Anxiety: meaning, symptoms, and causes
What is anxiety? How do I know if I’m experiencing it? What can I do about it, and how can it be prevented?
What are you facing?
You don’t have to deal with it alone.
Anxiety is a natural part of life. We usually give it a negative meaning, even though in certain performance situations it can increase our productivity, just think of competitions, sports, or work situations; and even in stressful situations or when facing unfamiliar challenges, it can help us handle the situation. It becomes a problem when it is present in an excessive amount or becomes constant.
This article is about the symptoms, causes, and treatment options of anxiety according to psychology.
Anxiety is a natural and common emotional reaction, but if it becomes long-lasting, it can negatively affect quality of life.
Recognizing the symptoms and understanding the causes helps with effective treatment.
With professional help, it is a well-manageable condition, so it is important to act in time.
Long-term anxiety can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, lead to sleep disorders, depression, panic attacks, social withdrawal and it often causes work problems and relationship difficulties as well.
What does anxiety mean?
Anxiety is an inner, subjective experience that comes from a person's fears and worries; in fact, it is a reaction to some perceived or real danger.
It is important to know that it is not the situations themselves that trigger anxiety, but the way we interpret them. For example, the fear of illness can cause the same level of anxiety as the illness itself.
From an evolutionary point of view, anxiety may have been useful, since it increased alertness in dangerous situations, but today it often appears in situations where it is not justified and/or with unjustified intensity, and it can even become a chronic problem. Anxiety can appear both as a normal emotional response and as a mental disorder, when it already significantly affects quality of life.
Anxiety symptoms: what does anxiety feel like?
Anxiety can be understood on both a biological and psychological level, because it can show up in physical, emotional, thinking, and behavioral symptoms.
At the emotional level, feelings of uncertainty and loss of control may dominate, and we may experience tension, fear-like nervousness, and distressing feelings. These are joined by thoughts related to danger and threat, for example “I will feel sick,” “I will be humiliated,” “I have some serious illness.”
The physical symptoms can be especially unpleasant, since some of them can also be noticed by others: redness of the face/body, sweating, dry mouth, shortness of breath, chest tightness, rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, urge to urinate, muscle tension.
What are the most common causes of anxiety?
The development of anxiety may be influenced by genetic predisposition and environmental factors, such as stressful life events.
Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric illnesses worldwide. Women are affected more often, than men. Genetics (the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus; the role of various neurotransmitters and stress hormones) and environmental influences can lead to different anxiety disorders. If we have an inherited tendency toward anxiety disorders, both early and current life events (psychotraumas) can trigger the brain dysfunction that causes anxiety disorders.
What types of anxiety disorders are there?
There are many types of anxiety, and they appear in different ways.
These include panic disorder, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), all of which we will describe in detail below.
Panic disorder
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder that involves sudden and unexpected panic attacks. These attacks cause intense fear or anxiety and come with physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, and trembling. People with panic disorder often fear the next panic attack and avoid situations or circumstances where the attacks may happen.
Generalized anxiety disorder
A large number of distressing, worrying thoughts about different life situations, events, or actions can also lead to a chronic condition. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is often characterized by excessive and persistent worry that is often out of proportion to the real danger in a given situation and can affect almost every area of life (work, family, finances, health, etc.).
Symptoms of generalized anxiety include constant worry and tension, fatigue, exhaustion, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension in the shoulders, neck, and jaw, and the sleep problems mentioned earlier may also occur.
Social anxiety disorder (social phobia)
Another increasingly common condition is social anxiety. Have you ever felt like you would rather hide from people? People with social anxiety feel this way all the time, and often act on it too. They try to avoid social situations through different avoidance behaviors, for example not answering the phone, not eating/drinking/smoking in front of other people, not going to social events, canceling meetups with friends, and in severe cases even being unable to leave their home.
Social anxiety can show up in many social situations, and it becomes truly troublesome when it affects everyday life, or when it comes with such a high level of anxiety that it reduces the person's quality of life. If you feel you may also be affected by this problem, you can use our test to find out whether that is really the case.
Phobias
Phobias are irrational and excessive fears or anxieties triggered by certain objects, situations, or activities; these are called specific phobias. Within psychological counseling, various travel phobias, claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), and animal phobias also appear. A very common type is agoraphobia, which is also called “fear of crowds” in everyday language. A person with agoraphobia is especially terrified of crowded spaces and crowds - they become overwhelmed by sickness and fear.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
The abbreviation OCD comes from the English name: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Its development involves genetic, biological, and psychological factors together, which is also shown by the fact that about 20% of first-degree relatives of affected people also have obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive-compulsive disorders refer to a symptom complex made up of obsessive thoughts (obsessions) and/or compulsive acts (compulsions) that are present or occur over a certain period of time with a certain frequency. Obsessions are recurring, unpleasant thoughts that cause anxiety. The affected people know that these ideas come from within, meaning they are products of their own psyche. They try to suppress the anxiety caused and the unpleasant feelings, or neutralize them with other thoughts or actions.
Compulsions are different repeating actions (for example handwashing, checking) or mental rituals (for example counting, praying). The people affected are also aware of how excessive these are. Their goal is to reduce the anxiety caused by the obsessions or to prevent feared events from happening (for example “if I don't check 3 times whether I locked the door, they will break in”).
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
PTSD affects people who have gone through extremely serious traumatic life events, and the memories of these have remained unprocessed for a long time.
Any serious event that caused major stress or fear in the person at the time the event happened can lead to post-traumatic symptoms. Whether the same trauma causes PTSD in some people or not depends on the person's personality traits and various psychological characteristics. PTSD can develop, for example, after accidents, after the sudden death of loved ones, or during abuse - sexual abuse victims very often develop PTSD.
How can anxiety be treated effectively?
During psychological counseling, you and the professional can use many methods to reduce anxiety.
Certain genes can make us more prone to more sensitive emotional reactions in stressful situations, so as you read above, biological processes also play a role behind this complex emotional reaction, anxiety, and the predisposition can be genetically determined. But it is important to know that anxiety can be treated in many ways. Different stress management techniques, autogenic training, relaxation methods, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness exercises are available to help improve your quality of life.
In addition to psychological tools, medication may also be used to achieve mental stability, since biological processes can play a role in the presence of anxiety. If your psychologist thinks it would be useful for you to see a psychiatrist, be sure to be open to the suggestion, even if you would rather avoid the idea of taking medication.
For certain anxiety disorders, medication may be essential, and in some cases combined therapy may bring improvement.
How can anxiety be prevented?
To help prevent anxiety, it is important to maintain physical, emotional, and mental balance. The following strategies can help:
Healthy lifestyle: Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and enough sleep all help maintain mental stability and prevent anxiety.
Develop self-awareness: Notice what triggers anxiety for you. Becoming aware of situations or thoughts that cause anxiety helps prevent overreactions.
Recognize cognitive distortions: Anxiety often comes from catastrophizing, overthinking, or interpreting situations irrationally. Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques, such as keeping a thought journal, can help with this.
Regular relaxation techniques: Progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing can be especially effective in easing anxiety symptoms and, over time, in preventing them too.
Positive thinking: Recognizing and changing negative automatic thoughts can reduce worries.
Realistic goals: Too many expectations often increase anxiety. Learn to accept that perfection is not necessary, and that making mistakes is part of life.
Supportive relationships: Look for people who are accepting and supportive, because loneliness and isolation can increase the chance of anxiety developing.
Effective time management: Being overloaded often leads to anxiety, so it is important to set priorities and build rest into your daily routine.
Avoid harmful habits: Too much caffeine and alcohol, as well as smoking, can increase anxiety, so avoiding them is recommended.
Psychological counseling: If you are prone to anxiety, it is worth reaching out to a professional for prevention, who can help you work out the right prevention strategies for you.
When should you contact a professional?
Among psychiatric illnesses, depression and substance dependence most often go together with anxiety disorders, and different anxiety disorders can also appear together. Even if someone has anxiety symptoms, it does not automatically mean they will develop an anxiety disorder.
It is important to ask for help as soon as possible, so anxiety does not take over your life. Attention! An anxious state increases the risk of suicide!
It is worth asking for help if anxiety:
becomes long-lasting, and you feel you cannot overcome it on your own
affects your daily activities, such as your work, relationships, sleep habits, or appetite
causes physical symptoms, for example heart palpitations, shortness of breath, stomach problems, headaches
leads to unusual behavior patterns, for example excessive worry, panic attacks, avoidance behavior
reduces your quality of life, and your family members, friends, or coworkers may also point it out to you
You do not have to live with anxiety
Whether your tendency toward anxiety is inherited, or comes from negative life events, circumstances, or influences collected over time, it is your decision whether you want to change it or not. It is important to know that help from a psychologist can bring many benefits in treating anxiety, because it provides expert support to understand the problem and develop effective coping strategies.
The professional helps uncover the roots of anxiety, which often lie in past experiences, thinking distortions or emotional blocks, as you read above. This means you will not only be able to manage your feelings, but also understand them. The psychologist teaches proven effective methods such as cognitive behavioral tools, relaxation techniques, mindfulness, and emotion regulation strategies.
Anxiety often affects relationships too. Psychological counseling can help reduce emotional burdens, thereby improving the quality of relationships. Overall, during the therapy process, you can gain deeper self-knowledge, which can be beneficial for you not only in handling anxiety, but also in other areas of life later on.
Take this step for yourself, and start keeping your life under control again!
Frequently asked questions
Why is my heart beating so fast even though nothing is happening?
Anxiety activates your body's fight-or-flight response, which can speed up your pulse even if you are only worrying about something in your head.
Can a tendency toward anxiety be inherited?
Yes, in addition to genetic determination, the parental patterns seen in childhood also strongly influence how sensitive you are to stress.
Do I need to take medication if I see a professional?
Not at all. In many cases, learnable techniques and therapeutic conversations alone are enough to help you regain control over your life.
How do I know when my anxiety is no longer just excitement?
It is worth asking for help when your fears are already regularly getting in the way of your work, sleep, or social relationships.
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