Anxiety is a complex emotion that manifests itself in various forms and can have profound impacts on one's life. Developing an understanding of how your anxiety manifests may help to provide insight into your associated emotional and physical experiences, as well as providing guidance for treatment and coping strategies.
Effects of Anxiety on Daily Life
Anxiety can take many forms and present in a variety of ways:
- Restlessness and sleeplessness
- Tension and irritability
- Fear, doubt, apprehension, or obsessive thinking
- Physical discomfort such as muscle tension, sweating, headaches, and nausea
Those who live with anxiety often note the impact it has on their relationships and daily life. Feelings of nervousness or discomfort in social situations can greatly affect self-confidence and cause one to withdraw from social activities they may have previously enjoyed.
Separation Anxiety Disorder
Central to Separation Anxiety Disorder is excessive fear or anxiety concerning separation from attachment figures, like parents or romantic partners. Though more commonly observed in young children, adults can experience it as well.
Symptoms include:
- Excessive distress when separated from loved ones
- Worry about the wellbeing of loved ones
- Need to know their whereabouts or remain in touch with them
- Marked reluctance to go out by themselves
- Resistance to sleeping away from home or traveling independently
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is characterized by unexpected and intense episodes of fear and anxiety that peak very quickly. These episodes involve an abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort that peaks within minutes.
Features of a panic attack can include:
- Rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling
- Shortness of breath, feelings of choking
- Chest pain, nausea, dizziness
- Chills or sensations of heat
- Numbing or tingling sensations
- Derealization (feelings of unreality)
- Depersonalization (feeling separate from oneself)
- Fear of "going crazy" or dying
Panic Disorder occurs when a person experiences recurring and unexpected panic attacks with no obvious cue or trigger. People with panic disorder often attempt to minimize or avoid panic attacks, which often means rearranging the course of their days and lives.
Specific Phobia
Specific phobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive fear of certain objects, situations, places, or activities. The feared object or situation almost always provokes immediate anxiety and is either avoided altogether or endured only with intense fear.
Commonly seen specific phobias encompass:
- Fear of animals or aspects of the natural environment (heights, storms, water)
- Blood-Injection-Injury phobia (needles and invasive medical procedures)
- Situational phobias (fear of flying, elevators, enclosed spaces)
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder is a type of anxiety that manifests in an intense fear or discomfort of being negatively judged or scrutinized by others. This can involve circumstances such as having a conversation, meeting unfamiliar people, being observed eating or drinking, or performing in front of others.
Those affected may avoid situations in which socializing is expected, leading to a general lack of contact with others. Avoidance can be overt (not going to parties, refusing to go to school) or more subtle (overpreparing speeches, diverting attention to others, limiting eye contact).
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is an intense fear brought on by real or anticipated exposure to a wide variety of situations. These can include marked anxiety when using public transportation, being in open spaces, being in closed spaces, standing in line or being in a crowd, or being outside of the home alone.
At its most severe, agoraphobia can leave people completely homebound.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is known by excessive anxiety and worry about a broad number of events or activities. The intensity, duration, or frequency of the anxiety is out of proportion to the actual likelihood or impact of the anticipated event.
The difficulty to control worry corresponds to physical unease, which can include:
- Restlessness or feeling on edge
- Being easily fatigued
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability
- Muscle tension
- Disturbed sleep
Many with GAD describe feeling that they have felt anxious and nervous their whole lives.
Psychodynamic Treatment for Anxiety
A psychodynamic approach to treating anxiety prioritizes the unconscious and uncovering the past experiences of an individual to gain insight into their current behavior and emotions.
Developing Insight About Your Anxiety
To develop insight about anxiety, consider:
- What are your early memories of anxiety?
- What was happening when you had feelings of being unsafe, unsettled, unknown, or not good enough?
- How did people around you respond or react to your feelings?
Embodied Corrective Experience
Insight can have a profound effect on how you understand your past and present experiences. However, if it just stays intellectual, it may not affect the deep and long-standing patterns. A psychodynamic approach to anxiety may include working the anxiety out through the relationship with your therapist, experiencing the true feelings in the moment, with another person who is able to attend to those feelings with attunement, empathy, and contextualization of how it fits into your life-long story.
Hope for Change
Within a psychodynamic therapeutic approach, you might explore how unresolved conflicts from the past may be shaping your current experiences with anxiety. As you begin to understand the relational dynamics that provoke and sustain anxiety, you have increasing choices open to you: new ways of being with others and with yourself.
Conclusion
Anxiety is a part of life and will always exist within us to a degree. When anxiety reaches an unmanageable pitch, there is help. It is important to reach out for professional help if needed so that you can have the best opportunity to cope with feelings of overwhelm in a healthy way.
