Anxiety reactions

Another type of reaction that occurs when a person is inadvertent-ly exposed to "PCP fumes" is acute anxiety. An example of this was a policeman who smelled "PCP fumes" in the squad car while transporting a person with PCP intoxication. The policeman was examined and found to have a severe anxiety reaction with marked hyperventilation and carpopedal spasms. 

The key feature of specific phobia is an intense and persistent fear of circumscribed situations or specific stimuli (e.g. exposure to animals, blood). Confrontation with the situation or stimulus provokes almost invariably an immediate anxiety response. Often, the situation or stimulus is therefore avoided or endured with considerable dread. Adolescents and adults with this disorder recognize that this anxiety reaction is excessive or unreasonable, but this may not be the case in children. For a diagnosis according to DSM-IV, the avoidance, fear or anxious anticipation of the phobic stimulus must interfere with the persons daily life or the person must be markedly distressed about having the phobia. Further, the phobic reactions are not better explained by another mental disorder, such as, for example, social phobia. 

Khat may interact with drugs used in treatment of other diseases and produce emotional and mental disorders. For example, when combined with niridazole—a drug used in treating schistosomiasis (a parasitic disease endemic throughout Asia, Africa, and tropical America)—severe anxiety reactions, insomnia, and even psychoses may develop. Also, khat would be likely to react with other stimulants such as alcohol, coffee, or cigarettes, causing palpitations and agitation. 

Eating or smoking marijuana has been shown to increase heart rate by 20 to 50 percent. This effect can occur within a few minutes to a quarter of an hour and can last for up to three hours. Because of the brain s tolerance to THC, it has been shown that these effects are temporary. However, marijuana users who do not know about or expect these acute health effects may find them unpleasant or even scary, resulting in panic or anxiety reactions. And, those with heart problems or other physical disorders may have disturbing or even harmful effects as a result of cannabis use. 

I have seen only two anxiety reactions as a result of Ecstasy. Both of them were very therapeutic. Afterward, the people involved were very glad the way it happened. 

Another anxiety reaction I saw was with a fourteen-year-old child who released all of the pain of her childhood, when her mother and father used to beat her. After sobbing and crying for several hours, she became very relaxed and very happy and, again, nevermore after that experience did she go through it again... 

At her final session with the evaluating internist the nurse was referred to an outpatient psychiatric clinic with the diagnosis of anxiety reaction, probably due to fear that her husband would be transferred by the military to be stationed in Vietnam. However, the nurse did not accept this diagnosis and searched for a dietary cause of her symptoms. After about 10 days she had linked her symptoms to coffee consumption. 

Survivors may experience long-term effects including changes in sensorium with impaired intellectual function and acute anxiety reactions. 

Specific phobias are perhaps the most familiar of the anxiety disorders, and are char-, acterized by a disproportionate fear of an object (e.g., spider, snake) or situation (e.g., flying, receiving an injection). When the stimulus is confronted it elicits an intense anxiety reaction, which the sufferer recognizes to be excessive but is unable to moderate. Prophylactic use of anxiolytics for predictably stressful situations is helpful, but in the longterm, medication is less successful than behavioral therapy in the treatment of specific phobias. 

Psychiatric casualties from combat, especially from chemical weapons, have significant military importance (Augerson 1988 Brooks et al. 1983 Gilstead 1988). Significant numbers of Israeli civilians experienced psychiatric injury during the Gulf War. When Iraq attacked with missiles, civilians had instructions to put on gas masks, enter sealed rooms, and, if exposed to nerve gas, inject themselves with atropine (Carmeli et al. 1994). Of 1,059 total casualties, 230 resulted from false atropine injections, 544 from acute anxiety reactions, 7 from suffocation by improperly used gas masks, and 40 from injuries sustained rushing to sealed rooms (Karsenty et al. 1994). 

Conclusion. Central cholinergic blockade may be another approach to the treatment of mental depression in the same way that central adrenergic blockade has been a pharmacologic approach to the therapy of combative and hostile behavior and the control of severe anxiety reactions. Further molecular modification will be required to divorce the concomitant psychotomimetic side effects from the desired antidepressant action which is produced by this series of anticholinergic esters. 

Restlessness, dizziness, or giddiness failure to obey orders, confusion, erratic behavior stumbling or staggering vomiting. Anticholinergics (eg., BZ), indoles (eg., LSD), cannabinols (eg., marijuana), anxiety reaction... 

Tremor, clinging or pleading, crying clear answers, decrease in disturbance with reassurance history of nervousness or immaturity, phobias. Anxiety reaction. 

A specific phobia is a circumscribed, persistent, and unreasonable fear of a particular object or situation. Exposure to the phobic stimulus is associated with an acute and severe anxiety reaction. Therefore, despite the fact that individuals with specific phobias recognize that their fear is unrealistic, most adjust their lifestyle so that they can completely avoid or at least minimize this contact. The population prevalence of specific phobias is approximately 10%, with women being two to three times as likely to be affected as men. 

The statement could possibly initiate an anxiety reaction, and the nurse cannot do anything if the client is afraid of needles. 

Restlessness, dizziness, giddiness, failure to obey orders, confusion, erratic behavior, stumbling or staggering, vomiting Anticholinergics, indoles, cannabinoids, anxiety reaction, other intoxications (such as alcohol, bromides, lead, barbiturates)... 

Sharp pains administered at random intervals cause anxiety reactions. Suppose this generalization has been well confirmed for humans. Should we expect on that basis that it will hold also for Martians whose psychology is implemented (we assume) by a vastly different physical mechanism ... The reason the law is true for humans is due to the way the human brain is wired the Martians have a brain with a different wiring plan, and we certainly should not expect the regularity to hold for them just because it does for humans. .. Pains cause anxiety reactions may turn out to possess no more unity as a scientific law than does Jade is green. (Kim, 1992, p. 16)... 

In a placebo-controlled study in 34 chronic users of diazepam 5—20 mg/day for 5-28 years, a single-dose of flumazenil caused anxiety reactions in nine of 15 subjects with a history of panic attacks, panic attacks were precipitated [126 ]. 

Other differential diagnoses include acute anxiety reactions or intoxication with other agents such as hallucinogenics or cannabinoids. 

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