Anxiety Guides

Social anxiety has been stereotyped as being shy, being the wallflower, and being submissive. A recent study just proved otherwise; bullies, whether in school or at the workplace, may just underline a deeper form of social anxiety disorder.

This has just been backed by a recent study conducted at the George Mason University, where study authors Patrick McKnight and Todd Kashdan identifies a subgroup of sufferers who act out their disorders at an aggressive way because behavioral patterns are just too complex. Results of this study are published in Current Directions in Psychological Science.

They found evidence supporting the claim that those who acted with too much violence, substance abuse, and other aggressive behavior were the same adults who have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Misconduct was often seen as an antisocial tendency but if we were to look closer, the motives behind underlies an uncontrollable fear of social rejection, and extreme anxiety is just manifested by a show of aggression, violence, substance abuse, and sometimes psychological abuse. They feel that they derive satisfaction and positive experiences from it in the short term, though it can get way out of hand in the long term which can only compromise their quality of life.

Parents and teachers, including work colleagues, think that this is just a simple behavioral problem because of an unresolved conduct disorder or antisocial tendency. What people need to think is that when they actions are shown outward, too often it’s the grave fear of misjudgment and rejection. If this is the case, then it’s a different social anxiety disorder requiring a different set of intervention unlike the usual.

Researchers also suggest that identifying the root problems of antisocial behavior is the key to understand how these people struggle to interact within society.

“It’s the same thing with bosses, co-workers, friends, and romantic partners. Since we all don’t know the underlying cause, it’s easy to jump into the conclusion that it’s a simple misunderstanding or that aggressive behaviors are just the culprits. Evidence then suggests that for a large minority, it’s the social anxiety that’s causing all the trouble,” notes Kashdan.

Given this new development, further studies are then required to help psychologists find alternative treatments or ways of intervention that will tackle the concealed social anxiety. Study authors suggest that the way to start is to look into willpower and self control. “Laboratory experiments have established that people can be trained to enhance self-control, inhibit impulse, and further control emotion. In essence, it’s going back to the ways of learning self discipline. It can mean controlling eating habits, or finances, or physical work routines, because once willpower is improved, self-control naturally follows to inhibit violent tendencies, substance abuse, or other abusive tendencies that harm their external social spheres.”

Once and for all, a study has been conducted to finally end long standing debates on whether natural medications can help treat anxiety whenever a patient wishes to avoid pharmacological and behavioral interventions – or the hefty price tag.

A Saint Louis University doctor investigated on these claims and found no concrete medical evidence that will otherwise relieve anxiety symptoms or end their anxiety woes.

Herbal remedies continue to prowl the internet and particularly famous are kava extract, St. John’s wort, and valerian, which apparently claim to have treated anxiety and their symptoms. Kimberly Zoberi MD of the Saint Lous University School of Medicine notes that these herbal treatments have not established efficacy in treating anxiety, and further raises concerns that these herbal treatments may just be unsafe – given the fact that no long term studies have been conducted to look closely into these herbs.

“Extreme caution has to be exercised when looking at purported medical advice and opinion from the internet. If no evidences of such claims are published in major medical journals, most likely it’s just another hoax. If the patient wishes to avoid drug therapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy, or both, doctors and physicians are open to suggest other alternatives that are otherwise proven as effective.

Aside from the issue of “natural” treatments, Zoberi says that this may have stemmed from differing reactions to the usual treatments recommended by physicians. Doctors always recommend SSRIs or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors for anxiety relief because it’s safer, more effective, and cheaper than your usual anxiety drug. On the other hand, side effects are just as disturbing especially so the side effect is related to sexual or gastrointestinal which is more annoying.

If SSRI’s won’t work as a first option, doctors often recommend anticolvusant drugs. The quickest and most effective way to relieve anxiety symptoms without the aforementioned side effects, the downside however is the bank-breaking price tag.

Though the study did not elaborate a clear solution that will find a middle ground on prescriptions for anxiety, Zoberi still recommends that it’s only a health care professional who can help even before any anxiety medication starts in.

It’s amazing how lap-band procedures connect with relief of anxiety disorders in the morbidly obese. A study just recently discovered how laparoscopic gastric banding not only lost weight and improved the physical health of the obese, but psychological health benefits were also noted. Results were presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego USA.

Andrew Johnson MD of the Southmead Hospital in Bristol UK notes that surgical treatments for weight loss, like those of laparoscopic gastric banding, is considered the most effective way to lose weight and to improve blood sugar on obese patients with diabetes. However, no in-depth study has been conducted as of yet to determine the psychological effects despite the popular usage, particularly as to how it affects anxiety in the morbidly obese.

Also known as the “Lap-Band” procedure, it’s a procedure that entails tightening of the stomach to make it smaller for food consumption by using a band with repeated adjustments.

About 21 women and 4 men from the age groups of 30 to 58 years were gathered in the study who were about to undergo the lap band procedure. All of them were classified, according to BMI, as morbidly obese. They underwent psychological testing before surgery, six months after, and a year after surgery. All these measured general anxiety, their quality of life, and social anxiety pertaining to how they looked and how they were perceived by the public.

Results were contrasting. If at pre-surgery their psychological scores were so low, they soared an all time high 6 and 12 months after. They reported better quality of life and total reduction of general anxiety along with social anxiety.

Though Johnson notes that the study presents clear evidence that psychological health improves along with physiological health, and the study was limited to the obese, it’s a clear showing too that looking better was indeed a good way to rid of social and general anxieties. The perception of looking good and feeling good outweighs the advantage; not only it diverts the attention, but the confidence shadows the fear and the anxiety within.

Psychological Science journals notes a study where thinking about God and religion can make a person lesser distressed and lesser anxious in life. The study involved measuring brain waves according to distress responses as participants made errors on the test. Those who were primed for God and religion weren’t as scared or as anxious compared to those who weren’t.

Co-author Michael Inzlicht along with Alexa Tullett of the University of Toronto Scarborough notes that about 85% of the world believes in God and religion, though as men and women of science, roles and functions of which to the human brain remains yet to be explored.

The study illustrates the results with 2 experiments. When people thought about religion and God, their brains responded in such a way that is coping easier with setbacks and with lesser anxiety to mistakes. Alerting mechanisms in the brain, or waves to the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC) were lessened whenever things are going wrong or if we just made a mistake.

To those who were grouped as atheists, reactions were starkly different. When they were unconsciously primed for religion and God-related thoughts, ACC alerting mechanisms for anxiety and mistakes were heightened.

Study authors attempt to illustrate that for the religious, the order of the world and random events happening around them have better and acceptable explanations which accounts for reduced tensions and distress. Atheists, on the other hand, find it difficult to accept because God and religion contradict their existing order systems and beliefs, and this is what causes the tension and distress.

Inzlicht further notes that religion, when practiced and thought of in times of stressful situations like mistakes, calms a person under fire. “We think, too, that given this evidence, religious people have a tendency to live longer, better, healthier, and happier because their alerting mechanisms aren’t too active.”

What atheists can do perhaps is to find peace and conviction to their existing set of order systems and beliefs, so when mistakes and stressful situations happen, they won’t be too busy contradicting themselves which creates the constant alert.

A recent study has discovered that acupuncture can help relieve dental anxiety for patients to receive their necessary treatments. The small study’s results are now released in Acupuncture in Medicine.

Statistics show that 1 in every 20 people feels too much anxiety just going to the dentist, a condition termed as odontophobia. About one third of these patients feel moderate anxiety at the mere sight of dental treatments according to the same study. The study has gathered these findings on about 16 women and 4 men from 8 practicing dentists.

The questionnaire employed by the study shows moderate to extreme anxiety just at the thought of visiting their dentists for treatment according the Back Anxiety Inventory or BAI, a validated questionnaire assessing each and every patients shivering at the mere thought of a dental treatment. Surprising enough, most of these patients were aged over 40 and had been having the same ordeal for a long time – some dealing with it for a minimum of 2 years while some others have been battling this anxiety for more than 30 years.

The Acupuncture treatment was administered by members of the British Dental Acupuncture Society who targeted two acupuncture points on top of the head, the GV20 and EX6, after the BAI scores were gathered and ascertained.

Skepticism towards the benefits of acupuncture in healing dental anxiety symptoms will just have to waver given the fact that British dentists themselves practice acupuncture as they have encountered these problems beforehand. This also enforces the fact that odontophobia, is a real problem requiring real and immediate solutions where before, it was dismissed as a nuisance condition devoid of any medical categorization.

BAI scores, after administering acupuncture, fell sharply to 11.5 from a high 25.5 as all 20 patients were able to receive their required dental treatments. Prior to acupuncture, only 6 of them were able to do so. Some of them only received such treatments after a great deal of effort from both the patient and the dentist.

Several attempts to control this anxiety have been made – behavioral therapies, sedatives, relaxation techniques, hypnosis, even biofeedback had been employed. Though it was shown that these alternatives helped calm dental anxieties, they all required extensive skills and were time consuming that proved to be longer than the dental treatments themselves.

Women are more susceptible to anxiety, and studies have revealed that women in low income levels have increased exposure to anxiety and depression. Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society,
recommends that women of this precarious condition will do well with a lot of psychosocial interventions to accommodate varying needs.

It has also been established that financial status and education (both in the category of socioeconomic status) has a lot to do with mental and physical health, though fact remains that only a few studies have looked into the major impact of anxiety and psychological adjustments after the knowledge of a key stressor, like being diagnosed with cancer.

Janet de Moor, MPH, PhD, of The Ohio State University College of Public Health along with other researchers investigated this further – if socioeconomic status greatly affects anxiety after being diagnosed with cancer, and if social support can help mitigate the impact of distress.

Months following the study, it was found out that financial hardship was indeed a major cause of higher anxiety attacks and depression. Changes in financial status also affected changes in anxiety and
depression levels – a rise in financial hardship also meant rising anxiety while women who reported no financial hardship did not have the same anxiety levels like the former.

Study authors also noted the following results: education levels and social support did not impact anxiety, let alone the finding that social support did not cause even a slight change in anxiety levels. The only solution that the authors suggested was psychosocial intervention for women of low financial status, and higher anxiety levels.

If anxiety disorders are bad enough, what more for those who suffer it with heart diseases? Anxiety disorders are strongly linked with higher risks of heart complications such as heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, even death. Results of this study are published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

The numbers are high. About 24 to 31 percent of heart disease patients also suffer from anxiety attacks. Study authors find that there’s so much literature about depression and coronary heart
diseases, though lacking in anxiety and how it can influence cardiovascular events.

The study was conducted in Tilburg, the Netherlands, as researchers headed by Elisabeth J. Martens Ph.D. sampled over 1,000 outpatients suffering from coronary heart disease and were noted to
have general anxiety disorders. Presence of the latter was verified using computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedules.

Researchers, after a 5.6 year follow up, discovered that more than 350 cardiovascular incidents were reported on these sampled outpatients. It was found out that 10 in every 106 participants
diagnosed with general anxiety disorders reported yearly cardiovascular incidents. It was later revealed that those patients who had generalized anxiety disorders have 74% elevated risks of
encountering either a heart attack or stroke.

Given the strong association of general anxiety disorders to heart complications, authors try to investigate further. They suggest that anxiety may in turn causes the catecholamine spikes associated
with the fight or flight hormones responsible for the cardiovascular event.

Researchers further recommend that for cardiovascular risks to be reduced, it will be necessary to treat the general anxiety first. This will further improve patient care considering that more evidence are currently being gathered linking anxiety to mortality in the aspect of heart complications.

Results of a study published by the journal Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology divulge that pregnant women who can’t keep their anxiety to a minimum has greatly affected their infant’s gestational
age and size. The more severe and chronic the anxiety, the more affected the baby will become.

Study authors have taken a sample of low-income, African American and Caucasian women who had high risk factors for alcohol and cigarette and who are most likely to experience anxiety attacks
during pregnancy. They were able to establish that the pregnant mother’s anxiety negatively affects birth outcomes that transcend factors of education, race, and drug use.

It’s the third trimester of a pregnant woman that is adversely affected by anxiety attacks so pregnant mothers should be warned. Anxiety attacks happening during the first and second trimesters are greatly affected only when these women experience severe anxiety.

Just the same, anxiety during pregnancy largely determines the birth outcome that may result in a small baby size or a preterm delivery. It is therefore important for the pregnant mother to seek anxiety
reducing treatments or interventions if the mother is experiencing severe anxiety or stress during the 9 months of her pregnancy. Focusing on the natal health of the mother is just as important as
monitoring the fetal health. Seeking anxiety treatments, as necessary, is a way to prevent health problems and birthing complications for both the mother and child.

Anxiety in low to moderate levels during the first to second trimester of pregnancy did not greatly affect birth outcomes, but doctors recommend that to be on a safer side, pregnant mothers should stay
away from their anxiety triggers or should seek remedies and necessary medical interventions if the anxiety triggers are unavoidable (i.e., unfaithful husbands). It might just be the trait anxiety of the mother herself; be that as it may, she should steer clear of her stress factors if that causes her anxiety.

Mayo Clinic Proceedings just published the results of a research saying that sexual abuse strongly accounts for a lifetime disorders of depression, suicide attempts, eating and sleeping disorders, even post-traumatic stress disorders and severe anxiety disorders. Results further describe that higher incidences of these multiple psychiatric problems are heightened with history of rape.

Sexual abuse survivors face multiple mental and physical complications which will require high costs in health care, but more often than not, do not find their quality of life improving as much,  according to Ali Zirakzadeh MD of the Mayo Clinic Division of General Internal Medicine who happens to head the study.

Statistics show that sexual abuse prevalence are as high as 21 percent in adults while the rates are higher in children of about 33 percent. Survivors of sexual abuse account for about 25 percent of patients in primary care. Most of these survivors do not experience psychiatric symptoms, while some profiles belong to the other side of the extreme.

Genes may portray an influential role. Some abuse survivors do not experience psychiatric symptoms at all and researchers infer that certain genetic profiles may provide a certain level of protection. This would indeed be crucial in determining who is most likely to suffer from multiple psychiatric disorders, anxiety attacks notwithstanding, and who is most likely protected. Once the proposition is confirmed and established, this is an important breakthrough to ascertain future intervention treatments that will better improve the lives of these survivors.

“There is a significant link between psychiatric illnesses and abuse so it’s doubly important to refer them to treatment. These days, it’s a good thing that physicians are already aware of this link, and with a heightened awareness, this may lead to improved lives.

When exposed to daily rocket attacks in the battlefield, the old PTSD or the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder models says that we become more vigilant. This is what has just been overturned by a study conducted in Tel Aviv’s Department of Psychology after finding out in real time how soldiers cope under severe stress.

Soldiers who came home from the battlefields of Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq were discovered to have dissociated from the actual threat instead of an increased vigilance. It’s indeed a unique picture painted for the first time manifesting how anxiety shows itself – disproving any prior claims that we tend to get more vigilant in the face of extreme adversity.

This study was conducted on the war grounds of Middle East and did not limit the research to Israeli soldiers. This has implications for US soldiers just the same given the fact that the American government has sent millions of their soldiers to different battlefields, Iraq and Afghanistan comprising the bulk. The more soldiers were sent, the greater the number of PTSD and war-related anxieties they will have to treat.

The same study was able to show the effects of war stresses in real time as this will pave the way for understanding what else could be the trigger factors and other treatment options that may be very effective but out of convention. Given this new development of dissociation and disengagement during rocket attacks, a new way of approaching PTSD and sever anxieties may now be in the offing.

Lead researcher Prof. Bat Haim of Tel Aviv University employed imaging techniques such as the fMRI to see how the brain reacts to anxiety disorders and how people respond to war time attacks. Most of his studies focused on looking at the genetic, molecular, and neural factors that pertains to how the brain processes threats, and in under what context should the data be analyzed.

They found out that all symptoms lead to a neuromarker that can possibly be used to determine who are most likely to develop chronic post-traumatic stress disorders.