Anxiety Symptoms and Therapeutic Approaches
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as an emotion that creates individual reactions of tension, worry, and physical changes in the body like increased heart rate or shaking. More generally, anxiety causes reactions that are collectively mental, emotional, and physical in nature. For many people who experience anxiety, it can create avoidances and fears that cause significant changes in daily routines and experiences.
Anxiety is the most common mental illness in the United States. Approximately 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety during their life. The most common symptoms of anxiety include nervousness, irrational fear, rapid heart rate, and rapid heartbeat. Anxiety can lead to a way of limiting or avoiding experiences in life due to how the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings change the way an individual thinks about approaching new situations.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
A list of anxiety diagnoses in the APA’s DSM-5:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder
Selective Mutism
Specific Phobias
Panic Disorder
Substance-Medication Induced Anxiety Disorder
Agoraphobia
Anxiety Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition
Possible Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety can have many psychological and physical symptoms. The most common symptoms tend to be nervousness, rapid heartrate, and sweating. Psychologically, anxiety can also create symptoms that are not present but are perceived to be present by the individual suffering the anxiety. Anxiety can feel so debilitating to so many individuals.
Symptoms of anxiety tend to be linked to the fight-flight-or freeze response system. The fight-flight-or freeze response is a biological response that protects survival in difficult, life-threatening situations. The most significant issue with anxiety triggering this response system is that the danger is often an irrational fear or perception of danger that does not exist. When the brain and body react to the thoughts of leaving the house, answering the phone, or opening an email, these are examples of disruption in the response system.
Commonly, if an individual has anxiety, they will have experienced some combination of psychological and physical responses or reactions. Much depends on the anxiety disorder, how long it has occurred in the individual’s life, what is being paid attention to, and more. Some symptoms that appear to be produced by anxiety, like chest pains, are also common in other disorders like panic attacks. So, anxiety symptoms can also mirror symptoms from other disorders making specific diagnoses difficult.
Fifteen common anxiety symptoms individuals experience include:
BlushingChest Pressure / Chest Tightness
Chills
Digestion Issues
Dizziness
Fear
Feeling Overwhelmed
Shaky
Heart Pounding / Heart Palpitations
Lightheadedness
Muscle Tension / Sore Muscles
Nausea
Nervousness
Shaking
Sweating
How Anxiety Affects Life
Anxiety can change how individuals perceive the world and create heightened awareness or hypervigilance regarding the surroundings a person finds themselves in. Hypervigilance is a state of sensory sensitivity that can found in individuals with anxiety as well as trauma. In looking at how anxiety affects an individual’s perceptions, a person may walk into a room and take note of the exit doors, how far away the restroom is, and who in the room appears to be a likely threat.
Anxiety can even amplify physical sensations. For example, someone without anxiety may have a knee pain so mild that they do not even notice it, but a person with anxiety feels that knee pain severely because their mind has been altered, making it hypersensitive to the way the body feels.
Treatment Interventions
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Dialectical behavioral therapy are two of the most used interventions for treating anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy works on altering faulty thought patterns that produce the anxiety and changing behaviors to help alleviate symptoms.
Within CBT, exposure therapy is used as a specific treatment modality with anxiety disorders. Exposure therapy literally exposes individuals to the situations or stimulus that provokes the anxiety symptoms. The goal is to expose individuals little by little to anxiety and help them learn to dismiss or disrupt the irrational fears that are attached to the anxiety-producing conditions.
Cognitive Restructuring
Cognitive restructuring is another therapeutic intervention for anxiety intricately linked to CBT. Cognitive restructuring involves identifying and challenging thoughts that produce anxiety. The idea is that identifying the thoughts and irrational fears and challenging them helps build awareness of what is causing the anxiety. When an individual no longer trusts the irrational fears, the anxiety subsides and/or disappears.
Pharmacological Treatment
Medication in conjunction with therapy interventions is also a beneficial treatment. Managing anxiety symptoms can be treated with several different medications. Benzodiazepines, buspirone, and anti-depressants are three types of medications commonly prescribed to treat anxiety.
Benzodiazepines are sedatives that help calm and relax the mind and body. Diazepam and Lorazepam are two examples of benzodiazepines. Medications in this drug classification tend to be fast acting to treat anxiety symptoms. Benzodiazepines are generally prescribed for shorter term symptom relief.
Buspirone is a nonbenzodiazepine and is specifically used to treat anxiety. Buspirone or commonly called Buspar, is utilized to help regulate mood. Buspirone has less potential for abuse than other medications. Buspirone takes a few weeks to establish in the body before effectiveness is realized.
Anti-depressants can also be used to treat symptoms of anxiety through increasing serotonin, a chemical that sends signals to the brain. Anti-depressants are prescribed for anxiety at lower doses before increasing for more effectiveness. Anti-depressants can also take several weeks to establish in the body before effectiveness is observed.
Conclusion
Anxiety affects a majority of individuals at least once in their lifetime. Anxiety can encompass psychological and physical responses making it appear to be more significant than a mental health concern. There are several anxiety disorders that are diagnosable within the DSM 5. Common symptoms of anxiety include nervousness, rapid heart rate, and sweating.
Anxiety creates irrational fears that disrupt the fight, flight, or freeze response system built into our survival mode. There are several therapeutic interventions for minimizing the effects of anxiety on life’s experiences. Cognitive behavioral, cognitive restructuring, and medication are all common protocols used to help treat individuals with anxiety.
