Experience of Anxiety: Symptoms and Treatment
Author: Delaney Bennett, M.S.
Did I make sure to send that email? What if they realize I forgot to send the email and become upset with me? What if I have to interact with other people today? I get so anxious when I am around people. They will judge me and find me to be incompetent. What if I don’t check the locks of the house and someone breaks in and steals everything we own? I just left the house, but I should drive back and check just to be sure - I won’t be able to stop thinking about it if I don’t.
What all of these statements have in common is that they are common examples of anxiety-related thoughts. Anxiety can take many forms. It can be seen on the outside of a person, for example, if someone is acting anxious and fidgety. It can also be found within the mind of the person. Anxiety can feel incredibly overwhelming. Anxiety is commonly experienced as a constant stream of “What if…” thoughts that move through your mind day in and day out. Anxiety can lead to feelings of stress, lack of control over emotions, and panic attacks. Panic attacks are physiological reactions to anxious thoughts that are characterized by racing thoughts, a racing heartbeat, sweaty palms, lightheadedness and, on occasion, fainting.
If you find yourself experiencing anxious thoughts and panic attacks, it is important to remember that you are not alone. Approximately 19.1% of adult Americans were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in the past year, and 31.1% of adult Americans are estimated to experience an anxiety disorder during their lifetime (NIMH, 2022). Anxiety disorders are also found in children and adolescents.
Anxiety becomes a clinical disorder when the anxious experiences and thoughts compromise the individual’s psychological, occupational, social, and daily functioning. There are several types of diagnosable clinical anxiety disorders. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) includes Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), a common anxiety disorder diagnosis. DSM-5 criteria for GAD include excessive anxiety and worry that occur more days than not for at least a 6-month time period about a wide array of daily occurrences including performance at work, social activities, and academics. The DSM-5 describes an individual who is diagnosed with GAD as experiencing difficulty in controlling these worries about everyday things, and the anxiety is related to at least three of a list of six symptoms which include but are not limited to, feeling restless, having difficulties concentrating on tasks, and irritability. Individuals with GAD may also experience sleep disturbances such as insomnia (DSM-5, 2013).
What should you do if you feel that you experience anxiety that compromises your functioning and has become too much to handle on your own? The best recommendation is to seek mental health services, or initially discuss with your primary care physician how you may be able to get help for your anxiety. It is likely they will refer you to a practicing mental health specialist or psychologist for therapy. There are several treatment modalities that are empirically supported as being effective for treating anxiety disorders, with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) being a leading treatment in psychotherapy for a multitude of diagnosed mental health disorders, including many of the anxiety disorders (Otte, 2011; David et al., 2018).
How can CBT help decrease anxiety symptoms? CBT helps decrease anxiety symptoms by identifying the automatic thoughts related to your anxiety. CBT aims to help the client restructure these automatic thoughts by identifying core beliefs. Core beliefs are deep rooted beliefs that are embedded in our psyche. CBT also utilizes interventions such as examining the evidence and cognitive restructuring of automatic thoughts, to assist in altering the negative automatic thoughts relevant to the client’s anxiety experiences. In cognitive restructuring, positive thoughts are created by transforming the original negative thoughts. CBT also uses relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation, among others, to assist in helping calm clients when they are dealing with their anxious experiences. Grounding techniques, such as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, can also be used to help clients relax when they experience panic attack symptoms related to their anxiety. The 5-4-3-2-1 technique asks the client to name off or list 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell (in the moment or in general), and 1 thing they can taste.
ACT, also known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, utilizes some helpful anxiety-reducing strategies, such as the Leaves on a Stream technique. In this technique, one is asked to visualize a calm environment, specifically a stream, and imagine leaves floating down the stream. The client is then asked to place an anxiety-related (or uncomfortable) thought that they have on the leaf, and watch it float down the stream and past the client. In doing this, the therapist helps guide the client to use cognitive defusion, which is an ACT term that defines the process of creating distance from one’s thoughts and feelings to reduce the impact these thoughts and feelings have on the individual. This helps reduce anxiety by helping put space between the anxious thoughts and the client.
Overall, anxiety can create significant stress for individuals in their daily lives. Anxiety can impact relationships and how we cope with stress. However, anxiety does not have the right to have power over you forever. Therapy, which utilizes therapeutic interventions to reduce anxiety and stress, and relaxation and grounding strategies as included earlier in this article, are all helpful ways to reduce the impact anxiety has on our everyday lives.
If you are experiencing anxiety and are interested in seeking services, please contact us today
*Delaney Bennett, M.S., is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Florida Institute of Technology and a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. She is looking forward to serving active duty service members as a military psychologist. When she is not in school or with clients, she enjoys traveling, reading books, writing, horse-back riding, spending time with her pets and family, and adventuring with her fiancé.
Sources Cited
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition).
David, D., Cristea, I., & Hofmann, S. G. (2018). Why cognitive behavioral therapy is the current gold standard of psychotherapy. Front Psychiatry, 9: 4. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004.
National Institute of Mental Health. Mental Health Information - Any Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder on May 29, 2022.
Otte, C. (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders: current state of the evidence.Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 13(4): 413-421. Doi:10.31887/DCNS.2011.13.4/cotte.
