Important details
With 301 million cases worldwide in 2019, anxiety disorders rank as the most prevalent mental illnesses.
Anxiety problems impact more women than men.
Anxiety symptoms frequently start in childhood or adolescence.
Anxiety problems have very powerful therapies available.
Treatment for anxiety disorders is received by about 1 in 4 persons who suffer from this illness.
Summary
While anxiety is a common emotion for everyone, those who suffer from anxiety disorders frequently experience extreme and overwhelming fear and worry. Physical tension and other behavioral and cognitive signs usually accompany these feelings. If left untreated, they can be very distressing, hard to manage, and long-lasting. Anxiety disorders can affect a person’s personal, social, academic, and professional lives in addition to interfering with everyday activities.
4% of people worldwide are thought to suffer from an anxiety disorder at the moment (1). Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of all mental disorders, with 301 million cases worldwide in 2019 (1).
Approximately 1 in 4 persons in need (27.6%) receive any treatment at all, despite the fact that there are very effective medications for anxiety disorders (2). Social stigma, a lack of skilled healthcare professionals, a lack of investment in mental health services, and ignorance that this is a treatable medical ailment are all obstacles to receiving treatment.
Signs and patterns
Excessive fear or worry about a particular scenario (such as a panic attack or social setting) or, in the case of generalized anxiety disorder, about a wide range of ordinary situations can be experienced by people with anxiety disorders. These are usually long-lasting symptoms that they endure for several months at least. They typically steer clear of stressful circumstances.
Additional indications of anxiety disorders could be:
difficulty focusing or reaching a decision
feeling tense, restless, or unpleasant
feeling queasy or uncomfortable in the abdomen
experiencing palpitations in the heart
trembling, shivering, or perspiring
difficulty falling asleep
feeling apprehensive, panicked, or doomed.
Anxiety disorders raise the possibility of suicide thoughts and actions, depression, and drug use disorders.
Anxiety disorders can in a variety of forms, including:
a generalized anxiety disorder characterized by intense and ongoing concern over everyday tasks or occurrences;
panic disorder (fear of recurring panic attacks and panic episodes);
elevated levels of fear and concern about social circumstances that could cause the sufferer to feel ashamed, rejected, or degraded; social anxiety disorder;
agoraphobia, which is defined as an overwhelming fear, concern, and avoidance of circumstances that could make one feel trapped, helpless, or ashamed;
extreme fear or anxiety about being away from someone with whom one has a strong emotional tie is known as separation anxiety disorder;
specific phobias, which are extreme, illogical dread of particular things or circumstances that cause avoidance behavior and severe suffering; and
Selective mutism, which mainly affects youngsters, is the persistent incapacity to communicate in some social contexts while being able to do so with ease in others.
Multiple anxiety disorders can strike a person at the same time. Often starting in childhood or adolescent, symptoms persist into maturity. Compared to boys and men, girls and women are more prone to suffer from an anxiety disorder.
Contributing elements as well as prevention
Like other mental health issues, anxiety disorders are the product of a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social variables. Anxiety disorders can affect anyone, although they are more common in those who have experienced abuse, significant losses, or other traumatic events.
Physical health has an impact on and is closely tied to anxiety disorders. Numerous negative effects of worry, such tense muscles, hyperactivity of the neurological system, or excessive alcohol consumption, are also recognized risk factors for illnesses like cardiovascular disease. As a result of the challenges involved in managing their illnesses, people who have these problems may also develop anxiety disorders.
Parental education and school-based initiatives to improve social and emotional development and foster healthy coping in kids and teenagers are two effective community-based strategies to reduce anxiety. Adult anxiety problems can also be prevented with the help of exercise programs.
Identification and management
Anxiety disorders are effectively treated in a number of ways. Anxiety symptoms should be treated by a medical professional.
Psychological interventions, which mostly refer to talk therapy with licensed professionals or supervised lay therapists, are crucial treatments for anxiety disorders. These therapies can teach individuals new ways of thinking about, managing, or connecting to their anxiety, other people, or the outside world. They can instruct individuals on how to deal with the circumstances, happenings, people, or locations that make them anxious.
Individuals or organizations may receive psychological therapies in-person or virtually. Websites, applications, and self-help guides can also be used to access them. The psychological methods grounded in the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy have the most evidence supporting them as treatments for various anxiety disorders. Among these is exposure treatment, which teaches patients to face their anxieties.
Additionally, developing stress-reduction techniques like mindfulness and relaxation can lessen the symptoms of anxiety disorders.
Adults with anxiety problems may benefit from antidepressant drugs such selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Healthcare professionals should consider each patient’s choices, the potential side effects of antidepressant medication, and their capacity to give either intervention in terms of knowledge and/or treatment availability.
Because of their significant potential for dependence and low long-term effectiveness, benzodiazepines, which have historically been given for anxiety disorders, are generally not advised for the treatment of anxiety disorders.
Self-soothing
Self-care has the potential to be very beneficial to therapy. To assist in controlling your anxiety symptoms and enhancing your general wellbeing, you can:
Avoiding or consuming less alcohol and abstaining from illegal drug use can help reduce anxiety;
exercise on a regular basis, even if it’s only a little stroll;
maintain a balanced diet and try your best to adhere to regular sleeping and eating schedules;
study methods for relaxing, such as gradual muscular relaxation and calm breathing; and
Make it a habit to practice mindfulness meditation, even for a little while each day.
WHO reaction
The actions necessary to provide effective interventions for persons with mental health issues, including anxiety disorders, are outlined in the WHO’s Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030.
The WHO’s mhGAP Program covers panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder as priority disorders. By using healthcare professionals who are not mental health specialists to treat patients with mental, neurological, and drug use issues, this approach seeks to assist nations in expanding their mental health services.
WHO has created concise guides for psychological interventions that lay therapists can use to treat both individuals and groups. Anxiety and depression are among the many mental health issues for which these therapies have been demonstrated to be beneficial. The Problem Management Plus (PM+) manual serves as an illustration of this. It employs strategies such as stress management, problem resolution treatment, and enhancing social support, and it is founded on the ideas of cognitive behavioral therapy. In addition, the well-known self-help book Doing What Matters in Times of Stress by WHO and the group-based stress management course Self-Help Plus (SH+) both offer techniques for lowering stress and anxiety.
Citations
GBD Outcomes Instrument. On the website of the Global Health Data Exchange. (https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results?params=gbd-api-2019-permalink/716f37e05d94046d6a06c1194a8eb0c9, accessed 5 September 2023) Seattle: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2019.
Liu Z, Evans-Lacko S, Alonso J, et al. Results of the World Mental Health Surveys in 21 countries show that there is a global treatment gap for anxiety disorders. Diminish Your Fear. 2018;35(3): 195–208. 10.1002/da.22711 (doi).
