Probiotics are sometimes recommended for anxiety — but do they do any good?
The meditation technique reduces anxiety and improves heart health.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in planning, reasoning and decision-making.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in planning, reasoning and decision-making.
Improving general cognitive functioning could help to reduce anxiety, new research suggests.
This area is highly involved in planning, reasoning and decision-making.
Increasing brain activity in areas related to thinking and problem solving is linked to reduced anxiety, the study found.
People at risk for anxiety were less likely to develop the disorder when they had more activity in brain areas related to complex mental operations.
Memory and brain training, along with psychological therapies could all help to boost activity in critical areas.
Professor Ahmad Hariri, who led the study, said:
“These findings help reinforce a strategy whereby individuals may be able to improve their emotional functioning — their mood, their anxiety, their experience of depression — not only by directly addressing those phenomena, but also by indirectly improving their general cognitive functioning.”
The study focused on an area of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
This area is highly involved in planning, reasoning and decision-making.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex also plays an important role in the emotions.
Professor Hariri said:
“We wanted to address an area of understanding mental illness that has been neglected, and that is the flip side of risk.
We are looking for variables that actually confer resiliency and protect individuals from developing problems.”
For the study 120 people were scanned while carrying out tasks designed to activate specific parts of their brains.
Professor Hariri explained the results:
“We found that if you have a higher functioning dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the imbalance in these deeper brain structures is not expressed as changes in mood or anxiety.”
Mr Matthew Scult, the study’s first author, said:
“We are hoping to help improve current mental health treatments by first predicting who is most at-risk so that we can intervene earlier, and second, by using these types of approaches to determine who might benefit from a given therapy.”
The study was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex (Scult et al., 2017).
Are you just shy or is it a social anxiety disorder?
Are you just shy or is it a social anxiety disorder?
The classic sign of a social anxiety disorder is a strong fear of embarrassment or humiliation in social situations, research finds.
Bear in mind that many people are apprehensive in unfamiliar social situations or with those they do not know.
Social anxiety disorder is more than being shy.
To be a social anxiety disorder, the fear should be so great that the social situation can only be born with considerable distress.
Either that or social situations are often avoided — sometimes causing serious personal disadvantage.
Many people with the disorder are reluctant to seek help, precisely because of the embarrassment they feel and/or the potential for humiliation they sense.
• Try Dr Jeremy Dean’s ebook: The Anxiety Plan: 42 Strategies For Worry, Phobias, OCD and Panic
Around 13% of the general population are thought to have a social anxiety disorder.
Dr Kristy L. Dalrymple, the author of the study, said:
“Despite its prevalence, social anxiety disorder has not received the same attention from the public or mainstream media as other disorders, such as obsessive compulsive disorder.
Due to its social and economic impact, it merits further study in order to help researchers and clinicians determine possible causes, and the best treatment.
This isn’t about overcoming shyness.
This is about helping our patients who suffer from a disorder that prevents them from living a happy and healthy life.”
Unfortunately, a social anxiety disorder can significantly affect people’s lives.
Experiencing social anxiety disorder is linked to fewer romantic relationships, greater unemployment and fewer days worked, as well as lower productivity.
Dr Dalrymple said:
“There are many differing opinions about social anxiety disorder and the best treatment.
Should it be treated with medication, behavioral therapy, or both?
The significant increase in the prescription of antidepressant medications (which often are used to treat SAD) over the past several years — an increase of 400 percent — should be considered when determining the best approach.
Are we simply medicating, or are we helping patients to truly improve their quality of life?”
The study was published in the journal Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics (Dalrymple, 2012).
One of the easiest ways to reduce the risk of stress and anxiety.
One of the easiest ways to reduce the risk of stress and anxiety.
Eating vegetables daily is linked to a lower chance of anxiety and depression, new research finds.
The study of over 65,000 Australians found that the more vegetables they ate each day, the lower their risk of suffering from anxiety and depression.
Women in particular seemed to be sensitive to vegetable intake.
Vegetables had a stronger protective effect on women than it did on men.
[Dr Jeremy Dean’s ebook is “The Anxiety Plan: 42 Strategies For Worry, Phobias, OCD and Panic”]Binh Nguyen, the study’s first author, said:
“We found that fruit and vegetables were more protective for women than men, suggesting that women may benefit more from fruit and vegetables.”
Women who ate 5-7 servings of vegetables each day were 23% less likely to suffer from stress than those who had 0-1 servings per day.
Dr Melody Ding, study co-author, said:
“This study shows that moderate daily fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with lower rates of psychological stress.
It also reveals that moderate daily vegetable intake alone is linked to a lower incidence of psychological stress.
Moderate fruit intake alone appears to confer no significant benefit on people’s psychological stress.”
The study was published in the journal BMJ Open (Nguyen et al., 2017).
In comparison, a ‘stress management’ actually increased stress, the researchers found.
In comparison, a ‘stress management’ actually increased stress, the researchers found.
Mindfulness meditation helps to decrease anxiety, according to the latest physiological evidence.
Meditation reduces the body’s inflammatory response as well as causing a striking reduction in levels of stress hormones, new research finds.
In comparison, people who took a stress management course actually saw an increased response to stress.
Dr Elizabeth A. Hoge, the study’s first author, said:
“Mindfulness meditation training is a relatively inexpensive and low-stigma treatment approach, and these findings strengthen the case that it can improve resilience to stress.”
The research included 89 people who had been diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder.
Half were given an 8-week mindfulness meditation course, the other half a stress management course.
Because the courses were very similar in most respects, the participants were not aware what the researchers were hoping would work.
This helps reduce a well-known effect in psychological research called the ‘expectancy bias’.
This is the idea that when people expect to get better, they magically do.
It is akin to the placebo effect.
Before and after the two different courses, participants were given a stress test.
This involved giving a short speech to an audience.
Dr Hoge explained:
“We were testing the patients’ resilience, because that’s really the ultimate question—can we make people handle stress better?”
The researchers monitored key markers of the stress response in the blood.
They found that those who had taken the stress management course saw a slight rise in physiological stress levels in the second test.
In the meditation group, though, participants showed large drops in the stress response at the second test.
Not only that, but people reported feeling much less stressed after the meditation course.
The study was published in the journal Psychiatry Research (Hoge et al., 2016).
The amygdala is an area of the brain vital to the processing of the emotions.
The amygdala is an area of the brain vital to the processing of the emotions.
Propranolol for anxiety is sometimes prescribed, but is it an effective treatment?
Propranolol for anxiety is sometimes prescribed, but is it an effective treatment?
Propranolol — a type of beta blocker — has not been shown to be an effective treatment for anxiety.
The conclusions come from a recent review of the research.
Propranolol works by blocking the action of adrenaline.
The drug is mostly used to treat high blood pressure, but is now sometimes prescribed for anxiety.
Actors, public speakers and musicians in general are known to take them to cope with stage fright.
One study from the 1980s found that 27% of orchestra musicians admitted to taking beta blockers before performances to help their nerves (Fishbein et al., 1987).
In general, the evidence for its use in the treatment of anxiety disorders is poor.
The reason being that it only affects the physical symptoms for a short period.
It does not affect the psychological symptoms of anxiety.
In other words: it stops your heart beating fast, but does not reduce the rush of anxious thoughts through your brain.
People who regularly use beta blockers like propranolol for anxiety can find they become reliant on them.
Propranolol for anxiety is often prescribed ‘off-label’, despite little evidence of its long-term effectiveness.
A recent review of the research concluded that there were few studies of its effectiveness and little evidence it helped in treating anxiety disorders.
The study’s authors concluded that:
“…the quality of evidence for the efficacy of propranolol at present is insufficient to support the routine use of propranolol in the treatment of any of the anxiety disorders.”
Research that has been done has tested propranolol for anxiety against benzodiazepines and placebos.
They found…
“…no statistical difference between the effects of propranolol and benzodiazepines on anxiety and panic attack frequency.
In addition, four […] trials failed to show solid evidence on the therapeutic effect of propranolol in patients with dental phobia, animal-type specific phobia, and social phobia.
No RCTs were available on the effects of propranolol in the treatment of any of other anxiety disorders (e.g. generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), separation anxiety disorder, or selective mutism.”
The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology (Steenen et al., 2016).
→ Read more about PsyBlog’s anxiety ebook: “The Anxiety Plan: 42 Strategies For Worry, Phobias, OCD and Panic”
It can be hard to tell what is anxiety and whether it needs treatment.
It can be hard to tell what is anxiety and whether it needs treatment.
Anxiety is a sense of uneasiness, concern or agitation that varies from mild to severe.
At the milder end, it is vague and starts to make you feel unsettled, jumpy and worried.
Towards the more severe end it provokes inner turmoil, feelings of dread and can have a serious impact on everyday life.
Everyone experiences anxiety to some degree and sometimes these responses are severe.
Examinations, medical procedures, public speaking and so on can lead to anxiety and loss of sleep.
How anxiety impacts your everyday life determines whether it is a ‘disorder’ or ‘regular’ anxiety.
Anxiety that causes persistent problems with sleeping or seriously interferes with everyday life could require some treatment.
Some people get very anxious over things which others would not consider that anxiety-provoking.
If you are worrying all the time or regularly experiencing unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms, then this could be a sign of something deeper.
Deep-rooted anxiety often leads to avoidance of the anxiety-provoking object or situation.
This type of anxiety can consistently stop you from doing the things you might otherwise like to do.
Anxiety typically has both psychological and physical symptoms.
Here are some typical psychological symptoms:
Physical symptoms could include:
This is not a completely list, people report many different types of physical and psychological symptoms.
Severe anxiety is also linked to depression, insomnia and misusing drugs.
It can lead to problems at work and in relationships and difficulty in enjoying everyday, pleasurable pursuits.
There are a large range of factors that could influence whether you experience anxiety as a mental health problem.
Here are some possible causes:
Often, chronic anxiety stems from a variety of causes specific to your lifestyle, situation and genetics mixed together.
Anxiety disorders come in various types.
These are some of the main ones:
Psychological therapies are very effective for anxiety disorders.
In particular, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) has been found to help many types of anxiety disorders.
Dr Jeremy Dean’s latest book “The Anxiety Plan” is based on the principles of CBT and provides 42 strategies for dealing with anxiety.
Other ways of managing anxiety yourself include:
Understandably, some people find self-help too difficult.
If so, psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals can provide the psychological support required.
Along with psychological therapies, people are often prescribed medications.
Some people find they need medication, but bear in mind that:
Four types of medication are:
Even if you do decide to take medication, also consider self-help options at the same time as these can work better in the long-run.
→ Get Dr Jeremy Dean’s new anxiety ebook.
Psychotherapy for those experiencing anxiety works best at particular time of the day.
Psychotherapy for those experiencing anxiety works best at particular time of the day.
Psychotherapy works best in the morning, new research finds.
It is partly down to higher cortisol levels in the morning, the study suggests.
People in the study had agoraphobia and panic disorder.
Treatments for anxiety disorders often involve exposure to the phobic situation or object.
With exposure people can learn that their worst fears do not materialise.
Dr Meuret, a clinical psychologist and the study’s first author, said:
“For example, a patient may think that standing in an elevator could cause him or her to lose control or faint, suffocate, or may create physical symptoms that would be intolerable.
By having them stand in an elevator for a prolonged time, the patient learns that their feared outcome does not occur, despite high levels of anxiety.
We call this corrective learning.”
The results showed that people had more success overcoming their fears when tackled in the morning.
Dr Meuret said:
“The hormone cortisol is thought to facilitate fear extinction in certain therapeutic situations.
Drugs to enhance fear extinction are being investigated, but they can be difficult to administer and have yielded mixed results.
The findings of our study promote taking advantage of two simple and naturally occurring agents – our own cortisol and time of day.”
Cortisol levels are likely not the only factor.
Other ways to explain the effect include:
Dr Meuret said:
“Notably, higher cortisol was related to greater reductions in threat appraisal, perceived control and panic symptom severity at the next session, and that was the case over-and-above the effects of time-of-day, with large effect sizes.”
The study was published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology (Meuret et al., 2016).
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