By: Gibran Rodriguez, M.A.
Anxiety and fear are emotions that evolved to help us deal with danger and avoid harm. It’s normal for humans and animals to feel anxious or afraid, although to different degrees. For example, baby monkeys have been seen to display anxious behaviours when their mothers leave them for a prolonged period. Similarly, children can feel anxious if they’re away from their caregiver for a while.
Although similar, fear and anxiety are not the same. Fear is a response to immediate, visible threats, while anxiety is more about anticipating potential dangers. Fear makes us freeze, run away, or fight, while anxiety leads to muscle tension, hypervigilance, and avoiding certain things. Also, anxiety makes us worry (in other words, it makes us think about potential adverse outcomes or scenarios), and sometimes worrying helps us prepare for future problems while other times it gets in the way.
However, our anxiety and fear mechanisms may not always be “working properly.” Think of these like a smoke detector: sometimes it works well, but other times it can be set off too easily, leading to false alarms, or it may not go off even when there’s no real danger. Imagine dealing with a smoke detector constantly going off and requiring you to disconnect or reboot it. That sounds exhausting!
Although the original purpose of the smoke detector was to
detect danger, these devices can malfunction. Just like with a smoke detector, sometimes we need to make some adjustments and tune our anxiety and fear mechanisms to ensure they’re running appropriately.
How fear and anxiety affect us depends on our environment, how sensitive we are to these emotions, and how intense our emotional responses are. When anxiety becomes excessive, persistent, and starts interfering with our lives even when there’s no real danger, it becomes a problem. Key indicators of problematic anxiety are extreme avoidance, isolation, challenges fulfilling everyday tasks, and difficulties with sleep.
When anxiety is problematic, we may be dealing with an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are common mental health conditions that affect many people. They can affect anywhere from 3.8% to 25% of the population, especially women, young adults, and those with chronic illnesses or from specific cultural backgrounds. About one-third of people will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, with specific phobias and social anxiety being the most common types. These disorders often start in childhood and can become long-lasting if not treated properly. They also frequently occur alongside other mental health problems. There are different types of anxiety disorders, such as separation anxiety, specific phobias, social anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder.
To understand anxiety disorders, we must look at various factors contributing to their development. Research has shown that genetics, biology, psychology, and social factors play a role in these conditions. By considering these different aspects, we can better understand how anxiety disorders develop and how they are treated.
Genetics and Brain Activity:
Anxiety disorders tend to run in families, suggesting a genetic component. However, specific genes linked to these disorders are still not well understood. Most anxiety disorders share similar genetic risks, suggesting they are not entirely separate problems. Regarding brain activity, abnormal functioning in regions like the amygdala, insula, and prefrontal cortex plays a vital role in anxiety disorders. The imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), is also associated with anxiety disorders. However, no single brain or neurochemical abnormality can fully explain these disorders.
Psychological and Cognitive Processes:
People with anxiety disorders tend to overestimate the danger of certain situations and have specific cognitive biases, including those related to negative social evaluation, rumination, and intolerance of uncertainty. Those with anxiety disorders may also interpret bodily signals of anxiety as dangerous and be more drawn to attend to stimuli that can be perceived as threatening than the average individual. Inflexible or inappropriate emotion strategies seem to intensify anxiety symptoms. In fact, many people with anxiety issues display issues with identifying, understanding, expressing or accepting their emotions.
Social and Environmental Influences: I
ndividuals with parents who were overinvolved or displayed issues managing anxiety themselves are more prone to experience anxiety disorders. Adverse childhood experiences or traumatic events are prevalent in people with problematic anxiety. Childhood sexual and physical abuse are considered significant but non-specific risk factors for anxiety disorders.
OK, so what should I do next?
The first step in improving our anxiety-related problems involves seeking professional help from a licensed mental health practitioner or health provider. A thorough multidisciplinary assessment is often required to determine the most appropriate treatment course. Given the multiple factors involved in developing and maintaining anxiety disorders, several treatment recommendations can be provided, including medication, psychotherapy, or additional resources and strategies to improve our well-being and quality of life. With these tools, you can make peace with your anxiety and reclaim your life!