Why Do So Many People Have Anxiety?

Why do so many people have anxiety? Anxiety may be caused by a mental condition, a physical condition, the effects of drugs, stressful life events, or a combination of these.

 

The doctor’s initial task is to see if your anxiety is a symptom of another medical condition.

 

Why do so many people have anxiety? Anxiety disorders are different from normal anxiety. They are the most common form of mental illness in the UK, affecting nearly 1 in 5 adults.

 

They can involve periods of excessive worrying or fear that are more than you would expect from everyday kinds of stressors.

 

Why do so many people have anxiety? Common causes of anxiety include these disorders:

 

Panic disorder: In addition to anxiety, common symptoms of panic disorders are palpitations (feeling your heartbeat), dizziness, and shortness of breath.

 

These same symptoms also can be caused by coffee (caffeine), amphetamines (“speed” is the street slang for amphetamines when they are not prescribed by a doctor),

 

other stimulants such as cocaine,  an overactive thyroid, abnormal heart rhythms, and other heart abnormalities (such as mitral valve prolapse).

 

What causes anxiety disorders?

Why do so many people have anxiety? The exact causes of anxiety disorders are unknown. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)Trusted Source, a combination of genetic and environmental factors may play a role.

 

Why do so many people have anxiety? Brain chemistry is also being studied as a possible cause. The areas of your brain that control your fear response may be involved.

 

Anxiety disorders often occur alongside other mental health conditions, such as substance abuse and depression.

 

Many people try to ease the symptoms of anxiety by using alcohol or other drugs. The relief these substances provide is temporary. Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and other drugs can make an anxiety disorder worse.

 

Factors that can increase your risk of developing an anxiety disorder include the following.

 

• Stress

Why do so many people have anxiety? Everyone encounters stress, but excessive or unresolved stress can increase your chances of developing chronic anxiety.

 

In 2019, the authors of a research review by trusted Source examined evidence of neurobiological links between stress and anxiety from various studies.

 

They concluded that neural features in specific parts of the brain, such as the amygdala which plays a role in processing fearful and threatening stimuli may help explain how stress contributes to anxiety.

 

• Genetic factors

Why do so many people have anxiety? If someone in your family has an anxiety disorder, you may have a greater risk of developing one too.

 

Social and economic factors can play a role, but growing evidence suggests that genetic features might also contribute.

 

A 2019 study trusted Source looked at links between genetic features and anxiety and stress-related disorders.

 

The authors concluded that if you have specific genetic features, you might be more prone to anxiety. These features could be hereditary.

 

• Personality type

Why do so many people have anxiety? Certain personality traits may affect your risk of developing anxiety and anxiety disorders.

 

A group of scientists followed 489 first-year university students for 6 years to see how certain outlooks such as a tendency to experience negative feelings, extraversion, and introversion might affect their risk of developing anxiety and depression.

 

They found that those who were hypercritical of themselves had difficulty with criticism, or experienced a lot of negative thoughts and feelings as young adults were also more likely to develop panic disorder, agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and major depressive disorder over time.

 

Agoraphobia was also more common among those who scored high on a scale for introversion, rather than extroversion.

 

While these may act as “vulnerability factors,” the authors suggest that they are probably part of a far more complex picture.

 

 

• Trauma

Why do so many people have anxiety? A recent or past traumatic event, such as experiencing abuse or participating in military combat, can increase your risk of developing anxiety.

 

It can also happen if you are close to someone who’s the victim of trauma or has witnessed something traumatic.

 

Why do many people have anxiety? Many people experience anxiety after a shocking or frightening incident; this is known as acute distress disorder (ASD).

 

But ongoing symptoms could be a sign of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Symptoms usually start within 3 months but they can appear months or years later.

 

They include:

 

flashbacks

bad dreams

feeling constantly on edge

difficulty sleeping

angry outbursts

avoiding places

 

Why is Anxiety So Common Nowadays?

Why is Anxiety so Common nowadays? Unfortunately, no one seems to have an exact answer as to why anxiety is so common, but many attribute this presumed increase in anxiety disorders to factors such as social media, poor sleep habits, lowered stigma, and underreporting in the past.

 

In particular, the United States has one of the highest rates of anxiety at 6.64% compared to most other countries that fall below this level.2

 

It should come as no surprise that many mental health consultants blame the rise of the internet, and social media especially, for anxiety in teens and twenty-somethings.

 

Why is Anxiety So Common nowadays? It is thought that the various social media effects on mental health are largely negative. Comparing lifestyles depicted in social media and a fear of missing out (FOMO) are likely causes of anxiety as well as the way social media ironically makes people feel lonely.

 

Not to mention the fact that social media is addictive, producing the same increase in dopamine that drugs give you.

 

At this point, it appears anxiety and millennials are intertwined.

 

Why is Anxiety So Common nowadays? With the rise in technology also came an increase in artificial lighting and bad sleep habits.

 

The blue light waves from your phone or computer late at night can have twice the adverse effects on your body’s production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, than normal artificial light.

 

Could something as simple as unplugging alleviate some of the anxiety in millennials?

 

Some researchers suggest that anxiety disorders are not necessarily increasing, but people are more open about their anxiety and actively seeking treatment.

 

Years ago, mental health disorders and anxiety were taboo topics, but now anxiety has become a constant topic of discussion. Were rates of anxiety mostly underreported in the past?

 

Even if this is the case, anxiety is certainly a topic that should be at the forefront of our conversations.

 

If you suffer from anxiety or another mental health disorder, you are not alone. Anxiety is so common and often linked to co-occurring disorders.

 

Who Mostly Suffers From Anxiety?

Who mostly suffers from anxiety? Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million British adults every year.

 

Anxiety disorders also affect children and teens. About 8% of teens ages 13 to 18 have an anxiety disorder, with symptoms starting around age 6.5

 

Women are more than twice as likely as men to get an anxiety disorder in their lifetime.2 Also, some types of anxiety disorders affect some women more than others:

 

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) affects more American Indian/Alaskan Native women than women of other races and ethnicities.

 

GAD also affects more white women and Hispanic women than Asian or African-American women.

 

Social phobia and panic disorder affect more white women than women of other races and ethnicities.

 

Who mostly suffers from anxiety? Women experience higher lifetime diagnosis rates of all anxiety disorders, except social anxiety disorder, which occurs at the same rate for both men and women.

 

There are no differences in the age of onset and chronicity of the illness between the genders.

 

Women diagnosed with one anxiety disorder are more likely than men to be diagnosed with an additional anxiety disorder, bulimia nervosa and/or major depressive disorder, while men are more likely to be diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or intermittent explosive disorder.

 

Who mostly suffers from anxiety? Experts say a significant interaction between race and gender-specific to people diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, as anxious Hispanic men were more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder (3.6 percent) than Hispanic women (2.1 percent).

 

Women with anxiety disorders, particularly white and Hispanic women, were found to experience a greater illness burden than men, which signals a higher rate of disability for women with the disorders.

 

Women tend to deal with their anxiety by agoraphobic avoidance, while men more often turn to substance abuse.

 

In addition, researchers found that emergency room, urgent care and doctor visits were more common for both women (1.04 visits vs. 0.59 visits) and men (0.71 visits vs. 0.49 visits) with an anxiety disorder than those without one.

 

Women with anxiety also missed significantly more days of work (2.25 days/month) than those without anxiety (1.27 days), but there were no differences for men.

 

Is Anxiety Becoming More Common?

Is Anxiety becoming more Common? A large study that was published in the journal JAMA PsychiatryTrusted Source in 2017 set out to answer this exact question. In particular, the researchers looked at GAD.

 

One might expect that, since mental illness tends to be more common in countries with socioeconomic status, anxiety might also be more prevalent in countries with a lower socioeconomic profile.

 

Additionally, in less wealthy countries, people can be under substantial stress; finding food, water, or safety might be an issue in some regions.

 

However, it is important to remember that GAD is about unreasonable feelings of anxiety.

 

In a country where there is a genuine struggle, higher levels of anxiety might rightly be considered justifiable and therefore not a diagnosable condition.

 

The study, involving 147,261 adults from 26 countries, concluded:

 

“The disorder is especially common and impairing in high-income countries despite a negative association between GAD and socioeconomic status within countries.”

 

In other words, within each country, GAD is more prevalent in less wealthy regions. However, as a whole, it is the residents of wealthier countries who are more likely to experience GAD, and their lives are more significantly impacted by it.

 

Breaking down the statistics, the scientists found that lifetime estimates for GAD were as follows:

 

low-income countries: 1.6 percent

middle-income countries: 2.8 percent

high-income countries: 5.0 percent

This is in line with other research that found a higher prevalence of anxiety in wealthier economies.

 

In the WHO’s Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders Global Health Estimates report that was released in 2017, they compare prevalence estimates of mental disorders across global regions.

 

When they compare the levels of depression, no single area has significantly higher rates. When it comes to anxiety disorders, however, it’s a different story; the Americas are head and shoulders above all other regions, including Africa and Europe.

 

Interestingly, though the U.S. and the West, in general, do seem to be taking the lead in the anxiety stakes, it may not stay this way for long; the very same report explains that common mental health disorders are increasing in lower-income countries “because the population is growing and more people are living to the age when depression and anxiety most commonly occurs.”

 

Added to this, anxiety tends to be less common in older adults. Also, because the average age of U.S. individuals is slowly rising, the percentage of people with anxiety disorders may gradually decline.

 

To conclude this section, although other countries might be catching up, it does seem that anxiety is more common in wealthier nations and perhaps the U.S. in particular.

 

Although anxiety is rising across all age groups and demographic categories, there are notable distinctions among certain groups.

 

Is Anxiety becoming more common? People are becoming more anxious about their safety, health, finances, politics and relationships.

 

Although anxiety is rising across all age groups and demographic categories, there are notable distinctions between certain groups.

 

For example, millennials are more anxious (especially about finances) than Gen-Xers or baby boomers – though boomers’ overall anxiety increased more than the other age groups.

 

Women reported a greater increase in overall anxiety in all dimensions than men, and non-Caucasians’ overall anxiety rose faster in the preceding year than did Caucasians.

 

Is Anxiety becoming more common? Sometimes, anxiety occurs without clearly defined worries or awareness, suggesting the poll may have only captured part of a rise in adult Americans’ anxiety levels and those adults’ anxiety may be affecting children and teenagers too.

 

Anxiety is a lower-grade version of a fear response. Severe instances of fear – such as actual direct threats of pain, injury or death – can cause very real physical reactions.

 

Including a release of stress hormones into the bloodstream and changes in heart rate and blood pressure, as the body prepares to react rapidly.

 

Anxiety-triggered physiological responses are slower to develop but can last longer. Rather than being caused by an immediate threat, it can happen as people adapt to changing situations.

 

Such as visiting new countries, starting a different job or experiencing major life transitions such as marriage, parenthood and ageing. Often, anxiety dissipates as a person becomes more familiar with the new situation.

 

Short-term and mild-to-moderate anxiety states are adaptive as they increase our alertness and prepare us for new challenges.

 

Although our genetic makeup controls much of our fear and anxiety responses, recent studies also implicate our social environment.

 

Children are especially sensitive to their caretakers’ emotional states, which means that if more adults are more anxious, the same is true for kids.

 

But if it lasts, anxiety, like fear, can bring long-lasting physiological changes such as prolonged muscle tension, chronic high blood pressure and sleep disorders.

 

Some groups may be particularly vulnerable to long-term anxiety, such as people with physical or cognitive limitations that make it hard to adapt to new situations.

 

For others, worrying can become so overwhelming that a person does not focus on other important areas of life issues such as work, school or relationships.

 

An especially anxious person may become excessively sensitive to minor concerns, which may be manifested by overreacting or avoiding people or situations that are not dangerous.

 

Although regular exercise, relaxation, healthy eating and time with friends and family are all known to reduce anxiety, these fixes may not be sufficient.

 

To quote Martin Luther King Jr., given the social nature of anxiety, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

 

This suggests that addressing actual threats and communicating carefully about perceived ones can have a beneficial impact on anxious Americans.

 

Why Is Anxiety So Common In Young Adults?

Why is Anxiety So Common In Young Adults? While anxiety is a normal response to some events and situations in life, it’s not healthy to feel anxious all the time. As an adult, you might wonder what teens have to be anxious about.

 

After all, they’re not in the position to worry about putting food on the table, paying the mortgage, or raising children of their own.

 

Here is a list of seven things common in a teen’s life that can be causing that teenage anxiety.

 

Why is Anxiety so Common In Young Adults?

1. High Expectations

Today’s teenagers are under a lot of stress and tend to place high expectations on themselves.

 

Most teens want to do well in school and might expect to go to prestigious universities. Many participate in after-school sports and part-time jobs.

 

Today’s teens also volunteer, participate in community events, have chores at home, and want to maintain active social lives.

 

These expectations not only make teens feel stressed, but they also leave little time for decompressing, having quiet time, and even sleeping.

 

Sleep deprivation adds to anxiety and anxiety makes it harder to sleep, creating a vicious cycle.

 

2. Hormones

Your teen’s hormone production ebbs and flows during adolescence. Sometimes your teen might feel anxious, upset, depressed, and angry for no reason at all.

 

Some of this is likely caused by hormonal fluctuations. Teenage boys are dealing with testosterone surges, and teenage girls are dealing with hormonal shifts due to menstruation.

 

Combined with a lack of experience in dealing with these feelings and general immaturity, hormones are a recipe for stress and teenage anxiety.

 

Why is Anxiety So Common In Young Adults?

3. Brain Development

Teenagers don’t have fully developed brains until they are in their early- to mid-twenties or even later.

 

Your teen is expected to take on adult responsibilities, but they don’t have the skills or the brain development necessary to care for themselves.

 

Your son or daughter has probably had many moments where they didn’t know what they were doing. Frustration mixed with a lack of ability when it comes to “adulting” raises teenage anxiety levels.

 

4. Parental Disapproval

Teens are at an awkward stage where they want the approval of their parents but they also want to do things that rebel against parental authority and society.

 

This is frustrating for teens and parents alike. When they are met with parental disapproval, it’s natural that they feel stressed and anxious.

 

At the same time, they continue with actions that are not what their parents would have them do.

 

This is a necessary and natural stage of development, but it is stressful for everyone involved.

 

5. Peer Pressure

Kids today are under a lot of pressure from their peers. Peer pressure can be positive or negative, but both types raise stress levels.

 

For example, being pressured to shoplift or commit some other crime is stressful and an example of negative peer pressure.

 

If your teen’s peers are all getting excellent grades, applying to good universities, and dating the captain of the football or cheerleading team, this puts a lot of pressure on your teen to conform and keep up.

 

Another type of anxiety that is exacerbated by peers is social anxiety. Your teen might dread going to school and talking to people. This condition can be caused by bullying or it can just appear seemingly out of nowhere.

 

Shyness and social anxiety are not the same things, but some people assume they are just shy when, in fact, they have social anxiety.

 

6. Drinking and Drug Use

Many teens experiment with alcohol and, in some cases, drugs. They know they shouldn’t be doing this and that their parents will disapprove.

 

Peer pressure might also be involved. All of these factors can lead to teenage anxiety before, during, and after the experimentation

 

. Worse, some teens will go on to become addicted to these substances, which raises anxiety levels even higher.

 

Finally, some anxious teens already will turn to these substances as a form of self-medication. It rarely works; instead, anxiety levels go up, which leads to more self-medication.

 

7. Depression

Some teens have depression, which can present at the same time as teenage anxiety.

 

The symptoms of depression can overlap with the symptoms of anxiety, so sometimes it’s difficult for parents to know which mental health concern is responsible for which symptoms. The symptoms of depression include:

 

• Feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or despair that last longer than two weeks
• Social isolation, not wanting to leave the house or even the bed
• Physical symptoms like headaches, stomachaches, muscle aches, and fatigue
• Irritability
• Insomnia or sleeping too much
• Eating too much or too little
• Trouble concentrating and making decisions
• In severe cases, suicidal ideation

 

What Causes Anxiety In The Brain?

What causes anxiety in the brain? Until recently, scientists believed that a marble-sized brain area, called the amygdala, served as the hub of fear and anxiety.

 

Some studies have shown that monkeys with damage to the amygdala were unusually stoic in the face of scary stimuli (like a nearby snake).

 

In people with anxiety disorder, scientists thought that inappropriate fear and anxiety were caused by a hyperactive amygdala—a simple cause with a simple effect.

 

Today, though, we appreciate that anxiety is the result of constant chatter between several different brain regions and a fear network.

 

No one brain region drives anxiety on its own. Instead, interactions among many brain areas are all important for how we experience anxiety.

 

One potential explanation for how this works splits the brain into two parts: a cognitive brain and an emotional brain.

 

The frontal lobe, where all of our sensations and thoughts come together as one unified experience, is the cognitive brain.

 

What causes anxiety in the brain? The amygdala, located deep inside the brain, is part of the emotional brain. According to this theory, we only feel anxiety when signals from the emotional brain overpower the cognitive brain, and into our consciousness.

 

If you can rationalize that, for example, snakes are rare in the woods you’re hiking in (using the cognitive brain), then the cognitive brain network overtakes and tames the emotional fear network.

 

For instance, a region in the frontal lobe called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amplifies fearful signals coming from the amygdala.

 

What Causes Anxiety In The Brain? When anxious patients are shown pictures of fearful faces, the dACC and amygdala (amongst other brain regions) ramp up their chatter, producing palpable anxiety. People without anxiety show little to no response.

 

On the other hand, a different part of the frontal lobe, called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, seems to dampen the signals coming from the amygdala.

 

Patients with damage to this brain region are more likely to experience anxiety since the brakes on the amygdala have been lifted.

 

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), scientists have shown that these brain regions do become active when people experience anxiety.

 

But the details of how these regions work together are still not settled. Scientists worldwide are still hard at work, chipping away at the mysteries behind anxiety and anxiety disorders.

 

Thankfully, there is still good reason to be hopeful for patients with anxiety. Some patients with anxiety benefit from drug therapies, like antidepressants.

 

Other patients benefit from behavioural therapy. One type of behavioural therapy involves gradually exposing patients to the triggers that set off their anxiety.

 

Over time, patients learn to overcome their anxiety through these repeated exposures, since these situations don’t lead to actual harm.

 

Beyond drugs and behavioural therapy, scientists and psychiatrists are also pursuing new ways to treat anxiety, using recent findings to guide them.

 

Some scientists are trying to use fMRI brain scans to match patients with certain therapies since anxiety disorders can vary from person to person.

 

Others are using techniques like deep brain stimulation to nudge anxiety-inducing brain regions back towards a healthier state.

 

Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety symptoms. The main symptom of anxiety disorders is excessive fear or worry. Anxiety disorders can also make it hard to breathe, sleep, stay still, and concentrate.

 

Your specific symptoms depend on the type of anxiety disorder you have.  Anxiety symptoms include

 

• Panic, fear, and uneasiness
• Feelings of panic, doom, or danger
• Sleep problems
• Not being able to stay calm and still
• Cold, sweaty, numb, or tingling hands or feet
• Shortness of breath
• Breathing faster and more quickly than normal (hyperventilation)
• Heart palpitations
• Dry mouth
• Nausea
• Tense muscles
• Dizziness
• Thinking about a problem over and over again and unable to stop (rumination)
• Inability to concentrate
• Intensely or obsessively avoiding feared objects or places

 

While anxiety symptoms vary from person to person, in general, the body reacts in a very specific way to anxiety.

 

When you feel anxious, your body goes on high alert, looking for possible danger and activating your fight or flight responses.

 

As a result, some other common Anxiety symptoms are

 

• nervousness, restlessness, or being tense
• feelings of danger, panic, or dread
• rapid heart rate
• rapid breathing, or hyperventilation
• increased or heavy sweating
• trembling or muscle twitching
• weakness and lethargy
• difficulty focusing or thinking clearly about anything other than the thing you’re worried about
• insomnia
• digestive or gastrointestinal problems, such as gas, constipation, or diarrhoea
• a strong desire to avoid the things that trigger your anxiety
• obsessions about certain ideas, a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• performing certain behaviours over and over again
• anxiety surrounding a particular life event or experience that has occurred in the past, especially indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

 

Psychological symptoms of GAD

GAD can cause a change in your behaviour and the way you think and feel about things, resulting in symptoms such as:

 

• restlessness
• a sense of dread
• feeling constantly “on edge”
• difficulty concentrating
• irritability
• Your symptoms may cause you to withdraw from social contact (seeing your family and friends) to avoid feelings of worry and dread.

 

You may also find going to work difficult and stressful and may take time off sick. These actions can make you worry even more about yourself and increase your lack of self-esteem.

 

Physical symptoms of GAD

GAD can also have several physical symptoms, including:

 

• dizziness
• tiredness
• a noticeably strong, fast or irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
• muscle aches and tension
• trembling or shaking
• dry mouth
• excessive sweating
• shortness of breath
• stomach ache
• feeling sick
• headache
• pins and needles
• difficulty falling or staying asleep (insomnia)

 

Anxiety triggers

If you’re anxious because of a specific phobia or because of a panic disorder, you’ll usually know what the cause is.

 

For example, if you have claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), you know that being confined in a small space will trigger your anxiety.

 

But it may not always be clear what you’re feeling anxious about. Not knowing what triggers your anxiety can intensify it and you may start to worry that there’s no solution.

 

Has Anxiety Increased Over The Years?

Has anxiety increased over the years? Rates of depression and anxiety climbed globally by more than 25% in 2020, a devastating ripple effect of the Covid-19 pandemic that has particularly affected women and young people, according to a new study.

 

“We knew Covid would have an impact on these mental disorders, we just didn’t know how big the impact was going to be,” said Alize Ferrari, a lead researcher at the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research in Australia and co-author of the study, published Friday in the Lancet.

 

In a systematic review, researchers analyzed data from dozens of studies that reported the prevalence of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders in the pandemic, calculating that each increased by 28% and 26%, respectively, last year globally.

 

That’s tens of millions more cases of depression and anxiety, in addition to the hundreds of millions already occurring around the world.

 

However, the researchers estimated there were about 3,153 total cases of major depressive disorder per 100,000 people and 4,802 total cases of anxiety disorders per 100,000 worldwide in 2020, after adjusting for the uptick associated with the pandemic.

 

The new study is the first worldwide estimate of the mental impact of Covid-19, according to the researchers, who analyze the global burden of mental disorders every year.

 

Most previous studies on the pandemic’s impact, including those analyzed in the review, have focused on specific locations or regions.

 

The results mirror findings from past studies that have documented how major disruptive events affect mental health.

 

Women are often the most impacted in a crisis, as they’re more likely to lose their job and have household or family obligations.

 

They’re also more likely to be victims of domestic violence, which may have increased during the pandemic as well.

 

Has Anxiety increased over the years? In 2020, women experienced an almost 30% increase in major depressive disorders and an almost 28% increase in anxiety disorders worldwide, while men saw increases of 24% and 22%, respectively.

 

Overall, women were twice as likely to experience major depressive disorder than men.

 

Younger age groups saw greater increases in depression and anxiety than older groups, with 20- to 24-year-olds saw the greatest spikes.

 

The disruption to education experienced by young people across the globe is estimated to be the biggest in history by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization leaving 1.6 billion people out of school.

 

Local increases were highest in places hardest hit by Covid-19, correlating most strongly with high average daily case rates of the virus and with limited ability to move or travel for residents.

 

But the analysis was limited by the data available, which came mostly from high-income Western countries and excluded lower-income countries whose populations were likely affected in greater numbers.

 

“‘No estimate’ is often interpreted as if there is no change, which we don’t believe at all,” said lead author Damian Santomauro, also of the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research.

 

They estimated changes in countries with limited or no data, but hope to have more accurate numbers in a forthcoming analysis of 2021 data.

 

They are also hoping to identify more contributing factors to the trends, including the economic strain many people were under after losing jobs.

 

Has anxiety increased over the years? Even before the pandemic, depression and anxiety were widespread, making the top 25 causes of disease burden in 2019 according to the annual Global Burden of Disease Study, to which both Santomauro and Ferrari have contributed.

 

As Covid-19 continues to spread, they predict another increase in depression and anxiety could follow, particularly in countries like India, where the first major Covid-19 surge didn’t occur until early in 2021.

 

Severe Anxiety Symptoms

Severe anxiety symptoms. How people experience anxiety can differ from one person to the next. One person may feel symptoms like butterflies in their stomach, while another person might have a full-blown panic attack.

 

Suppose you are experiencing life-limiting anxiety and it makes it difficult to function in different areas of life including work, school, and relationships.

 

In that case, there is a chance that you might have an anxiety disorder.

 

If your feelings of anxiety are severe in their duration, intensity, and impact on your life, there is a strong likelihood that you have some type of anxiety disorder.

 

Severe Anxiety symptoms. Only a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose an anxiety disorder, but some of the symptoms that may indicate a problem include:

 

• Physical symptoms of anxiety such as rapid heart rate, increased breathing rate, sweating, trembling, and shortness of breath
• Extreme feelings of fear or anxiety that are out of proportion to the actual threat
• Irrational fear or worry about different objects or situations
• Avoiding the source of your fear or only enduring it with great anxiety
• Withdrawing from social situations or isolating yourself from friends and family
• Feelings of irritability and agitation
• Sleep difficulties such as trouble falling or staying asleep
• Gastrointestinal issues such as stomach aches or digestive problems
• Feeling uneasy and worried
• Difficulty concentrating
• Problems with doing your typical everyday tasks
• Interpersonal and relationship issues
• Thoughts of suicide

 

Extreme anxiety can also manifest as a panic attack. Panic attacks are characterized by an abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort.

 

Accompanied by a variety of physical sensations including rapid heart rate, choking sensations, nausea, trembling, chills, a sense of unreality, impending doom and a feeling of losing control, “going crazy” or dying.

 

Severe Anxiety symptoms. Having an anxiety disorder does more than make you worry. It can also lead to, or worsen, other mental and physical conditions, such as:

 

• Depression (which often occurs with an anxiety disorder) or other mental health disorders
• Substance misuse
• Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
• Digestive or bowel problems
• Headaches and chronic pain
• Social isolation
• Problems functioning at school or work
• Poor quality of life
• Suicide

Social Anxiety

Social Anxiety. We all know the feeling of being nervous or uncomfortable in a social situation.

 

Maybe you’ve clammed up when meeting someone new or gotten sweaty palms before making a big presentation.

 

Public speaking or walking into a roomful of strangers isn’t exactly thrilling for everybody, but most people can get through it.

 

If you have a social anxiety disorder, which is also known as social phobia, the stress of these situations is too much to handle.

 

You might, for example, avoid all social contact because things that other people consider “normal” making small talk and eye contact — make you so uncomfortable. All aspects of your life, not just the social, could start to fall apart.

 

In some people with social anxiety disorder, the fear is limited to one or two particular situations, like speaking in public or initiating a conversation. Others are very anxious and afraid of any social situation.

 

Anyone with social anxiety disorder can experience it in different ways. But here are some common situations that people tend to have trouble with:

 

• Talking to strangers
• Speaking in public
• Dating
• Making eye contact
• Entering rooms
• Using public restrooms
• Going to parties
• Eating in front of other people
• Going to school or work
• Starting conversations

 

Some of these situations might not cause a problem for you. For example, giving a speech may be easy, but going to a party might be a nightmare.

 

Or you could be great at one-on-one conversations but not at stepping into a crowded classroom.

 

All socially anxious people have different reasons for dreading certain situations. But in general, it’s an overwhelming fear of:

 

Being judged or watched by others in social situations

Being embarrassed or humiliated — and showing it by blushing, sweating, or shaking

Accidentally offending someone

Being the centre of attention

 

What Does It Feel Like?

Again, the experience may be different for everyone, but if you have social anxiety and you’re in a stressful situation, you may feel:

 

Very self-conscious in social situations

A persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being judged by others

Shy and uncomfortable when being watched (giving a presentation, talking in a group)

Hesitant to talk to others

The need to avoid eye contact

You also might have physical symptoms such as:

 

Rapid heartbeat

Muscle tension

Dizziness and lightheadedness

Blushing

Crying

Sweating

Stomach trouble and diarrhoea

Inability to catch a breath

An “out-of-body” sensation

 

Anxiety attack

Anxiety Attack. Anxiety attacks, also known as panic attacks, are episodes of intense panic or fear. They usually occur suddenly and without warning.

 

Sometimes there’s an obvious trigger getting stuck in an elevator, for example, or thinking about the big speech you have to give but in other cases, the attacks come out of the blue.

 

Anxiety attacks usually peak within 10 minutes, and they rarely last more than 30 minutes.

 

But during that short time, you may experience terror so severe that you feel as if you’re about to die or lose control.

 

The physical symptoms are themselves so frightening that many people think they’re having a heart attack.

 

After an anxiety attack is over, you may worry about having another one, particularly in a public place where help isn’t available or you can’t easily escape.

 

Anxiety attack symptoms include:

• The surge of overwhelming panic.
• Feeling of losing control or going crazy.
• Heart palpitations or chest pain.
• Feel like you’re going to pass out.
• Trouble breathing or choking sensation.
• Hot flashes or chills.
• Trembling or shaking.
• Nausea or stomach cramps.
• Feeling detached or unreal.
• It’s important to seek help if you’re starting to avoid certain situations because you’re afraid of having a panic attack. The truth is that panic attacks are highly treatable. Many people are panic free within just 5 to 8 treatment sessions.

 

Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety.

 

Anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives.

 

But anxiety disorders are treatable and some effective treatments are available. Treatment helps most people lead normal productive lives.

 

Anxiety disorder can cause people to try to avoid situations that trigger or worsen their symptoms. Job performance, school work and personal relationships can be affected.

 

In general, for a person to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, the fear or anxiety must:

 

Be out of proportion to the situation or age-inappropriate

Hinder ability to function normally

 

There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, specific phobias, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder and separation anxiety disorder.

 

Types of Anxiety Disorder

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder involves persistent and excessive worry that interferes with daily activities.

 

This ongoing worry and tension may be accompanied by physical symptoms, such as restlessness, feeling on edge or easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension or problems sleeping.

 

Often the worries focus on everyday things such as job responsibilities, family health or minor matters such as chores, car repairs, or appointments.

 

• Panic Disorder

The core symptom of panic disorder is recurrent panic attacks, an overwhelming combination of physical and psychological distress. During an attack several of these symptoms occur in combination:

 

Palpitations, pounding heart or rapid heart rate

Sweating

Trembling or shaking

Feeling of shortness of breath or smothering sensations

Chest pain

Feeling dizzy, light-headed or faint

Feeling of choking

Numbness or tingling

Chills or hot flashes

Nausea or abdominal pains

Feeling detached

Fear of losing control

Fear of dying

 

Because the symptoms are so severe, many people who experience a panic attack may believe they are having a heart attack or other life-threatening illness.

 

They may go to a hospital emergency department. Panic attacks may be expected, such as a response to a feared object, or unexpected, apparently occurring for no reason.

 

The mean age for onset of panic disorder is 20-24. Panic attacks may occur with other mental disorders such as depression or PTSD.

 

• Phobias, Specific Phobia

A specific phobia is excessive and persistent fear of a specific object, situation or activity that is generally not harmful.

 

Patients know their fear is excessive, but they can’t overcome it. These fears cause such distress that some people go to extreme lengths to avoid what they fear. Examples are public speaking, fear of flying or fear of spiders.

 

• Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the fear of being in situations where escape may be difficult or embarrassing, or help might not be available in the event of panic symptoms.

 

The fear is out of proportion to the actual situation and lasts generally six months or more and causes problems in functioning. A person with agoraphobia experiences this fear in two or more of the following situations:

 

Using public transportation

Being in open spaces

Being in enclosed places

Standing in line or being in a crowd

Being outside the home alone

 

The individual actively avoids the situation, requires a companion or endures intense fear or anxiety.

 

Untreated agoraphobia can become so serious that a person may be unable to leave the house. A person can only be diagnosed with agoraphobia if the fear is intensely upsetting, or if it significantly interferes with normal daily activities.

 

• Social Anxiety Disorder (previously called social phobia)

A person with a social anxiety disorder has significant anxiety and discomfort about being embarrassed, humiliated, rejected or looked down on in social interactions.

 

People with this disorder will try to avoid the situation or endure it with great anxiety. Common examples are extreme fear of public speaking, meeting new people or eating/drinking in public.

 

The fear or anxiety causes problems with daily functioning and lasts at least six months.

 

• Separation Anxiety Disorder

A person with a separation anxiety disorder is excessively fearful or anxious about separation from those with whom he or she is attached.

 

The feeling is beyond what is appropriate for the person’s age, persists (at least four weeks in children and six months in adults) and causes problems functioning.

 

A person with a separation anxiety disorder may be persistently worried about losing the person closest to him or her, may be reluctant or refuse to go out or sleep away from home or without that person, or may experience nightmares about separation.

 

Physical symptoms of distress often develop in childhood, but symptoms can carry through adulthood.

 

Why Do So Many People Have Anxiety Conclusion

Why do so many people have anxiety conclusion? It’s normal to have some anxiety. You may feel anxious or nervous if you have to tackle a problem at work, go to an interview, take a test or make an important decision.

 

And anxiety can even be beneficial. For example, anxiety helps us notice dangerous situations and focuses our attention, so we stay safe.

 

Why do so many people have anxiety conclusions? But an anxiety disorder goes beyond the regular nervousness and slight fear you may feel from time to time.

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