Neuroscience Blog » Anxiety Disorders

Fear of Anxiety May Lead to Depression

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:56:48 +0000

A new study suggests Fear of anxiety may push worriers into depression. The study was performed at Penn State. The study surveyed 94 volunteers (average age of 19) who were moderate to high worriers. The questionnaires assessed worry, generalized anxiety and depression.
NorthShore University HealthSystem reports, “the responses showed that anxiety sensitivity significantly predicted depression symptoms. The researchers also found that two of the four issues that comprise anxiety sensitivity — the “fear of cognitive dyscontrol” and the “fear of publically observable anxiety symptoms” — specifically predicted depression symptoms. The two other issues — the “fear of cardiovascular symptoms” and the “fear of respiratory symptoms” — weren’t significant predictors of depression”.

Andres Viana, a graduate student in psychology at Penn State said, “Those with anxiety sensitivity are afraid of their anxiety because their interpretation is that something catastrophic is going to happen when their anxious sensations arise.”

Several studies have linked anxiety sensitivity to depression, which suggests that treating anxiety sensitivity may help prevent and treat depression, Viana said

Managing Back-to-School Anxiety in Kids

admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:02:53 +0000

Experts at Duke University recommend meditation-like techniques to help subside and eliminate feelings of anxiety in children who are nervous about going back to school. Dr. Michelle Bailey, a pediatrician at Duke Integrative Medicine states,”We need to teach kids how to handle stress in a healthy way”. Additionally, utilizing meditative techniques can help children sleep better, reduce anxiety and stay focused.

What types of techniques can be used? According to the experts at Duke, the following practices can help curb anxiety:

• Mindful breathing: Ask the child to take time in the morning and evening to pay attention to his or her breathing for 20 inhales and exhales. Steady breathing has a calming effect on the body.

• Mindful walking: After dinner, take a walk and pay attention to all the sights, sounds and colors. Encourage the child to use this technique on the playground and at school.

• Mindful listening: At the dinner table, ring a bell or play a note on a musical instrument to capture the family’s attention, then give each person a turn to speak about their day while the rest of the family gives their full attention, to encourage active listening.

To learn more about anxiety and its treatments, visit NorthShore University HealthSystem’s neuroscience department.

Understanding Enochlophobia

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:25:07 +0000

Enochlophobia is the fear of crowds. Those who suffer from Enochlophobia will go out of their way to avoid places like malls, theaters, sporting arenas or any event that crowds would regular attend. According to Associated Content, A few things they fear will happen when around large crowds are:

-Being trampled to death
-Contracting a deadly virus
-Getting lost in a massive crowd of people
-They themselves feel small and insignificant when surrounded by so many people

Enochlophobia seems to affect women more than men, and can bring on panic attacks in certain situations, and is a form of social anxiety. Taking control of anxiety is key. According to NorthShore University Health System, more than 19 million Americans suffer from some type of anxiety disorder, but only a small portion of those people ever seek treatment despite the fact that effective treatments exists. If you think you suffer from an anxiety disorder, talk to your physician.

Treat the Whole Family, Cure the Individual’s Anxiety?

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:04:08 +0000

Anxiety disorders are continuing to become more and more commonly diagnosed by doctors in America as the Anxiety Disorders Association of American (AADA) reported that over 18% of the U.S. population in 2008 suffered from an anxiety disorder. The more freighting fact is that the New England Journal of Medicine reported that 1 in 5 U.S. children suffer from anxiety disorders, but often go undiagnosed or mistreated. Delay in diagnosis and treatment can lead to depression, substance abuse and poor academic performance throughout childhood and adulthood. While the common consensus in the medical world is that anxiety disorders are biological and must be treated with medication, a recent study by John Hopkins University revealed that he key to reducing anxiety symptoms in the children was to treat the entire family.

Senior investigator Golda Ginsberg, PH.D., a child psychologist at Hopkins Children’s and associate professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, says “data show that the children of parents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder are up to 7 times more likely to develop an anxiety disorder themselves, and up to 65 percent of children living with an anxious parent meet the criteria for anxiety disorder.”

Researchers analyzed families in which both parents and children struggled with anxiety disorder. The study found that by treating the whole family through group therapy, the children’s anxiety disorder symptoms decreased by 65% as opposed to 20% to those that received individual treatment.

To learn more about this study parents can email the research team at CAPS@JHMI.EDU. Additionally, to learn more about anxiety disorders and treatment options visit NorthShore University HealthSystem’s neuroscience department.

Genetic Link between Insomnia and Anxiety

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:38:42 +0000

According to the CDC, insomnia, anxiety disorder and depression combined affect a third of the United States population as they are some the most common diagnosed neurological disorders. Recently, the question has been raised asking if there could be some sort of link between the disorders. According to a HealthDay News article published on June 8th U.S. researchers identified a potential link between anxiety and insomnia in adolescents.

The researchers conducted a study comprised of 749 pairs of monozygotic twins and 687 pairs of dizygotic twins age 9 to 17. After analyzing numerous data, the researchers were able to conclude that the shared genetic effects between insomnia, depression and anxiety disorder suggest the disorders are linked.

The findings will be presented to the Associated Professional Sleep Societies annual meeting on Monday. To stay up to date on break neurological news visit the NorthShore University HealthSystem’s neuroscience department.

Trichotillomania: Not Just an Anxiety Disorder

admin — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:22:16 +0000

Anxiety disorders affect more than 18% of Americans. One of the most negatively perceived and embarrassing anxiety disorders is Trichotillomania. Trichotillomania is an impulse control disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pull out body hair. Patients pull hair from all over their bodies; however, the most common places for patients to pull out hair from are their eyelashes, eyebrows and head. Usually, this chronic hair pulling results in either noticeable bald patches or complete baldness of the body. Trichotillomania is commonly lumped into the category of obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), but while it exhibits many similar characteristics as an OCD, it is not an OCD. A recent trich.org article discusses the unique characteristics of Trichotillomania and offers one doctor’s unique treatment suggestions.

Recently scientists have begun identifying Trichotillomania as a body-focused repetitive behavior disorder (BFRB). People with Trichotillomania have a neurologically based predisposition to pull their hair as a self-soothing mechanism. The pulling serves as a coping mechanism for the patients as they experience difficult or anxious emotions. After patients first begin pulling, they pull without being emotionally provoked due the action becoming habitually engrained in them. Trichotillomania is a disorder that patients biologically inherit but in most cases, Trichotillomania stays dormant for years. The majority of patients begin to discover that they suffer from Trichotillomania when they are in their teens and early twenties.

Trichotillomania differs from OCD in that a Trichotillomania patient does not have an obsession with pulling hair, but instead, uses hair pulling as a coping mechanism which provides them relief. An OCD on the other hand uses a compulsion in order to relax an obsession. While Trichotillomania involves a compulsive activity, pulling hair, it is not enacted through an obsession. This recent insight and distinction is crucial in providing treatment for the disorder. Dr. Dziok, an anxiety disorder specialist, says the key to treating Trichotillomania is stopping the compulsions by offering alternative coping mechanisms for the patient to utilize. The doctor goes on to discuss that current treatments are ineffective because they pursue treating the obsession behind Trichotillomania much like most OCD’s are treated. But as previously stated there is no obsession associated with Trichotillomania so the treatments are always unsuccessful. You can’t treat something that isn’t there. Hopefully Dr Dziok’s new insights will provide for more useful treatments for patients with Trichotillomania.

Trichotillomania is one of the countless disorders that are grouped under the umbrella term of anxiety disorders. It is crucial to develop an understanding that each anxiety disorder is unique and should receive specialized treatment. To learn more about the neurology of anxiety disorders such as Trichotillomania visit the neuroscience department of NorthShore University HealthSystems.