Ab Ovo - The Psychology Podcast
Anxiety disorders
In this episode, I talk about general anxiety, phobias, social anxiety, and exposure therapy.
You can catch me on:
🐦 Twitter at https://x.com/abovotherapy
📸 Instagram at @kkoz_official
💼 LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/k-koziara/
📚 ResearchGate at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karolina_Koziara
- Duration:
- 27m
- Broadcast on:
- 03 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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Granger, for the ones who get it done. Hello guys, welcome to another episode of the podcast. In today's episode, we're going to talk about anxiety disorders. Let's go! [Music] So, anxiety disorder is a mental condition in which people experience fear or anxiety that is tremendously intense and excessive. Unlike the fear or anxiety felt by all of us on a regular basis. And this intense fear is often accompanied by physical tension or other behavioral and cognitive symptoms. And normally, when we experience fear, it is related to a kind of danger. This can be physical danger, such as being trapped in a burning house or walking down a dark street at night. Or, it can be more figurative source of fear, like facing a difficult exam or a potential breakup. These are situations in which we all feel discomfort and anxiety. However, in a case of anxiety disorder, the source of fear can often be unclear or blurred. Not always, we're going to talk about it in a minute. But in general, the reason for anxiety might sometimes be concealed. And additionally, it is often long-lasting and the negative effects of anxiety do not end when the source of anxiety is removed. And regarding the prevalence of anxiety disorder, it is estimated that approximately 4% of global population experience it. 4% which translates to about 300 million people worldwide. So it is not very uncommon condition. 4% of a global population is quite a lot. And sometimes, anxiety disorder can be related to a very specific trigger. And in this case, we are talking about phobias. And phobias involve intense and often irrational fears of specific objects or situations. For example, some people have intense fear of dogs or intense fear of rats, while others might have a very intense fear of feathers or balloons, where essentially anything can be a trigger for tremendous fear. And it is not completely clear what the mechanism for developing phobias is. But it is likely related to behavioral patterns. For instance, someone might develop phobia after having a negative experience with mice. For example, someone have been beaten by mice. Or something frightening happened while balloons were around. And you somehow related this frightening experience to the balloons. And now the balloons are triggering this feeling of being frightened. And according to some theories, this experience doesn't have to be consciously recalled. It might be the kind of subconscious experience rooted deep in the mind, and the specific trigger evokes negative experiences, fear, anxiety, and physical reactions. Besides specific phobias, many people experience social anxiety disorder, which involves a high level of fear and worry about social situations in general. And particularly, those believed to cause feelings of humiliation, embarrassment, or rejection. And well, this is also very irrational fear. For example, I remember a patient who told me that during her classes, it was like regular classes or workshop, while everyone ate apples and drank water from paper cups. This is a regular classroom situation. And normally, people who finished would stand up, walk to the trash can, throw away their trash and return to their seats. You don't even realize that this is happening. However, she had social anxiety disorder. So, she held onto her apple core and paper cup until the end of the class, because she was afraid that during the five step walk to the trash can, she might drop the cup, stumble, or disrupt the class. And these thoughts pile up in her mind, disturbing her so much that she couldn't focus on the class because she was constantly thinking about what might happen if she took those steps to the trash can. And this fear, as you can see, this is very irrational, because for a regular person, dropping a paper cup means nothing. They would simply pick it up and throw it away. But someone with social anxiety disorder, well, this situation feels like the worst tragedy ever, like the end of the world. So, she kept thinking about it throughout the whole class and could only throw it away when the class was over, because walking five steps was just too much for her. And it is very difficult to understand anxiety disorder if you don't have it. And I often hear people say things like, "Well, this is so stupid. How can you be afraid to go to trash can or be scared to ask for directions if you're in a new town? Or how can you be so scared? Or what time it is?" And so on. So, the core point of anxiety disorder is that it is irrational. So, you cannot really see the logic in it. What might seem trivial to one person can feel like the end of the world to another. So, if someone tells you that they have phobias and anxiety, I know that for you it might sound stupid. But for this person, it is a very serious situation. And even though a person with social anxiety or any anxiety disorder might try to overcome their fear, the anxiety is so overwhelming that they are almost paralyzed when exposed to the source of fear. So, for example, my patient understood that her fear of walking to the trash can was irrational and stupid. And besides experiencing intense anxiety, she also felt irritation toward herself for feeling this way. She recognized it, it was inappropriate and unreasonable. But the worst part was that she felt powerless to do anything about it. So, it was just another reason to feel bad about her. Because first, she couldn't overcome the fear and second, she felt powerless about it. Another very common type of anxiety disorder is so-called generalized anxiety disorder, GAD. And this condition involves persistent and excessive worry about daily activities or events, not related to social situations or specific objects. And as the name suggests, general anxiety disorder involves a very generalized anxiety. So, you feel anxious and experienced fear, but this fear is not linked to anything specific in your surrounding. It's not about social situations, it's not about mouths, it's not about balloons, it's not about dogs or spiders or anything else. It is very general feeling of anxiety. And anxiety disorders, they are often accompanied by other symptoms, usually behavioral or cognitive. And I remember a patient with generalized anxiety disorder who felt an intense pressure to check the news every few minutes. And if she didn't do it, she was absolutely convinced that something bad would happen. And she, because of this, she experienced deep anxiety. And she realized, logically, that her checking or not checking the news wouldn't change anything in the world. But still, she felt an overwhelming pressure to do so. And if she couldn't check the news due to running out of, losing signal or running out of battery or her phone was dying or anything else, she felt such intense fear that she almost approached a panic attack. And this is how anxiety works and how disturbing and difficult it can be for patients. And some people might say that anxiety disorders are like, they are light disorders. They're not compared to schizophrenia or severe depression. These are not that serious. But while that may be true, because of course, symptoms can be lighter than symptoms of schizophrenia or severe depression. But these examples show how anxiety disorders can be very disruptive to everyday life and can significantly interfere with daily activities. And when we talk about anxiety disorders, one of the undetectable aspects is panic attack. Well, not all people with anxiety disorder experience panic attacks, but they are quite common among those who do. Well, a panic attack is defined as a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions. And you might experience a fast heartbeat, difficult breathing and a feeling of losing control over your body and over the situation. And as with all anxiety disorders, a panic attack is a reaction to no real danger. So there might be no apparent cause for the fear from our objective perspective. This is no apparent cause for the fear. But the worst part of panic attack is that it can be very frightening in itself, creating a vicious circle. Well, the panic attack is caused by no real danger, but it is perceived as dangerous. Because when you feel like you're losing control, your anxiety builds up, making the panic attack even worse. And patients often say that when they experience a panic attack, they feel like they are dying during the panic attack. They typically experience a loss of control, a pounding heart, sweating, trembling, a chest pain, which can feel like having a stroke. And they often describe it as literally feeling like they are dying. And if people experience panic attacks more than once or twice, it may be diagnosed as a separate disorder. It is called a panic attack disorder. However, as I mentioned before, panic attacks are often part of another anxiety disorder. So they can be a disorder itself as a separate diagnosis, but it can be also symptom of another disorder. And some people with anxiety disorders might not find them very troubling as these disorders hinder their daily activities, but not enough to inspire them to help. They may not go to therapy or look for help because they have became used to their anxiety and have developed ways to manage it. However, after experiencing a panic attack, patients often seek help because they feel like they're going crazy. And these are the words of patients. Patients come to the doctor and say, please help me because I am going crazy. And this illustrates the huge impact a panic attack can have as it makes people feel like they're losing control and losing their minds. And when it comes to phobias, you may hear people say that they have arachnophobia, which is the fear of spiders or claustrophobia, the fear of being in a tiny room in constricted confined spaces, just like elevators or boxes and so on. However, often this is not true because feeling scared or uncomfortable in small rooms or upon seeing a spider does not equate to having a phobia. As I mentioned, anxiety disorder involves an exaggerated and overwhelming fear that often causes physical and cognitive symptoms. So for example, people with arachnophobia do not just fear spiders. They may tremble, shake, sweat, and be unable to move when they see a spider walking by. So this is not the same as feeling or discomfort when seeing a spider because well, maybe you're not a big fan of spiders, okay? Well, me neither, but I wouldn't say that I have arachnophobia because I don't have all those bodily reactions to spiders. And research has been conducted on what happens in the brain during an anxiety attack or an acute episode of anxiety. And although the research is not 100% conclusive, it is believed and to some extent proven that the brain recalls and dangerous or potentially deadly event. And some areas of the brain retrive the stressful situation and by recalling it, the brain sends the same signals to the body causing it to respond in the same way. So thus, the triggering object causes brain activity and this brain activity causes the body's reaction. And this is likely the basis of panic attacks and physical reactions to potentially dangerous events or perceived dangerous events or objects. And research suggests that phobias are linked to the amygdala is a part of a brain that can trigger the fight or flight response. And the fight or flight reaction is a basic human and well, not only human, but this is the basic response to danger. We either run away flight or confront the threat. So we fight. And when the release of fight or flight hormones is triggered, the body and mind entered a highly alert and stressed state. So initiating the whole bodily reaction associated with anxiety and panic attacks. And phobias and anxiety disorders are usually diagnosed before the age of 30. It is very rare, though not impossible at all, for people to be diagnosed with phobias after 30. Typically, people are diagnosed with phobias in their teens or early 20s. So it's often in a very young age. But the good news is that phobias and anxieties are highly treatable. On people with these conditions are usually aware of them because the symptoms are clear and easy to self-diagnose. And if you suspect you have phobia or anxiety disorder, you can see a doctor for confirmation. And the symptoms are often obvious, such as sweating, erasing hard, shallow breathing. These are signs that something is going on with your body and this makes it easier to recognize and diagnose a physical reaction to a specific object or situation. Well, generalized anxiety disorder is less clear, but it can still be identified through cognitive symptoms and body reactions. And discussing this with your doctor can help in making an accurate diagnosis. And we know that proper diagnosis is half the battle and understanding the root cause makes it easier to choose the tailor and appropriate treatment. And speaking to a psychologist or psychiatrist, it is a useful step in treating phobias and they as they can explain the mechanism behind them to making it easier to understand and control your reactions. And for specific phobias that are not very serious, the easiest approach is often to avoid the source of fear. So for instance, if you have a fear of dogs, you can generally avoid them to some extent. But unless you're vet, well, if you're vet, you cannot avoid dogs. So you can, you can, you have to face it somehow. But if you're not a vet, you can avoid dogs. However, with social anxiety, it is harder to avoid objects or situation. So it's hard to avoid people without disorganizing your social and professional life. So avoiding social situations can hinder your social life first. And second, it makes it difficult to work and make money. So you must find ways to manage and deal with it effectively. And when it comes to treating anxiety, there are two main approaches. First is medication. And second is therapy, regular talk therapy. And depending on the severity of the fear anxiety, doctors may prescribe medications such as beta blockers or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors known as SSRI. And some medical professionals also use tranquilizers such as benzodiazepines or other tranquilizers. However, it is crucial to reserve tranquilizers for cases of very severe anxiety due to their potential for physical dependence and life threatening withdrawal symptoms. So if someone has a very severe anxiety, which makes it impossible to use other medications and makes completely impossible to use therapy, what doctors might use tranquilizers. But combining tranquilizers with alcohol, opioids or similar substances can also be life threatening. So tranquilizers are considered as really last resort and should not be prescribed lightly. And well, because of that, medical doctors are cautious about prescribing them to ensure they are used appropriately and safely. And when it comes to therapy, behavioral therapy, which is, by the way, usually more effective in medication, behavioral therapy comes in various forms. Long-term cognitive behavioral therapy is particularly effective for generalized anxiety or social anxiety. By the way, cognitive behavioral therapy is often called CBT as an acronym. So in CBT, patients learn different ways to understand and react to their phobias. So therapies help them to develop coping strategies to manage their feelings, thoughts, and physical reaction. So this is a very, very effective way of managing phobias and anxieties. Another form of behavioral therapy is something called desensitization, also known as exposure therapy. And this method helps people with phobias gradually understand and change their response to triggering objects or triggering situations. And during desensitization, patients are systematically exposed to their feared objects or situation in incremental steps. So for example, if someone has a fear of dogs, the therapy might begin with simply thinking about a dog. You're in a safe environment, for example, in a therapist's office, and you are just imagining a dog. It can be a puppy or it can be a neighbor's dog or it can be a cartoon dog, whatever. But you are in a very safe environment. And now imagining a dog, whatever dog you're imagining, it probably causes some kind of reaction in your body. So you might feel your heart pumping, you might feel your sweating, or you are feeling distress in general. Now the therapist guides the individual in calming their body and calming their mind when discomfort arises. So you are controlling your body after imagining a dog. Well, the next step might involve something more, something more than just imagining a dog. So for example, it can involve looking at dogs in the park. And now again, you are feeling distress. You are feeling that you're sweating. You have shallow breathing and so on. And now, again, your therapist guides you how to calm your body, how to calm your mind. And now if you are perfectly okay with looking at the dog at the park, you can move on to the next step. So for example, you are walking next to the dog. You can keep the distance to feel more or less secure. You don't have to, you know, walk right next to the dog. But you are walking in some distance from the dog. And again, you will probably feel your body is reacting to the dog. And now again, you are applying the same techniques to calm your body and calm your mind. And so on and so on until you can sit perfectly comfortable right next to a dog, or you can pet a dog or you can play with a dog and so on. And despite the effort involved for both the patient and therapist, exposure therapy is one of the most common and one of the most effective methods for treating phobias. And it requires commitment. But for those whose anxiety is significantly impacts their daily life, it is a worthwhile and highly effective treatment option. And many people, many patients, I've spoken to, they attest to its effectiveness. Noting that despite initial discomfort, they do not regret trying it. And I guess this is all what I wanted to tell you today. I hope this episode made it a bit clearer what anxiety disorders are. And thank you for listening today. And until next time, bye-bye. Step into the world of power, loyalty, and luck. I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. With family, canollies, and spins mean everything. Now, you want to get mixed up in the family business. Introducing the Godfather at ChampaCasino.com. Test your luck in the shadowy world of the Godfather slots. Someday, I will call upon you to do a service for me. Play the Godfather. Now at ChampaCasino.com. Welcome to the family. No purchase necessary. VDW Group, boy reparhibited by law, 18 plus terms and