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Anxiety resources at Conselis

About anxiety

Anxiety disorders are among the most common problems encountered by psychologists and other practitioners in the field of mental health.

Almost everyone experiences anxiety to a certain degree at some point in his/her life, and there are times when this feeling becomes a real concern. This happens because anxiety represents a dysfunction of an old and evolutionary fear system. Fear is a natural response to threats, prepares us for and helps us face dangerous situations. Consequently, anxiety and fear should be separated as dysfunctional and functional responses to events interpreted as threats to our well-being.

How can I know if my anxiety is a real concern?

Any degree of anxiety that causes you concern or distress requires therapeutic attention. Psychological services can decrease the level of anxiety and normalize it to a natural fear response, whether it is moderate or severe, so that you can function more effectively in your daily life.

There are several issues to be considered when analyzing anxiety:
1. Anxiety disrupts the normal functioning, restraining the afflicted person from adequately functioning at work or from engaging in satisfying social interactions.
2. Anxiety is very distressful as a subjective experience.
3. Anxiety impedes on achieving personal goals and desires.
4. Anxiety is triggered by situations that are not dangerous for well being.

How do I recognize an anxiety response?

You may start by learning about the four components of a dysfunctional reaction to danger described below:

The cognitive component refers to cognitive distortions in the interpretation and evaluation of danger and of the coping potential, such as: probability overestimation of danger, catastrophic evaluations, and low emotional focused potential.

The behavioral component comprises avoidance reactions to situations interpreted as dangerous.

The somatic component refers to body sensations that occur during an anxiety response, such as:
• heart palpitations, racing or pounding heart;
• sweating;
• trembling or shaking;
• shortness of breath or smothering;
• choking sensations;
• chest pain;
• nausea;
• dizziness, or feeling faint;
• depersonalization (feeling detached from one's body) or derealization (feelings of unreality);
• numbness or tingling in the arms or legs;
• chills or hot flushes.

When associated to different types of anxiety disorders, these body sensations differ in quality and intensity.

The subjective component refers to subjective feelings of apprehension and fear that are the result of evaluating somatic, cognitive, and behavioral changes.

There are several types of anxiety disorders that depend on the symptoms one experiences and on the object of the anxiety. You can find below short descriptions for the most important types of anxiety disorders.

Generalized anxiety disorder

The main feature of generalized anxiety disorder is an excessive worry that occurs most of the time, for at least 6 months, and is triggered by a number of different dimensions of life (e.g., work, finances, family, and health). The worry is experienced as difficult to control and associated with at least three of six symptoms, which include restlessness, fatigue, impaired concentration, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep deprivation.

Panic disorder (PD) and panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA)

The hallmark of panic disorder is the presence of recurrent unexpected panic attacks (i.e., panic attacks occurring out of the blue, without any obvious situational trigger), as well as the concern about having additional attacks, the worries about the consequences of the attacks, or a significant change in behaviour as a result of the attacks. Typically, individuals with PD and PDA report heightened anxiety over experiencing the symptoms associated with panic attacks, such as palpitations, dizziness, and breathlessness.

Social phobia

Social phobia is an excessive or unrealistic fear of social or performance situations. Typical situations feared or avoided by individuals with social phobia include parties, meetings, eating in front of others, writing in front of others, public speaking, conversations, meeting new people, and other related situations.

Specific phobias

A specific phobia is an excessive or unreasonable fear of an object or situation (e.g., flying, heights, animals, injections, and blood), usually associated with the avoidance of the feared object. The most common objects feared are spiders, bugs, mice, snakes, and heights.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

OCD's main characteristics involve the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions that interfere with the person's functioning. Obsessions are defined as ideas, thoughts, images and impulses that enter the individual's mind repeatedly. They are recognized as a product of the subject's own mind, are perceived as intrusive and senseless, and efforts are made to resists, ignore, or suppress such thoughts. Compulsions are repetitive or stereotyped behaviors that are performed in response to an obsession in order to prevent the occurrence of an unlikely event or to prevent discomfort.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a disorder in which an individual experiences a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or serious injury to oneself or others and responds to the event with intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The fear is associated with three types of symptoms:
1. Re-experiencing the event (e.g., nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive memories);
2. Avoidance and emotional numbing (e.g., avoiding talking or thinking about the trauma);
3. Symptoms of increased arousal (e.g., sleeplessness, hypervigilance). Symptoms must be present for at least one month and must cause significant distress or functional impairment to be diagnosed as PTSD.