Resiliency: Anxiety

Abstract: Anxiety is experienced in response to threats that are distal or uncertain, involving changes in one’s subjective state, autonomic responses, and behavior. Defensive and physiologic responses to threats that involve the amygdala and brainstem are conserved across species. While anxiety responses typically serve an adaptive purpose, when excessive, unregulated, and generalized, they can become maladaptive, leading to distress and avoidance of potentially threatening situations. In primates, anxiety can be regulated by the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which has expanded in evolution. This prefrontal expansion is thought to underlie primates’ increased capacity to engage high-level regulatory strategies aimed at coping with and modifying the experience of anxiety. The specialized primate lateral, medial, and orbital PFC sectors are connected with association and limbic cortices, the latter of which are connected with the amygdala and brainstem autonomic structures that underlie emotional and physiological arousal. PFC pathways that interface with distinct inhibitory systems within the cortex, the amygdala, or the thalamus can regulate responses by modulating neuronal output. Within the PFC, pathways connecting cortical regions are poised to reduce noise and enhance signals for cognitive operations that regulate anxiety processing and autonomic drive. Specialized PFC pathways to the inhibitory thalamic reticular nucleus suggest a mechanism to allow passage of relevant signals from thalamus to cortex, and in the amygdala to modulate the output to autonomic structures. Disruption of specific nodes within the PFC that interface with inhibitory
systems can affect the negative bias, failure to regulate autonomic arousal, and avoidance that characterize anxiety disorders.

Abstract: Background Interpretation biases are suggested to be transdiagnostic phenomena, but have rarely been compared across different disorders and current concerns.
Methods We investigated explicit, decision-based, and more implicit, reaction time-based interpretation bias in individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD; N = 29), social anxiety disorder (SAD; N = 36), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; N = 22), and non-clinical controls (NC; N = 32), using an adapted Word Sentence Association Paradigm (WSAP).
Results Results indicated that interpretation bias occurred transdiagnostically, while content-specific bias patterns varied meaningfully across groups. BDD and SAD shared explicit and, more inconsistently, implicit interpretation biases for appearance-related and social situations. The GAD group exhibited an explicit and implicit negative interpretation bias for general situations, and an additional implicit lack of positive bias. Mechanistic Wiener diffusion model analyses revealed that interpretation bias patterns were mainly driven by speeded information uptake, potentially mirroring disorder-specific associative memory organization.
Conclusions These findings have important implications for understanding interpretation biases as both etiological and treatment factors.

We will learn the connection between anxiety and depression. We will learn habits that contribute to anxiety that you can break. We will learn what to tell yourself the next time you are depressed. Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the U.S. affecting forty million adults. About half of those that are diagnosed with anxiety disorders also suffer from depression. Experiencing occasional anxiety and worry is normal; but people with anxiety disorders experience excessive and persistent fear about everyday situations. These anxiety disorders are often inherited and occur by faulty circuits in the brain that control fear.

This brief program considers the impact of COVID-19 on rates of anxiety around the world.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the US. There are some things you can do on your own to help ease the worry.

Psychotherapist Lesley Alderman explains how to reduce your anxiety and boost your resilience amid a relentless news cycle.

Anxiety sufferers, as well as the health professionals and loved ones who support them, are often unaware of the true extent of their struggles. Family and friends misunderstand anxious people, believing they are lazy or lack initiative. Patients seek treatment for the symptoms of anxiety again and again, never addressing the underlying reasons for their disorder.
This book covers the complexity of anxiety in everyday life, as well as its effect on happiness and achievement, told through the experiences of anxiety sufferers across life stages, from childhood through retirement years. The author uses scientific literature and 40+ years of clinical experience to describe the major anxiety disorders and to illuminate their scope. For anxiety sufferers, as well as their family members and medical professionals, this book provides solutions for dealing with anxiety before it becomes too overwhelming.

Get ahead of your anticipatory anxiety, and start living with flexibility and peace of mind. Do you automatically assume the worst-case-scenario when faced with difficulty? Do you stress about situations that haven't happened yet, or find yourself anticipating disaster around every corner? Does the prospect of making a decision leave you feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed? From subtle avoidance behaviors to the most nightmarish terrors, anticipatory anxiety is the engine that drives it all. Understanding how this hidden enemy tricks you, and, most importantly, how to overcome it, will liberate you to live a more flexible and joyful life. In Overcoming Anticipatory Anxiety, two anxiety experts team up to teach you how to manage your overactive imagination, limit future-based thinking, face your fears, make decisions, and live with more freedom and joy. This must-have guide is grounded in the authors' innovative and easy-to-remember DANCE model: Discern your anticipatory anxiety Accept doubts and discomfort No struggling or avoiding Commit to proceed Embrace the present as it is, so you can get on with your life Your relationship with your worries and imagination will shift, so that you can focus on what is genuinely important. It's time to stop worrying about what might happen, start facing your fears, rein in your self-defeating imagination, and live fully in the moment. Get this book and discover the motivation and skills needed to take charge of your anticipatory anxiety.