Why Do People Have Anxiety

Treatment For Social Anxiety Disorder

Several types of treatment are available for social anxiety disorder. Treatment results differ from person to person. Some people only need one type of treatment. However, others may require more than one. Your healthcare provider may refer you to a mental health provider for treatment. Sometimes, primary care providers may suggest medication to treat symptoms.

Treatment options for social anxiety disorder include:

How To Address The Anxiety Epidemic

We’ve created an environment that fosters anxiety in young people, rather than resilience. And while we can’t prevent all anxiety disordersâthere’s definitely a genetic componentâwe can do a better job helping kids build the mental muscle they need to stay healthy.

Facebook image: solominviktor/Shutterstock

Why Am I Anxious For No Reason

Anxiety can be caused by a variety of things: stress, genetics, brain chemistry, traumatic events, or environmental factors. Symptoms can be reduced with anti-anxiety medication. But even with medication, people may still experience some anxiety or even panic attacks. The best treatment combines medication with therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. If the anxiety is rooted in trauma, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing may be the best course.

Anxiety usually has a triggeran event or thought that provokes an anxious response. However, most people arent aware of their triggers, and believe they have become anxious for no reason. As human beings evolved, our species developed an instinctual response to danger, known as fight, flight, or freeze. The sympathetic nervous system makes our bodies and minds react quickly when we are in danger, and we may choose to stand and fight, run away, or stay totally still as if playing dead, known as the freeze response.

Our anxiety, or fear, evolved as an alarm bell to move us into life-saving action. In our modern world, we encounter conflicts that arent actually life-threatening. But our nervous system doesnt know this, and so we can react to a variety of stimuli with the fight, flight, or freeze response, even when it is inappropriate. Add this to the fact that anxiety can also cause confusion or disassociation, and you can see why the exact causes of your anxiety are often so hard to pin down.

You May Like: What Is The Meaning Of Phobia

What Are The Most Common Causes Of Anxiety

Anxiety is a response to uncertainty and danger, and the trigger can be almost anything, or nothing in particular, just a generalized, vague sense of dread or misfortune. High on the list of anxiety-generating situations is having to give a talk or presentation or being called on in class, where people risk loss of social standing by being judged negatively.

People can feel anxious because their neural circuitry has become so sensitized it perceives threat where it doesnt exist. Too, there are substancescaffeine is oneand medications that stimulate the same physical sensations as anxiety. People differ in their susceptibility to anxiety, as a result of their biological makeup, their parental inheritance, their own life history, personality factors, and the coping skills they acquire or cultivate.

Parents Are Getting Caught Up In The Rat Race

Many parents have become like personal assistants to their teenagers. They work hard to ensure their teens can compete: They hire tutors and private sports coaches and pay for expensive SAT prep courses. They make it their job to help their teens build transcripts that will impress a top school. And they send the message that their teen must excel at everything in order to land a coveted spot at such a college.

Don’t Miss: What Is The Most Important Predictor Of An Eating Disorder

Is It Me Or The Job The Causes Of Workplace Anxiety

Psychreg on Organisational PsychologyWHAT’S IN THIS ARTICLE?

• Summary

Do you feel unhappy at work? Do you feel a sense of dread when you wake up each workday morning? Do you get butterflies and feel panicky walking into the office each day? If the answer is yes, you could be suffering from workplace anxiety.

Statistics released by the Governments Health and Safety Executive reveal that in 201718 there were 595,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety and that 15.4 million working days were lost as a result.

A recent survey by the Korn Ferry Institute of 2,000 professionals found that nearly two-thirds of respondents feel their stress levels are higher than they were five years ago. More than three-quarters said stress was having a negative impact on personal relationships and 66% reported losing sleep as a result of stress.

What Is An Anxiety Disorder

Severity of symptoms and a persons ability to cope separate everyday worries or anxious moments from anxiety disorders. National surveys estimate nearly one in five Americans over 18, and one in three teens ages 13 to 18, had an anxiety disorder during the past year.

If anxiety is persistent, excessive, or routinely triggered by situations that arent an actual threat, tell your doctor, who can discuss treatment options or refer you to an experienced mental health professional.

Don’t Miss: Trauma From Being Cheated On

What Is The Root Cause Of Anxiety

Stress from a personal relationship, job, school, or financial predicament can contribute greatly to anxiety disorders. Even low oxygen levels in high-altitude areas can add to anxiety symptoms. Genetics: People who have family members with an anxiety disorder are more likely to have one themselves.

You’re Always On Guard

As psychotherapist Marc Zola, LMFT, LPC says, “In my practice, I find that most people struggling with anxiety are very bright, thoughtful, capable people who struggle with noticing when their normal vigilance crosses the chasm to hyper-vigilance.”

If you think everything will go wrong, you might be on guard 24/7 as a way of standing at the proverbial gates, waiting for problems to occur. And it can be pretty damn exhausting.

Read Also: Treating Schizoaffective Disorder Naturally

Believe It Or Not Worry Actually Serves A Purpose When We Think We’re Safe It Helps Us To Process Potential Threats So We Can Respond To Them Effectively In The Moment

• Anxiety is a normal, natural emotion everyone experiences from time to time
• Anxiety may be a sign you don’t feel you have the ‘tools’ you need to cope with a certain situation or experience
• There’s a difference between feeling anxious and having an anxiety disorder
• Anxiety is a problem when it is intense, lasts longer than usual or interferes with your everyday life

Test Anxiety Symptoms Causes And Treatments

If you or a loved one are struggling with an anxiety disorder, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.

Many people experience stress or anxiety before an exam. In fact, a little nervousness can actually help you perform your best. However, when this distress becomes so excessive that it actually interferes with performance on an exam, it is known as test anxiety.

What does it feel like to experience test anxiety? You paid attention in class, took detailed notes, read every chapter, and even attended extra study sessions after class, so you should do great on that big exam, right?

When the test is presented, however, you find yourself so nervous that you blank out the answers to even the easiest questions. If this experience sounds familiar, then you might be experiencing test anxiety.

Also Check: Phobia Meaning In English

Social Anxiety Vs Introversion

Its very important to understand that social anxiety disorder is not just introversion.

Introverts are people who prefer to spend time alone. They may feel drained after social interactions, but they do not have overwhelming anxiety and dread before attending a party or entering a room. Introversion doesnt have a negative impact on a persons quality of life, but social anxiety disorder can be debilitating.

How Panic Attacks Work

This includes such questions as:

* What triggers a panic attack?

* What causes panic attacks to happen on some days, and in some situations, but not others?

* Why would I have a panic attack one time I visit the grocery store or drive on a highway, and not at the same place another day?

* Why do I have less trouble if my support person is with me?

* How do panic attacks end?

For a discussion of this question, I am making available here a free copy of Chapter 7 from my Panic Attacks Workbook. Feel free to download this chapter for your own personal use.

Click here to view or download the chapter.

Also Check: What Is Pristiq Good For

What Strategies Are Often Used In Treating This Dual Diagnosis

Evidence-based research suggests that both anxiety and depression be treated at the same time.

Effective strategies often used in treating these co-occurring conditions include:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT is often used to treat people with both disorders. Fears, anxieties and tendencies toward depression are managed by seeking out their root causes. Once uncovered, patients learn how to take control of their emotions and life.
• Antidepressant medications Often combined with CBT, these may be prescribed in treating both disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are new antidepressant drugs that produce fewer side effects than their predecessors.
• Exercise This can be very helpful for both disorders. Physical activity causes feel-good chemicals to be released in the body. This aids in relaxation and feeling of well-being.
• Relaxation techniques This typically involves meditation or mindfulness. These techniques can often help to remedy both disorders and improve quality of life.2

Mistakes Are Hugely Magnified

All people make mistakes and it is part of human nature to do so. Most of us look at mistakes as something we can learn from but people with anxiety dont look at mistakes the same way. When they make a mistake, it is magnified and they constantly beat themselves up for the mistake. Any small mistake or flaw is taken very seriously and they cannot bear to go wrong.

Also Check: Does Pristiq Help With Anxiety

What These Factors Have In Common

What causes panic attacks to invade a person’s life? Genetic predisposition, early childhood experience with anxiety and risk, and challenging changes on becoming an independent adult.

What these three factors have in common is that none of them were under your own control. These are all developmental events in life which happen to some people. The factors which cause panic attacks are not something you could have controlled.

There is therefore no reason to feel guilty, ashamed, or apologetic about having panic attacks. They are not the result of living badly or of making bad choices or of being “stupid”, or cowardly.

What Are The Different Types Of Anxiety Disorder

This section provides an overview of the most common types of anxiety disorders.

• Generalised anxiety disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder

Generalised anxiety disorder

GAD is common. The main symptom of GAD is over worrying about different activities and events. This may feel out of your control. You feel anxious a lot of the time if you have GAD. You might feel on edge and alert to your surroundings.

This can affect your day-to-day life. You might find that it affects your ability to work, travel places or leave the house. You might also get tired easily or have trouble sleeping or concentrating. You might have physical symptoms, such as muscle tension and sweating.

It is common to have other conditions such as depression or other anxiety disorders if you have GAD.

GAD can be difficult to diagnose because it does not have some of the unique symptoms of other anxiety disorders. Your doctor is likely to say you have GAD if you have felt anxious for most days over six months and it has had a bad impact on areas of your life.

Panic disorder

You will have regular panic attacks with no particular trigger if you have panic disorder. They can happen suddenly and feel intense and frightening. You may also worry about having another panic attack.

Panic disorder symptoms can include the following.

You may also dissociate during a panic attack. Such as feeling detached from yourself.

Social anxiety disorder

Some common situations where you may experience anxiety are the following.

Read Also: What’s The Phobia Of Long Words

How Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Related To Anxiety Disorders

Some people feel the effects of stress in their stomachs. People with IBS have uncomfortable problems with digestion, including stomach pain, constipation and diarrhea. They also frequently have anxiety and depression, which can make symptoms worse.

The connection between IBS and anxiety comes from the nervous system partly controlling the colon. The nervous systems response to stress may affect the stomach. Among people who get treated for IBS, anywhere from 50% to 90% may also have an anxiety disorder or depression. Treatment for IBS may include stress management and psychotherapy to relieve symptoms.

What Is Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is a mental health disorder that is sometimes called social phobia. The fear of being judged or rejected by others is what differentiates shy people from those with social anxiety disorder.

If you or a loved one have social anxiety, its important to understand the causes, symptoms, and effects of this disorder. You should also keep in mind that social anxiety is a spectrum disorder.

The symptoms and complications range from mild to severe depending on the person.

Read Also: How To Cure Schizophrenia Permanently

Why Are Anxiety And Depression Often Co

Its a cycle, says Sally R. Connolly, LCSW and therapist. When you get anxious, you tend to have this pervasive thinking about some worry or some problem. You feel bad about it. Then you feel like youve failed. You move to depression.

These two disorders anxiety and depression have a complicated relationship:

• The chance of acquiring depression is much higher when an anxiety disorder already exists. Nearly half of those with major depression also suffer from severe and persistent anxiety.
• People who are depressed often feel anxious and worried. One can easily trigger the other, with anxiety often preceding depression.
• People with post-traumatic stress disorder are especially prone to developing depression.
• A biological predisposition for both of these conditions if often at the root of an individuals battle. This seems to be true with anxiety disorders even more than with depression. Connolly explains, Some people are just worriers and pass it down.

People with an anxiety disorder should speak with a psychiatrist, therapist or other healthcare professional about their symptoms. Treatment for an anxiety disorder should not be delayed. If not caught in time, depression may find the door wide open for moving in and setting up house in those individuals.2

How Anxiety Disorders Affect People

For people dealing with anxiety disorders, symptoms can feel strange and confusing at first. For some, the physical sensations can be strong and upsetting. For others, feelings of doom or fear that can happen for no apparent reason can make them feel scared, unprotected, and on guard. Constant worries can make a person feel overwhelmed by every little thing. All this can affect someone’s concentration, confidence, sleep, appetite, and outlook.

People with anxiety disorders might avoid talking about their worries, thinking that others might not understand. They may fear being unfairly judged, or considered weak or scared. Although anxiety disorders are common, people who have them may feel misunderstood or alone.

Some people with anxiety disorders might blame themselves. They may feel embarrassed or ashamed, or mistakenly think that anxiety is a weakness or a personal failing. Anxiety can keep people from going places or doing things they enjoy.

The good news is, doctors today understand anxiety disorders better than ever before and, with treatment, a person can feel better.

You May Like: Does Celine Dion Have An Eating Disorder

Whats The Difference Between Anxiety And An Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety is a normal reaction to many different kinds of events and situations in our lives. Anxiety is one of our internal warning systems that alerts us to danger or other threats and prepares our bodies to fight back or get out of a dangerous situation.

A manageable amount of anxiety from time to time can be helpful. For example, it can motivate you to prepare for a test a school or finish a task at work. Even happy events like moving to a new home or celebrating an important milestone can bring up anxietyall of this is just part of being human.

Anxiety is a problem when it becomes overwhelming or unmanageable and it comes up unexpectedly. Anxiety disorders are mental illnesses that have a big impact your life. People may avoid going about their daily lives in order to avoid anxiety. They may experience a lot of uncomfortable physical sensations and physical health problems. Many people say that they know their anxiety isnt based in reality, but they feel trapped by their thought and feelings. Anxiety disorders can be treated. Its important to seek help if youre concerned about anxiety in your life.

Normal anxiety…

• Is related to a specific situation or problem

• Lasts only as long as the situation or problem/p>

• Is proportional to the situation or problem/p>

• Is a realistic response to a realistic problem or situation/p>

When someone experiences an anxiety disorder…

Find fact sheets on different anxiety disorders

About the author

You’re A Magical Thinker

This is a big one for people with obsessive compulsive disorder, magical thinking is the belief that your anxiety is protecting you and your loved ones in some way that, if you were to calm down, something bad might happen, therapist Thai-An Truong tells me. This can lead to rituals, which are performed as a way of warding off something horrible.

Recommended Reading: What Are The Three Stages Of Schizophrenia