Which Statements Are True About Anxiety? The Facts You Need to Know

Which of the Following Is True of Anxiety?

Anxiety is a common human emotion that everyone experiences from time to time. But for some people, anxiety becomes so frequent and disruptive that it may signal the presence of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health condition in the United States, affecting over 19% of adults each year.

When symptoms of anxiety start to negatively impact daily life and overall functioning, it's important to understand the facts about what is true regarding anxiety. Learning to separate the myths from reality can help those struggling with anxiety get the help and treatment they may need.

Anxiety is More Than Just Temporary Worry or Stress

Feeling worried or stressed out from time to time does not necessarily constitute an anxiety disorder. Everyone feels anxious occasionally when facing stressful life events, responsibilities, or potential dangers. But with anxiety disorders, the anxiety persists for long periods and is deeply ingrained.

Anxiety disorders involve more than just short-term fears or nerves. The irrational anxiety and worry are chronic, exaggerated, and persistent without any real threat or cause. Rather than coming and going, the anxiety sticks around and can get worse over time without proper management.

Anxiety Can Be Debilitating Without Treatment

It's true that if left untreated, anxiety can be extremely debilitating over time. The constant fears, dread, and anxiety can make it very difficult for people to function in their daily lives. Severe anxiety can also lead to social isolation, career setbacks, relationship issues, substance abuse disorders, and poor quality of life.

In many cases, people with anxiety disorders tend to withdraw from various situations in an effort to reduce their anxiety and avoidance of potential triggers. But this avoidance behavior can progress to severely limit a person's normal activities.

Getting help through counseling, medication, lifestyle changes, or other treatments can help manage anxiety before it leads to more severe consequences like depression, inability to work, or suicide risk in extreme cases.

Anxiety Impacts Both the Body and Mind

One statement that is true about anxiety is that it produces both physical and psychological symptoms. Anxiety causes a rush of activity in the nervous system that leads to a wide variety of symptoms:

• Psychological symptoms like worry, nervousness, restlessness, sense of dread, difficulty concentrating, feeling tense
• Physical symptoms like pounding heart, nausea, dizziness, shakiness, sweating, chest tightness, muscle tension, headaches

These sensations of anxiety are the body's natural response to perceived danger or threats. But with anxiety disorders, these responses are triggered chronically even without real danger present.

Genetics Play a Role in Anxiety

Studies show that anxiety disorders tend to run in families, indicating a genetic component. Having an immediate family member with anxiety disorders increases your risk of also developing anxiety. But environmental factors, brain chemistry, and life experiences also contribute to anxiety risk.

According to research, an estimated 30-50% of risk for anxiety disorders comes from genetic factors. The specific genes have not been definitively identified yet. But the hereditary nature of anxiety is evident based on twin studies and family patterns.

Just because you may have a genetic predisposition does not mean anxiety is inevitable. Lifestyle changes, therapy, and other interventions can help manage anxiety even with a potential genetic vulnerability.

Anxiety Can Start at Any Age

It's true that anxiety disorder can develop at any age. Most often, symptoms emerge in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. But it is possible for anxiety to appear later in adult life as well. Specific types of anxiety disorders tend to appear at different average ages:

• Separation anxiety: Early childhood
• Social anxiety: Early teens
• Phobias: Early to mid teens
• Generalized anxiety: Mid teens to early adulthood
• Panic disorder: Early 20s
• Agoraphobia: Late 20s to 30s

Stressful life events, trauma, medical conditions, family history, temperament, and other factors can all contribute to when anxiety develops. While anxiety disorders usually start early in life, new conditions can arise later as well.

Effective Treatments Are Available

The good news is that anxiety disorders are highly treatable through proven techniques and interventions. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often the first line treatment for anxiety, teaching patients how to modify dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to manage symptoms.

Anti-anxiety medications like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepines can also help regulate brain chemistry to reduce anxiety. Improving coping skills through support groups and mental health resources can support recovery.

With professional help, people with anxiety disorders can gain control over their symptoms and start to regain functioning and quality of life. It may take some trial and error to find the right treatment plan for each individual.

Self-Help Strategies Alone Are Not Enough

Attempting to manage anxiety entirely on your own using self-help strategies is usually not sufficient. Severe and persistent anxiety often requires a combination of professional treatment and self-care practices. Working with a therapist, counselor, or doctor can help develop an effective anxiety management plan.

Self-help strategies like exercise, meditation, journaling, and deep breathing do complement professional treatment. But relying solely on self-help while avoiding other evidence-based treatments is unlikely to fully resolve debilitating anxiety.

Anxiety Levels Can Fluctuate Over Time

The severity of anxiety disorders can vary over time. Anxiety levels are not necessarily constant and may fluctuate based on life circumstances, stressors, medical issues, and management strategies.

It is common for the intensity of anxiety symptoms to come and go in cycles. Anxiety may worsen during times of higher stress. Effective management can help reduce symptoms and prevent exacerbations, leading to more steady anxiety levels.

Tracking anxiety day-to-day using rating scales can help identify triggers and times when symptoms increase. Addressing these patterns can minimize fluctuations in anxiety over the long term.

Anxiety Disorders Are Underdiagnosed

Despite being highly prevalent, anxiety disorders often go undiagnosed and untreated. Only an estimated one-third of people with anxiety disorders receive treatment. Some barriers to diagnosis include:

• Lack of screening by physicians
• Minimizing anxiety symptoms as temporary stress
• Failure to recognize anxiety as a mental health issue
• Stigma surrounding mental illness
• Limited access to mental health services

Raising awareness and improving access to screenings can help more people get diagnosed properly so they can pursue appropriate therapies and find anxiety relief.

Anxiety Is Not Always Rational

One of the most frustrating aspects of anxiety is that it often arises in response to irrational thoughts and exaggerated danger that are not based in reality. People with anxiety disorders frequently realize their anxiety is irrational but still cannot control it.

The fears, obsessions, and physical symptoms feel very real even when no real threat exists. Anxious brain chemicals and pathways trigger reactions disproportionate to actual risks. That is why managing anxiety typically requires professional interventions beyond just rationalizing fears away.

Triggers for Anxiety Differ Between People

While some scenarios like public speaking, crowds, and heights trigger anxiety for many people, the specific objects of anxiety differ between individuals. What causes overwhelming anxiety for one person may not faze someone else at all.

Some common triggers include social situations, driving, germs, needles, flying, school, health worries, and finances. But the triggers underlying a person's anxiety disorders are unique to their experiences and susceptible situations.

Identifying individual triggers is an important part of anxiety management. Customized techniques can then help patients overcome or cope with those exact scenarios.

Anxiety Disorders Often Co-Occur with Depression

It's true that anxiety disorders and clinical depression often co-occur together. Estimates suggest around 85% of people with depression also experience anxiety, while 90% of people with anxiety have depression.

This comorbidity may be partly due to overlapping brain biology and environmental risk factors. The conditions also exacerbate each other - anxiety can lead to depression while depression can drive more anxiety.

When anxiety and depression co-exist, it's important that treatment addresses both conditions. Medications, therapy, and lifestyle changes can improve both simultaneously.

Anxiety Impacts Daily Functioning

One of the defining characteristics of clinical anxiety is that it interferes with daily life activities, relationships, work performance, and overall wellbeing. Anxiety is not just unpleasant emotions - it actively impairs functioning.

Severe anxiety can make it difficult to complete school, hold jobs, maintain friendships, run errands, pursue hobbies, and manage a household. Establishing treatment goals around regaining functioning is a key component of anxiety management programs.

The Bottom Line

Living with anxiety disorders can be disabling without proper support. Knowing the facts about what is true regarding anxiety can help sufferers identify when they need professional help. Gaining control over anxious brain pathways is possible, allowing people to enjoy full and meaningful lives.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.