Stress and anxiety are known causes of bruxism. Doctors believe that the habit of clenching ones teeth while sleeping is one that is often as a result of anxiety. Anxiety often leads to stress and people who suffer from anxiety also undergo a lot of emotional turmoil hence the stress. If you find that you are suffering from bruxism, it is important to deal with the root as opposed to dealing with merely the symptoms.
Types of Anxiety
Before you can learn how to handle your anxiety, you need to identify exactly what type of anxiety disorder you have. There are different types of anxiety disorders and some of these include:
- Social anxiety
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD)
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Phobias
- Separation anxiety
- Generalized anxiety
One of the most common types of anxiety is social anxiety. This is normally evident in introverts or very shy people. While we all go through social anxiety when faced with certain situations such as public speaking, this condition could be worse for others. Common social anxiety symptoms include: public avoidance, constantly separating yourself from others, avoiding social gatherings, sweating and panicking while in social settings amongst others. Post traumatic stress disorder is also another type of anxiety and one that can be traumatizing. This condition brings about flashbacks of traumatizing situations you underwent and can lead to depression and teeth gnashing. OCD is yet another anxiety disorder and one that can bring about constant nervousness. Phobias and separation anxiety are also responsible for extreme nervousness that could resort to bruxism. Last but not least we have generalized anxiety and this is one of the worst and common forms of anxiety disorder. People who often worry about anything and everything drift toward developing this form of anxiety and could unknowingly develop habits such as gnashing their teeth at night.
Anxiety Disorder Treatment
Stress and anxiety can be controlled. While the situations that bring about the two do not change, what you can do is learn to control your emotions and reactions when faced with such situations.
- Medical options: There are various medical treatment options that can help relieve your stress and anxiety and consequently stop your bruxism. Mostly anti-depressants are administered as these tend to have a calming effect.
- Counseling: While medicines are a good way to help relieve anxiety, they only deal with the symptoms. Counseling is therefore often recommended with other treatment options as it is the best way to address the cause of your anxiety.
- Self Administered Treatment: You can also have individual treatments to help you handle and tame your anxiety disorder. Some of these include physical exercise, deep breathing exercises, and positive self talk just to mention a few.
Constant stress and anxiety are without a doubt nerve wrecking and could lead to you developing unhealthy habits as a means to cope. Unfortunately, these habits are not always ideal and could lead to dire health conditions. Learning how to manage your anxiety and stress levels will therefore do you good not just psychologically but physically as well. Remember that bruxism can be reduced by simply preventing situations that bring about stress and anxiety and having a coping mechanism.
