Anxiety: Types, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatments
What is anxiety?
People with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive, and persistent worry about everyday situations. Worrying is a normal part of life, but it becomes problematic when it is negative, difficult to control, and interferes with your daily life. Oftentimes anxiety or worry is out of proportion to the actual situation or danger. Anxiety disorders can take a toll on your physical, mental, and social well-being.
Types of anxiety disorders
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Persistent and excessive worry and anxiety about several areas that get in the way of daily activities. The worry is often out of proportion to the impacts of the events. Physical symptoms are not uncommon.
Social Anxiety: Intense discomfort, fear, and avoidance in social settings that interfere with relationships, daily routines, work, school, or other activities.
Workplace Anxiety: Workplace anxiety involves feeling stressed, nervous, or overwhelmed by work-related tasks, workplace interactions, meeting deadlines, or your job performance.
Climate Anxiety or Eco-Anxiety: Distress about climate change and its impacts on the planet and human existence, which can manifest as intrusive thoughts or feelings of distress about future disasters or the future of human existence.
Panic Disorder: Panic attacks are characterized by a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers a severe physical reaction even when there is no apparent danger or trigger.
Adjustment disorder with anxiety: Experiencing symptoms of stress and anxiety in response to a stressful life event or major life transition that causes a disturbance in your relationships, at work, or school.
Phobias: Excessive and unrealistic fear and potential avoidance of certain situations, objects, animals, activities, or persons.
Agoraphobia: Agoraphobia entails a mix of anxiety and avoidance of certain places or situations that might cause panic, feelings of being trapped, helplessness, or embarrassment.
Unspecified anxiety and anxiety-adjacent diagnoses: Many mental health professionals also classify Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder under the umbrella of anxiety disorders. Unspecified anxiety meets some criteria for a diagnosis, but not all.
Prevalence of anxiety
Anxiety is widespread in the United States. According to the ADAA, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the U.S. affecting 40 million adults (18+) every year.
Additional stats on anxiety:
One in five adults experiences anxiety each year.
Anxiety disorders are highly treatable but only 37% of people seek treatment.
Generalized anxiety disorder often co-occurs with depression.
Social anxiety impacts approximately 7% of the population in the U.S.
Women are twice as likely to experience anxiety disorders as men, according to some research.
Common symptoms of anxiety
Symptoms of anxiety will vary by diagnosis and from person to person. Some common examples of symptoms are:
Excessive worrying: Spending a disproportionate amount of time worrying about past events or future scenarios. The worry interferes with work, relationships, or other parts of daily life.
Physical symptoms: A racing heartbeat, sweating, fatigue, or changes in appetite.
Trouble sleeping: Difficulty falling or staying asleep. Or waking up feeling unrefreshed.
Difficulty concentrating: Difficulty focusing on a task, maintaining attention, or thinking clearly.
Rumination: Emotional distress brought on by repeatedly going over a thought, problem, or situation without finding a solution.
Panic attacks: A sudden episode of intense fear that brings on a severe physical reaction, including a racing heart, sweating, shaking, pins and needles, or feeling disoriented.
Gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances: Anxiety can be an underlying cause of stomach aches, digestive issues, IBS, and heartburn.
What to do if you have anxiety.
There are many things that you can do on your own to relieve anxiety, but sometimes you need help. Psychotherapy and medication are the two most effective treatments for anxiety.
Working with a therapist can help you reduce symptoms and manage your anxiety using proven tools and techniques.
Your primary care doctor can rule out physical conditions with symptoms that are similar to anxiety and recommend the appropriate treatment. You can decide together if prescription medications could be introduced.
You can use mindfulness exercises, breathing exercises, and physical activity to help manage symptoms of anxiety. Making healthy lifestyle choices and making behavioral or environmental changes help curb symptoms of anxiety. Social support is essential to maintaining your overall mental health.
Tips on finding a therapist that’s a good fit.
The therapeutic relationship—or therapeutic alliance—is critical to your success in therapy, so look for indicators that you’ll be a good fit during your introductory session. For example:
Do you feel heard and respected?
Does the therapist’s approach resonate with you?
Do you see yourself forming a trusting connection with the therapist?
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anxiety/symptoms-causes/syc-20350961
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad
