Name: Anxiety products
Creator: Dr Karen Martin
Published: 2023-02-27T09:30:34.627Z

[Anxiety](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/condition/anxiety-77) can set in ahead of big events such as an interview or an exam, or you may just be feeling a bit on edge without any particular cause. Some pharmacy products are known to calm mild anxiety and that panicky feeling that can rise up. Let’s take a look at one of them on the market in more detail.

Panic attacks – what are they and what can help?

[Panic attacks](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/condition/panic-attack) are quite common, with around 1 in 10 people experiencing them. They can be a scary experience. Here at Healthwords, we believe that knowledge is power, so understanding more about these panic attacks and how to tackle them can hopefully help. We’ll explain when to see your doctor and what treatment paths are available.

Anxiety is when someone feels under threat or [stress](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/article/stress-563). It is a natural response that has helped with the survival of humans across the ages, but in today’s world it becomes a problem if it stops us from living our everyday life to the full and we can’t get things done. We all get anxious from time to time – such as before a job interview or an important meeting - and this is normal, but some people find that anxiety is constant and affects their everyday life.

Anxiety can cause symptoms of feeling worried, tense or panicky and physical symptoms can develop, such as a feeling of the heart beating hard or fast, sweating, shaking, [dry mouth](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/treatment/managing-dry-mouth), feeling sick, breathing fast and heaviness in the chest.

These occur in response to your body releasing adrenaline when it feels under threat. Everyone will experience this feeling at points in their life, but anxiety can also be problematic at times. If anxiety occurs without a reason, if it persists after the threat or stress is over, if the level of anxiety is out of proportion to the threat, or if it affects your day-to-day life, this might be reason to seek help.

Anxiety disorder is an ‘umbrella’ term for many related conditions. People are affected with anxiety in many different ways but some of the more well-known or common anxiety disorder conditions include:

- generalized anxiety disorder, which is near-constant anxiety about lots of different things in life
- panic disorder, where regular panic attacks occur without a specific reason
- social anxiety disorder, which is severe anxiety around social situations or the thought of social situations
- post-traumatic stress disorder, where severe anxiety occurs after a traumatic event
- obsessive compulsive disorder, known as OCD, where severe anxiety causes repetitive thoughts or actions
- phobias, which is severe anxiety around a specific thing or situation

Dr Kandi - Anxiety

Talking therapy, also known as counseling, is used to help treat a range of mental health conditions. It can also help people struggling with various difficulties, including emotional or life events. Talking therapies are when you work with a qualified healthcare professional to talk or think through what is happening and help to understand your thoughts, feelings, or behavior patterns. You work through coping strategies and implement small positive changes in how you think, which can greatly impact your daily life.

There are many different types of talking therapy, with the best one matching your challenges. An example of talking therapy is [cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/treatment/cognitive-behavioral-therapy) which can help people suffering from depression, anxiety, sleep problems, anger, sexual dysfunction, and other conditions. There are also different ways of participating in talking therapies, from one-on-one, with your spouse or family member, group sessions, online, or over the phone.

Talking therapies are usually done in regular sessions, such as weekly or fortnightly, for a set number of sessions, and tend to last between 30-60 minutes.

Antidepressants – your questions answered

It can feel like a huge decision to start antidepressants – treatment for clinical [depression](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/condition/depression-87) - and it’s a very personal determination; only you can know how your symptoms are affecting you and what your particular set of circumstances are. Your doctor is on hand to discuss this in detail, but in general antidepressants are usually reserved for moderate or severe depression rather than mild cases, and they can also help with other problems such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and certain pain syndromes.

Stress is an umbrella term to describe how your body reacts to threats, demands, or injuries. An automatic protective response that many people are aware of is the 'fight or flight' reaction to stressful situations that come up suddenly. In the right setting, this can be life-saving or even sharpen your mind and help you focus.

However, if your stress response is inappropriate or your body is under constant threat, it can bring your nervous system into disarray and affect many aspects of your life, disrupting your health, mood, and relationships. Stress can be a cause or the result of a problem, but it's best to manage it and reduce it where possible to avoid it taking over your life.

[Panic attacks](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/symptom/panic-attacks-what-are-they-and-what-can-help-212) are sudden extreme episodes of anxiety that can happen out of the blue with no clear trigger. They are common, with around 1 in 10 people experiencing them during their life. During a panic attack, your body has gone into "fight or flight" mode, where adrenaline is released into your bloodstream. This causes physical changes where your heart starts racing, and you're breathing fast (hyperventilating).

As a parent, it can be a tough job to work out whether your child has an anxiety disorder or they’re just dealing with the challenges of growing up. Pediatricians face this dilemma daily in their clinics. They try to decide the difference between a healthy state of [anxiety](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/condition/anxiety-77) and an unhealthy one and where parents should go next.

[Anxiety](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/condition/anxiety-77) occurs when we feel under threat or [stress](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/article/stress-563) and is a normal part of life – it's actually helped our survival in the past. These days some mild anxiety can help us achieve (a bit of adrenaline may help us perform well in an exam or spur us on in a job interview) but it becomes a problem if it gets in the way of us going about our everyday life and stops us from doing things we’d like to do.

It’s common to feel anxious: you may feel worried, tense or panicked. Feelings can vary in intensity and you might get physical symptoms such as your heart racing, breathing quickly, a heavy feeling in the chest, feeling sick or shaky, sweaty and getting a [dry mouth](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/treatment/managing-dry-mouth).

You often then start to avoid situations that make you feel like this but if it stands in the way of you leaving the house or stopping you from doing certain things, it has started to become a problem.

When we experience pain, we seek any means to relieve it. That’s how we evolved and survived as animals, though cavemen didn’t have pharmacies to get medications.

So, when wandering around the pharmacy and faced with a multitude of choices, how do we know what’s going to hit the spot? And what if we’ve exhausted what the pharmacy offers and we still haven’t gotten relief, what more can your doctor offer? Let’s talk you through painkillers available to buy at the pharmacy, and the so-called ladder of pain relief, which may require your doctor to prescribe stronger medications as you climb upwards. By knowing the different classes of painkillers, you can also combine them if you need to.

It’s also good to be aware of side effects, and if these are intolerable, there may be other medications such as ones to treat nausea with opioid medications, that help you feel more comfortable. The following relates to tablets or oral medications; we discuss gels, creams, patches and other modes of pain relief in other articles.

You may also need medications to reduce risks if you’re taking medications for a long time, such as protecting against excess stomach acid caused by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories. Let’s start with the science behind the main classes of pain relievers, or analgesics, as we call them.

Anxiety can set in ahead of big events such as an interview or an exam, or you may just be feeling a bit on edge without any particular cause. Some pharmacy products are known to calm mild anxiety and that panicky feeling that can rise up. Let’s take a look at one of them on the market in more detail. 

Anxiety

Dr Karen Martin

Pharmacist and Head of US Content

[Anxiety](https://www.healthwords.ai/us/condition/anxiety-77) can set in ahead of big events such as an interview or an exam, or you may just be feeling a bit on edge without any particular cause. Some pharmacy products are known to calm mild anxiety and that panicky feeling that can rise up. Let’s take a look at some of them on the market.

Anxiety products

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