobic avoidance that does not meet the criteria for any other specific disorder e.g. Anxiety Disorder, Phobia, Adjustment Disorder With Anxiety, Adjustment Disorder With Mixed Anxiety, Depressed Mood..

Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder NOS

• Excessive anxiety
• Excessive fear
• Phobic avoidance

Physical symptoms:

Autonomic arousal symptoms:

• Palpitations or pounding heart
• Accelerated heart rate
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Dry mouth (not due to medication or dehydration)

General symptoms:

• Hot flushes or cold chills
• Numbness or tingling sensations
• Muscle tension or aches and pains
• Restlessness and inability to relax
• Feeling keyed up, on edge, or mentally tense
• A sensation of a lump in the throat or difficulty in swallowing

Causes of Anxiety Disorder NOS

• Heredity
• Loss of regulatory control of cortisol over HPA axis
• Stress
• Living alone
• Divorced or separated

Other diseases that can mimic Anxiety disorders NOS:

• Thyrotoxicosis.
• Phaeochromocytoma.
• Hypoglycaemia.
• Anxiety disorders
• Depression
• OCD
• Dementia

Treatment of Anxiety Disorder NOS

Anxiety disorders are generally treated with a combination of medicine and psychotherapy. The treatment can vary in length depending on the severity of the anxiety, the contributing factors and the personality of the individual.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy seem to be the most effective approaches to treating a variety of anxiety disorders

Different forms of therapy and how they work:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy: It focuses on changing the thinking patterns that induce anxiety and gives the patient a more effective way of thinking.

Exposure therapy: It helps a person overcome his/her fears or anxieties about something by gradually exposing him/her to the stimuli in a safe and controlled environment;

Dialectical behavioral therapy: It helps the patient to identify and deal with stress and control their emotions;

EMDR ( eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) : It is carried out by a trained professional , in EMDR the patient’s eyes are made to move in a to and fro motion, it is known to break stress patterns and interrupt anxiety and helps the person to see anxiety-provoking situations in less distressing ways.

Medications:

Many medications have been used successfully to treat anxiety disorders, including benzodiazepines and antidepressants.

Benzodiazepines are used to achieve a calming effect and they act in the short-term whereas anti-depressants are used to achieve a long-term control. The common anti-depressants used in treatment are Paroxetine (Paxil), Sertraline (Zoloft), Amitryptiline.

If you’re suffering from Anxiety Disorder NOS and would like to take control of your anxiety without medications, then take a minute and check this resource to access all the best and most famous treatments to cure anxiety disorder.

If you find this article useful, do “like” us and give your valuable feedback. Your comments are a pat on our back.