Anxiety is a mental disorder, that is what most doctors and health care professionals will tell you. Anxiety, they say, is all about stress and mental health, not physical health at all. The answer to this problem tends to be drugs and medication like Prozac and Xanax or therapy, normally cognitive behaviour therapy but sometimes a more analytical therapy. In the latter a psychotherapist will try and tell you that anxiety is due to a difficult childhood, maybe even due to abuse when you were young.
Some commentators, particularly those that take their cues from eastern belief systems and medical practices, will tell you that a healthy mind is a healthy body and that physical and mental health are one and the same.
There are some physical conditions which can cause anxiety, and this anxiety is therefore purely physical, not emotional or mental at all. A few examples of these disorders are vitamin and mineral deficiencies, vestibular disorders that cause dizziness and vertigo, migraines and hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.
So the truth is that anxiety often has a physical side to it and sometimes has a physical cause. Therefore the treatment should cover the physical aspect. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy can be helpful for dealing with the symptoms but should only be used as part of a wider approach that covers all issues.
It is becoming increasingly clear that people who think they can cure anxiety by talking about the past are charlatans, I doubt those treatments are befeficial at all.
