Category: Anxiety

2 Questions That Help Diagnose An Anxiety Disorder

The ultra-brief test can help identify an anxiety problem quickly.

The ultra-brief test can help identify an anxiety problem quickly.

Almost 20 percent of people who visit their doctor have an anxiety disorder, research finds.

And just two questions are often enough to suggest there is a problem that needs to be addressed:

  1. In the past two weeks, have you felt nervous, anxious or on edge?
  2. In the past two weeks, have you been unable to stop or control worrying?

There are four possible responses for these two questions: Not at all, several days, more than half the days, nearly every day.

The more frequently someone is worrying  and unable to stop or control it (i.e. every day or half the days), the more chance there is a problem.

Dr Kurt Kroenke, the study’s first author, said:

“Anxiety often manifests as a physical symptom like pain, fatigue, or inability to sleep, so it is not surprising that one out of five patients who come to a doctor’s office with a physical complaint have anxiety.”

The study was carried out on 965 people in 15 primary care clinics.

Dr Kroenke said:

“Doctors like to quantify things.

We can objectively measure blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol, but symptoms of anxiety can be missed in a busy primary care practice.

The seven-question GAD-7 and remarkably even the two-question “ultra brief” version gives the physician a tool to quantify the patient’s symptoms — sort of a lab test for anxiety.”

Clearly these two questions on their own are not enough for a diagnosis, but they can help identify when there is a need for further help.

Related

The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Kroenke et al., 2007).

Why Anxious People Cannot ‘Ride’ Waves Of Emotions (M)

The study helps explain why anxious people find it hard to ‘ride’ their emotions and tend to avoid potentially rewarding situations.

The study helps explain why anxious people find it hard to 'ride' their emotions and tend to avoid potentially rewarding situations.

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The Depression Symptom Most Mistakenly Believe Is Purely Physical (M)

“I am no better in mind than in body; both alike are sick and I suffer double hurt.” — Ovid

"I am no better in mind than in body; both alike are sick and I suffer double hurt." -- Ovid

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The Fruit That Boosts Risk-Taking – May Help Depressed And Anxious

People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.

People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.

Sucking on a lemon could help you take more risks in life, psychological research finds.

Sour tastes, like those in oranges, lemons and many other foods, boost people’s risk-taking behaviours.

The effects could last at least 20 minutes after consuming the sour food, probably longer.

People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.

For someone who is anxious, leaving the house can require considerable courage.

Dr Chi Thanh Vi, the study’s first author, explained:

“Risk-taking can mean different things for different people; for some that is jumping out of a plane at 30,000 feet but for others it can be simply leaving the house.

But while it may have negative connotations for some, risk taking is actually one of the primary behaviours that leads to a happier life.”

On the other hand, those who need to avoid taking risks — like airline pilots — might benefit from less sour food in their diet.

Dr Marianna Obrist, study co-author, said:

“Our research indicates that sour does not provoke people to indulge in reckless risky habits, but does have unique attributes to modulate risk-taking and may encourage risk-averse people to take new opportunities.

This is supported by previous work which indicated that people suffering psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders could benefit from the use of lemon oils which also had stress-reducing qualities.”

Bursting the balloon

For the study, 168 people were given drinks flavoured with each of the five main taste groups: sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami.

They were then given a test of risk-taking that involved pumping up a balloon.

The more they pumped it up, the more money won, but also the higher the chance it would pop and they would lose everything.

People who drank a sour solution did the most pumping, followed by salty, bitter, umami and sweet.

Dr Vi said:

“We don’t know exactly what happens within the brain that controls this type of behaviour and it is something we would now like to pursue further.

We know what happens in the brain when people have a certain taste and we know what happens when someone decides a certain course of action but what is missing is tracking the neural pathway to show how taste can affect that decision-making process.

It could be that by taking that first bite of something sour we are already exhibiting some risk-taking behaviour to eat fruit which might not be quite right.”

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Vi et al., 2018).

Depressed And Anxious People Are Raised By Parents Who Do This

Higher risk of depression and anxiety from this parental behaviour.

Higher risk of depression and anxiety from this parental behaviour.

People with critical parents pay less attention to the emotions on other people’s faces, researchers have found.

Looking at and reading emotional expression in other people’s faces helps us build rewarding relationships.

Avoiding these expressions could help to explain how critical parenting can lead to depression and anxiety in later life, since relationships are so critical to well-being.

Ms Kiera James, the study’s first author, said:

“These findings suggest that children with a critical parent might avoid paying attention to faces expressing any type of emotion.

This behavior might affect their relationships with others and could be one reason why children exposed to high levels of criticism are at risk for things like depression and anxiety.”

The results come from a study in which parents talked to their 7 to 11-year-old children for five minutes.

The researchers looked to see how much criticism there was in this segment.

Subsequently, children subject to more criticism avoided looking at pictures of faces showing any type of emotional expression.

Ms James said:

“We know from previous research that people have a tendency to avoid things that make them uncomfortable, anxious, or sad because such feelings are aversive.

We also know that children with a critical parent are more likely to use avoidant coping strategies when they are in distress than children without a critical parent.

Given this research, and our findings that children with a critical parent pay less attention to all emotional facial expressions than children without a critical parent, one possible explanation is that the children with a critical parent avoid looking at any facial expressions of emotion.

This may help them avoid exposure to critical expressions, and, by extension, the aversive feelings they might associate with parental criticism.

That said, it may also prevent them from seeing positive expressions from others.”

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology (James et al., 2018).

‘Depression’ & ‘Anxiety’ Have Changed Their Meaning Over 50 Years (M)

Rather than depression and anxiety being normalised over the last half century, they have been pathologised.

Rather than depression and anxiety being normalised over the last half century, they have been pathologised.

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4 Effective Mind-Body Therapies For Anxiety

Anxiety affects around one-third of adolescents in the US.

Anxiety affects around one-third of adolescents in the US.

Biofeedback, mindfulness, yoga and hypnosis all provide promising mind-body approaches to treating anxiety, research finds.

The standard treatments for anxiety are cognitive-behavioural therapy and/or medication.

However, these treatments can be difficult to obtain, expensive and, in the case of medication, involving significant side-effects.

Mind-body approaches, though, are often cheaper, accessible and usually with no side-effects.

The researchers identified studies on adolescents that supported the use of:

  • Mindfulness involves increasing self-awareness and using breathing techniques. Studies show it can benefit anxiety.
  • Yoga is effective in reducing anxiety.
  • Hypnosis involves relaxation and imagery techniques, which can be effective.
  • Biofeedback helps control anxiety by increasing self-awareness through showing people their own physiological stress response.

Yoga in particular has seen a massive rise in popularity in recent years, the study’s authors write:

“Low in cost, easy to implement, and accessible to individuals of all physical fitness levels, yoga has become an increasingly popular anxiety management tool.”

Anxiety affects around one-third of adolescents in the US.

Almost one-in-ten adolescents experience anxiety severe enough to disrupt their lives.

The study’s authors write:

“Whereas anxiety and fear are typical reactions to the academic, social, and developmental challenges common during the adolescent years, clinical or pathological anxiety is excessive, persistent, and disruptive.”

Most adolescents do not receive any treatment.

Ms Fulweiler and Dr John write:

“A growing body of evidence supports the implementation of mind-body therapy as a low-risk and cost-effective strategy in the management of anxious teenagers.

[…]

Mind-body therapies encompass self-regulation and positive thinking…to help promote self-control, physical health, and emotional well-being.”

The study was published in the journal The Nurse Practitioner (Fulweiler & John, 2018).