Is Anxiety an emotion or a mental health disorder? Does Anxiety co-exist with other mental health disorders? How does Anxiety prove to be different than fear? If these questions have caught your attention, this article is worth the read. Anxiety is a topic that can be very broad depending on the type of perspective that you take. As you read this article think about your personal experiences and beliefs about anxiety? Do your thoughts align with the research you discover?
Anxiety is a classified as a mental illness under the DSM-5. In the DSM-5, there are specific types of anxiety disorders such as panic disorders, social phobia, PTSD, and generalized anxiety disorder.[1] (I would also make sure you add a citation or is that the article title?). Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response to a real threat, whereas anxiety is the anticipation of a future threat. It is often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination.[2] Anxiety and fear are commonly grouped together; however, the causes are different. For example, anxiety is having an umbrella up when it is sunny outside. It is due to the fact of being concerned about the rain even when there are not weather conditions leading to that. While fear is a normal rational response to a perceived threat. For instance, if someone is a swimmer yet they have a fear of deep water. They would potentially use their fear to help them be cautious and stay safe.
Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing. It is often accompanied by muscular tension, restlessness, fatigue, inability to catch one's breath, tightness in the abdominal region, nausea, and problems in concentration. Anxiety is closely related to fear, which is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat (fight or flight response); anxiety involves the expectation of future threat including dread. People facing anxiety may withdraw from situations which have provoked anxiety in the past.ns."[1] anxiety disorders truly can cause an excessive amount of worry through everyday situations. [3]
Depression is a state of low mood and inactivity[4]. Sometimes people experience moody emotions yet that is quite common. Depressed mood is a symptom of some mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and dysthymia; it is a normal temporary reaction to life events, such as the loss of a loved one; and it is also a symptom of some physical diseases and a side effect of some drugs and medical treatments. It may feature sadness, difficulty in thinking and concentration and a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping. People experiencing depression may have feelings of dejection or hopelessness and may experience suicidal thoughts. It can either be short term or long term[5] Depression and Anxiety can be sometimes linked together in common diagnosis. However, they are not the same. Depression and Anxiety cause people to experience difference feelings.
Depression
Anxiety
Anxiety can be experienced with long, drawn-out daily symptoms that reduce quality of life, known as chronic (or generalized) anxiety, or it can be experienced in short spurts with sporadic, stressful panic attacks, known as acute anxiety. Symptoms of anxiety can range in number, intensity, and frequency, depending on the person. However, most people do not suffer from chronic anxiety[6].
Anxiety can induce several psychological pains (e.g. depression) or mental disorders, and may lead to self-harm or suicide (for which dedicated hotlines exist).
The behavioral effects of anxiety may include withdrawal from situations which have provoked anxiety or negative feelings in the past. Other effects may include changes in sleeping patterns, changes in habits, increase or decrease in food intake, and increased motor tension (such as foot tapping).
The emotional effects of anxiety may include "feelings of apprehension or dread, trouble concentrating, feeling tense or jumpy, anticipating the worst, irritability, restlessness, watching (and waiting) for signs (and occurrences) of danger, and, feeling like your mind's gone blank" as well as "nightmares/bad dreams, obsessions about sensations, déjà vu, a trapped-in-your-mind feeling, and feeling like everything is scary." It may include a vague experience and feeling of helplessness.
The cognitive effects of anxiety may include thoughts about suspected dangers, such as fear of dying: "You may ... fear that the chest pains are a deadly heart attack or that the shooting pains in your head are the result of a tumor or an aneurysm. You feel an intense fear when you think of dying, or you may think of it more often than normal, or can't get it out of your mind."
The physiological symptoms of anxiety may include:
Uro-genital, as frequent urination, urinary urgency, dyspareunia, or impotence, chronic pelvic pain syndrome.[7]
A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation[8]. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months.[9] Those affected go to great lengths to avoid the situation or object, to a degree greater than the actual danger posed. If the object or situation cannot be avoided, they experience significant distress. Other symptoms can include fainting, which may occur in blood or injury phobia, and panic attacks, often found in agoraphobia and emetophobia[10]. Around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias. Other symptoms can include fainting, which may occur in blood or injury phobia, and panic attacks, often found in agoraphobia and emetophobia. Around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias[11].
Phobias can be divided into specific phobias, social anxiety disorder, and agoraphobia. Specific phobias are further divided to include certain animals, natural environment, blood or injury, and particular situations. The most common are fear of spiders, fear of snakes, and fear of heights. Specific phobias may be caused by a negative experience with the object or situation in early childhood. Social phobia is when a person fears a situation due to worries about others judging them. Agoraphobia is a fear of a situation due to perceived difficulty or inability to escape.
It is recommended that specific phobias be treated with exposure therapy, in which the person is introduced to the situation or object in question until the fear resolves. Medications are not helpful for specific phobias. Social phobia and agoraphobia may be treated with counseling, medications, or a combination of both. Medications used include antidepressants, benzodiazepines, or beta-blockers.
Specific phobias affect about 6–8% of people in the Western world and 2–4% in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in a given year. Social phobia affects about 7% of people in the United States and 0.5–2.5% of people in the rest of the world. Agoraphobia affects about 1.7% of people. Women are affected by phobias about twice as often as men. The typical onset of a phobia is around 10–17, and rates are lower with increasing age.
Researchers that made a great contribution to learning about Anxiety.
Sigmund Frued[12]
born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the psyche, through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it.
Freud's initial theory of anxiety was that accumulating libido, undischarged because of an unsatisfactory sexual life, as with abstinence or coitus interruptus, sufficed to cause an “actual” neurosis. 'ITicreforc, simple changes in sexual practices could cure anxiety[13].
Emil Kraeplin[14]
as a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's Encyclopedia of Psychology identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychiatric genetics[15].
Emil Kraepelin gave much attention to anxiety as a symptom associated with other diagnoses, but wrote less extensively on anxiety as a separate diagnosis. In the 8th edition of his textbook,26 Kraepelin describes anxiety (Angst) as the most frequent of ail abnormal distressing affects[16].
Pierre Janet[17]
was a pioneering French psychologist, physician, philosopher, and psychotherapist in the field of dissociation and traumatic memory.
He is ranked alongside William James and Wilhelm Wundt as one of the founding fathers of psychology[18].
He stressed psychological factors in hypnosis and contributed to the modern concept of mental and emotional disorders involving anxiety, phobias, and other abnormal behavior. Janet's report (1882) of an unusual case of hypnosis and clairvoyance gained him the attention of neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot[19].
Anyone can suffer from mental illnesses. Anxiety is no exception from common people to stars. Scientists, comedians, and many others can have this type of mental illness.
Charles Darwin: Famous scientists
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) suffered from a chronic illness that, throughout much of his adult life, impaired his functioning and severely limited his activities. The writings of this famous scientist as well as biographical materials indicate that he probably suffered from an anxiety disorder.[20]
Selena Gomez: Actor and Singer
A singer, actress, and producer, Selena Gomez is a vocal celebrity with anxiety and depression who has been open about her struggles. The 29-year-old admitted to “freaking out” when she reached 100 million followers on Instagram and has regularly taken time away from social media. She also sought therapy and treatment in her early 20s. Recently, Gomez announced the launch of a mental health platform called Wonder Mind to connect people with educational resources related to mental health issues[21].
Stephen Colbert: Comedian
Host of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and longtime comedian and actor, Colbert has talked about his struggles with anxiety, especially while in college and later at the Second City Theater in Chicago. “I needed to be medicated when I was younger to deal with my anxiety that I had thrown my life away by attempting to do something that so few people actually get away with or succeed at…,” he told Rolling Stone Magazine in a 2018 interview[22].
Oprah Winfrey: Talk Host, Billionaire, Author, Journalist, Film Producer, Philanthropist, and a total An Icon
Winfrey said in an interview that anxiety nearly caused her to have a nervous breakdown. "In the beginning, it was just sort of speeding and a kind of numbness and going from one thing to the next thing to the next thing,” she said. “I will tell you when I realized that I thought, 'All right, if I don't calm down, I'm going to be in serious trouble[23].
Summary Statement:
I would personally like to change my organization and some information based on the feedback that I received below. I listed the names and what their suggestions were to me. Most of them were very professional and the critics delivery was given in an understanding way. The most concerns that I received from everyone was the information, citations, and checking the sources. I will have to go back and change that. I understand that now and why it is so important. Here are the specific feedbacks given by each person below. I also have written out if I will be using the advice.
@Avonna-suggested to create better tone, language and use proper citations. I will go back and edit this article to make sure my language is more concise. I will be following their advice in recreating my article about anxiety. @Jules-suggested to add citations, headings, and create a bibliography. I will work on adding headings and a bibliography. I agree that this is a great idea.@Jkb001 suggested to year more than a 15-year-old article on the amygdala. I can at least try to find a different one.@filmgirl suggested to redo my information and that my information was not at all accurate. I will not be fixing any of their suggestions. @Populargirlpsch suggested to use better sources and find more diversity. I will try to fix that.
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Instructor Feedback
Nice efforts with your edits thus far. I have included my suggested edits above in line with the text. I encourage you to bring over more of the existing article so it is clear how your planned edits will interface with the article. I would also suggest that you review the final assignment rubric to ensure you are addressing all of the areas I will assess. You will want to include a minimum of two examples of peer-reviewed secondary literature and right now, none of the citations above would qualify based on my review. Please let me know if you have questions/concerns.