Question: Can you give me an overview of anxiety?

Dr. Carlo Carandang, MD, FAPAPsychiatrist

Overview of Anxiety

Gene from San Francisco asks if I can give an overview of anxiety

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are characterized by:– extreme fear– nervousness– or worry on exposure to a feared stimulus

Feared stimulus can be an object, person, or situation

Fear versus anxiety

Fear is a reaction to a current stimulus Anxiety is fear of some future stimulus or

anticipation of one Anxiety becomes a problem when:

– one becomes fearful, nervous, or worried out of proportion to the feared stimulus, or

– becomes nervous or worried about some future stimulus or anticipated event

Fear and survival

Fear– normal response– necessary component of survival

When presented with danger– a physiological reaction is triggered– adrenaline is released into the bloodstream

Adrenaline

Adrenaline is a fear-response hormone Adrenaline causes several physical changes

in the body– increased heart rate– increased rate of breathing– dilated pupils

Shunting of blood

Shunting of the blood flow from the digestive system and the skin to the skeletal muscles– “butterflies” in the stomach– numbness and tingling sensations of the

extremities

Fight or flight response

These physical changes allow the person to:– prepare to fight the danger– run from it

This is the “fight-or-flight” response

Why the physical changes?

Increased heart rate and breathing:– allows the blood to supply more oxygen to the skeletal

muscles needed to fight or run Blood shunting to the skeletal muscles

– further aids this process to either fight or run Dilated pupils

– improved vision to assess the danger Brain becomes more alert and hypervigilant for

danger, allowing one to scan their environment in order to deal with the external danger

Anxiety is fear gone wild

The fear response goes awry and turns into anxiety when:– you start to anticipate danger– you overestimate the danger– You underestimate your ability to cope with the

danger

Thoughts lead to anxiety

Fear response is heightened by your thoughts about the event or future event

Your thoughts of anticipatory worry, overestimation of the danger, and underestimation of your coping leads to anxiety

Adrenaline and anxiety

Body perceives fear and anxiety the same way

Adrenaline response is triggered with either fear or anxiety

Anxiety serving no purpose

Anxiety activates the fight-or-flight response Serves no purpose

– danger is more in your head Your thoughts about the situation leads to

anxiety

Anxiety becomes disorder

Anxiety becomes an anxiety disorder when the anxiety symptoms:– cause impairment of functioning in your

relationships and work/school– you have significant distress and are unable to

control the anxiety

Major anxiety disorders

The major anxiety disorders include:– generalized anxiety disorder– specific phobia– social phobia– panic disorder– post traumatic stress disorder– obsessive compulsive disorder.

For more information on anxiety

Visit AnxietyBoss.com I hope this answers your question Thank you for viewing and listening