Category: Anxiety

The reason that smart people with a high IQ are sometimes more anxious may have an evolutionary explanation.

Intelligence and anxiety may have evolved together as mutually beneficial traits, research finds.

This may help to explain why people with a high IQ also tend to have higher levels of anxiety.

The benefit may be that intelligence allows people to better imagine what might go wrong.

Worriers tend to keep out of danger so that their genes are the ones carried forward into the next generation.

Non-worries, meanwhile, starved to death because they didn’t prepare for winter or failed to anticipate an enemy raid.

Professor Jeremy Coplan, who led the study, said:

“While excessive worry is generally seen as a negative trait and high intelligence as a positive one, worry may cause our species to avoid dangerous situations, regardless of how remote a possibility they may be.

In essence, worry may make people ‘take no chances,’ and such people may have higher survival rates.

Thus, like intelligence, worry may confer a benefit upon the species.”

Study of smart people and intelligence (IQ)

For the study, people with high anxiety levels were compared with those with average levels.

Brain scans were carried out, along with tests of intelligence and anxiety.

In people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, IQ was positively correlated with worry.

In other words, people who were more intelligent also worried more.

Brain scans found that activity in sub-cortical white matter correlated with both anxiety and intelligence.

Previous research has shown that people who are low in intelligence are also prone to worry — possibly because they achieve less in life.

Average IQ show less of a link with anxiety.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience (Coplan et al., 2012).

Take the test for ‘nomophobia’: short for “no-mobile-phone phobia”.

Nomophobia is the fear of, or anxiety caused by, being without your phone.

The word is short for “NO MObile PHone PhoBIA”.

Around half of people suffer from nomophobia, according to one survey carried out by the UK Post Office in 2008.

The study also found that people experienced nomophobia when they had no network coverage or their phone was low on battery or credit.

Psychologists have developed a test for nomophobia: the fear of being without your phone.

The researchers found four aspects to nomophobia:

1. not being able to communicate,
2. losing connectedness,
3. not being able to access information,
4. and giving up convenience.

People in the study of nomophobia responded to the statements below on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

You can add up your total score, by adding your responses to each item.

The higher the score, the more you ‘suffer’ from nomophobia.

Here are the nomophobia statements:

1. I would feel uncomfortable without constant access to information through my smartphone.
2. I would be annoyed if I could not look information up on my smartphone when I wanted to do so.
3. Being unable to get the news (e.g., happenings, weather, etc.) on my smartphone would make me nervous.
4. I would be annoyed if I could not use my smartphone and/or its capabilities when I wanted to do so.
5. Running out of battery in my smartphone would scare me.
6. If I were to run out of credits or hit my monthly data limit, I would panic.
7. If I did not have a data signal or could not connect to Wi-Fi, then I would constantly check to see if I had a signal or could find a Wi-Fi network.
8. If I could not use my smartphone, I would be afraid of getting stranded somewhere.
9. If I could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to check it.

If I did not have my smartphone with me:

1. I would feel anxious because I could not instantly communicate with my family and/or friends.
2. I would be worried because my family and/or friends could not reach me.
3. I would feel nervous because I would not be able to receive text messages and calls.
4. I would be anxious because I could not keep in touch with my family and/or friends.
5. I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a hold of me.
6. I would feel anxious because my constant connection to my family and friends would be broken.
7. I would be nervous because I would be disconnected from my online identity.
8. I would be uncomfortable because I could not stay up-to-date with social media and online networks.
9. I would feel awkward because I could not check my notifications for updates from my connections and online networks.
10. I would feel anxious because I could not check my email messages.
11. I would feel weird because I would not know what to do.

Nomophobia, anxiety and depression

While people experience nomophobia without their phones or coverage, there is little evidence that normal phone usage causes anxiety.

Simply using a phone as a way of alleviating boredom is not linked to depression or anxiety.

However, being highly engaged with, or even ‘addicted’ to mobile phones is linked to elevated levels of anxiety and depression, research finds (Panova & Lleras, 2016).

People seem to use their phones as a kind of security blanket in anxiety-provoking situations.

While this is not necessarily a problem, the study also found that using mobile phones as an emotional coping mechanism was linked to depression and anxiety.

For the study, over 300 people were surveyed and asked questions about their phone and internet usage, their mental health and so on.

The questions included:

“Do you think that your academic or work performance has been negatively affected by your cellphone use?” and “Do you think that life without the Internet is boring, empty and sad?”

Professor Alejandro Lleras, who led the study, said:

“People who self-described as having really addictive style behaviors toward the Internet and cellphones scored much higher on depression and anxiety scales.

However, [there was] no relationship between cellphone or Internet use and negative mental health outcomes among participants who used these technologies to escape from boredom.

Thus, the motivation for going online is an important factor in relating technology usage to depression and anxiety.”

In a follow-up study, the researchers tested the effect of a stressful situation on phone usage.

Professor Lleras explained that the phone sometimes acted as ‘comfort item’:

“Having access to a phone seemed to allow that group to resist or to be less sensitive to the stress manipulation.”

Just using your phone when bored won’t lead to anxiety or depression, Professor Lleras said:

“We shouldn’t be scared of people connecting online or talking on their phones.

The interaction with the device is not going to make you depressed if you are just using it when you are bored.

This should go toward soothing some of that public anxiety over new technology.”

The study was published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior (Yildrim et al., 2015).

Facts about anxiety, including how to reduce it, why some people are so anxious and the behaviours that increase it.

Facts about anxiety include that acts of kindness can reduce social anxiety and some dietary supplements may help with the condition.

Another fact about anxiety is that it can be socially isolating and inherited from your parents.

Discover these and more facts about anxiety based on psychological research below.

1. Acts of kindness reduce anxiety

Performing acts of kindness can help people with social anxiety mingle with others more easily.

People recruited into the study were put into one of three groups for four weeks:

• One group performed acts of kindness, like doing their roommates’ dishes.
• Another group were exposed to various social interactions without the acts of kindness.
• A third group, who did nothing special, acted as a control.

At the end of the study it was those who’d performed the acts of kindness who felt more comfortable in social interactions.

2. Fact about anxiety: dietary supplements

Dietary supplements which contain passionflower, kava or combinations of L-lysine and L-arginine can help reduce anxiety, according to a review published in the Nutrition Journal.

The supplements generally had mild to moderate effects without producing any serious side-effects.

Of the supplements included, kava has been the most extensively studied.

The researchers found that taking kava on its own…

“… significantly reduced anxiety symptoms in a variety of patient types.

This provides good evidence for the use of kava in patients with GAD, non-psychotic anxiety and other anxiety-related disorders.”

3. Anxiety is socially isolating

Anxiety interferes with the ability to take other people’s perspective, research reveals.

Anxiety makes people focus more on themselves and reduces their empathy for others, psychologists have found.

The study’s results may help explain why anxiety can be such an isolating emotion.

4. Fact about anxiety: it is inherited

An over-active network of brain areas is central to how children inherit anxiety and depression from their parents.

The network consists of three regions in the brain which work together to control the fear-response.

The study found that around 35 percent of the difference in anxiety was explained by family history.

5. Sedentary behaviour linked to anxiety

Sitting down all day has been linked to increased anxiety, a study finds.

Low energy activities like watching TV, working at a computer or playing electronic games may all be linked to anxiety.

The cause of the link could be down to disturbed sleep, poor metabolic health or social withdrawal.

6. Social anxiety linked to higher serotonin levels

Social anxiety disorder is linked to higher levels of serotonin in the brain, not lower as previously thought.

People with both social anxiety actually produce more of the neurotransmitter serotonin in their brains.

The more serotonin they produce, the more anxious they become.

The result is a surprise as social anxiety are often treated with SSRIs like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

SSRIs actually increase the levels of serotonin in the brain.

7. Fermented foods can reduce social anxiety

People who eat more fermented foods have lower social anxiety, a study finds

The benefit is particularly noticeable amongst people who are highly neurotic.

Neurotic people are prone to anxiety.

Fermented foods that are a regular part of the Western diet include milk, cheese, yoghurt and bread.

They typically contain probiotics, which are likely behind the benefit.

8. Fact about anxiety: it is contagious

Anxiety is contagious and can be passed from parents to children and the other way, a study finds.

The ‘catching’ nature of anxious thoughts and behaviours exists over and above the effects of genetics.

Anxious children can also pass on their anxiety to parents, even when they were not initially anxious.

9. Prebiotics can reduce anxiety

Consuming a prebiotic can have an anti-anxiety effect, the research has found.

Researchers at the University of Oxford have discovered that a prebiotic can reduce levels of anxiety in a clinical trial.

Like foods containing probiotic bacteria, prebiotics are functional foods: they have benefits beyond their purely nutritional value.

The positive influence of the prebiotic was similar to that obtained by taking existing anti-depressant or anti-anxiety drugs.

10. How exercise and relaxation help reduce anxiety

In treating social anxiety — discomfort or fear in social situations, often of being judged — both relaxation techniques and exercise have been found beneficial (see: how to deal with anxiety).

Research suggests this is because it changes the way people perceive the world.

After exercise or relaxation, people are less likely to interpret neutral social signals as threatening — something that people with social anxiety have a tendency to do.

→ Now read more about anxiety:

• Signs Of Anxiety: 21 Symptoms Everyone Should Know
• 5 Relaxation Techniques For Stress And Anxiety
• Anxiety Attack Symptoms: 2 Signs People Usually Ignore

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The very best panic attack treatment is revealed by large studies that compare meds and CBT.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the best treatment for panic disorders, multiple studies finds.

In addition, most people prefer therapy over taking anti-anxiety medication.

Panic attacks involve an extreme feeling of anxiety and fear, sometimes for no apparent reason.

Dr. Barbara Milrod, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, said:

“Panic disorder is really debilitating — it causes terrible healthcare costs and interference with functioning.

We conducted this first ever large panic disorder study to compare therapy types and see if one type of therapy is preferable over another.”

Panic attacks involve suffering from an extreme feeling of anxiety and fear, sometimes for no apparent reason.

Panic attacks can also be triggered by many things, including irrational fears such as phobias.

During panic attacks people can tremble, become sweaty, feel sick and may experience heart palpitations.

Panic attack treatment studies

One panic attack treatment study randomised around 200 people with panic disorders to various different commonly-used therapies (Mildrod et al., 2015).

Therapy lasted for around three months and involved one 45-minute session each week.

Across the two different sites where the therapies were tested, cognitive behavioural therapy was the most effective, and only one-quarter of people dropped out.

Professor Milrod said:

“If patients stick it out and continue with therapy rather than drop out, they have a far greater chance of seeing positive results or getting better.”

The best therapy for panic attacks

Another panic attack treatment study has found that two different types of psychotherapy are effective at treating panic disorder, (Svensson et al., 2021).

People with panic disorder showed marked improvements after some received psychodynamic psychotherapy and others cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).

Psychodynamic styles focus more on revealing the unconscious conflicts in the person’s mind that are causing the problems.

In contrast, treatment with cognitive-behavioural therapy does not delve into the unconscious, focussing more on conscious thoughts and behaviours.

Panic disorders involve suffering from an extreme feeling of anxiety and fear, sometimes for no apparent reason.

Panic attacks can also be triggered by many things, including irrational fears such as phobias.

During panic attacks people can tremble, become sweaty, feel sick and may experience heart palpitations.

These disorder often begin in adolescence or early adulthood and can leave people isolated.

Mr Thomas Nilsson, study co-author, said:

“Many people adapt to their panic disorder by various restrictions in their daily living.

Treatment is crucial as the disorder often leads to a downward spiral in which the margin for everyday life activities becomes increasingly narrow.”

The panic attack treatment study included 221 people with panic disorder who were tracked over 10 years.

The results showed that two years after treatment, 70 percent of patients had improved and 45 percent were in total remission.

The researchers also tested whether people did better if they chose the therapy they preferred rather than being randomly assigned to it.

The results were somewhat confusing, showing that this worked for psychodynamic therapy but not for CBT.

In other words, people did better if they specifically chose psychodynamic treatment but worse if they specifically chose CBT treatment.

Mr Nilsson said:

“Perhaps those who chose psychodynamic therapy had a more accurate perception of what they needed.”

Overall, though, whichever treatment they chose, they improved, said Dr Martin Svensson, the study’s first author:

“The patients felt better in many ways.

For instance depressive symptoms, that often accompany panic disorder, were significantly reduced and quality of life improved.”

→ Read on about panic attacks:

• Read more about typical panic attack symptoms.
• Anxiety Attack Symptoms: 2 Signs People Usually Ignore.

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People are often unaware of the symptoms of an anxiety attack coming on, psychologists have found.

The two main bodily symptoms of an anxiety attack are breathing too fast and increased heart rate, research finds.

These symptoms can begin up to an hour before an anxiety attack, although people often do not notice them until the last moment.

One of the best ways of dealing with an anxiety attack is by controlling breathing.

Breathing more slowly helps to lower the heart rate and reduce the feelings of losing control and unreality.

With anxiety attacks, people often report that they happen spontaneously, without being cued by anything specific.

But this research suggests they are a result of being very vigilant to relatively small fluctuations in heart rate and breathing that build up over up to an hour.

For the study, 43 people with panic disorder were monitored around the clock — these are people who often have anxiety attacks.

Portable recorders measured their heart rate, respiration, skin conductance and so on.

When they had a panic or anxiety attack, the results showed exactly what happened in the body leading up to it.

Dr Alicia E. Meuret, who led the study, explained:

“The results were just amazing.

We found that in this hour preceding naturally occurring panic attacks, there was a lot of physiological instability.

These significant physiological instabilities were not present during other times when the patient wasn’t about to have a panic attack.”

People reported that the panic or anxiety attacks were spontaneous, but there were actually many warning signs.

Dr Meuret said:

“The changes don’t seem to enter the patient’s awareness.

What they report is what happens at the end of the 60 minutes — that they’re having an out-of-the blue panic attack with a lot of intense physical sensations.

We had expected the majority of the physiological activation would occur during and following the onset of the panic attack.

But what we actually found was very little additional physiological change at that time.”

Anxiety attack symptoms

When people talk of an anxiety attack, they usually mean a panic attack.

The classic psychological signs of an anxiety or panic attack are:

• feeling of unreality,
• fear of losing control,
• and fear of dying.

The physical signs  of an anxiety or panic attack are:

• shortness of breath,
• heart racing,
• dizziness,
• chest pain,
• sweating,
• hot flashes,
• trembling,
• choking,
• nausea,
• and numbness

Dr Meuret said:

“Most patients obviously feel that there must be something going on physically.

They worry they’re having a heart attack, suffocating or going to pass out.

Our data doesn’t indicate there’s something inherently wrong with them physically, neither when they are at rest nor during panic.

The fluctuations that we discovered are not extreme; they are subtle.

But they seem to build up and may result in a notion that something catastrophic is going on.”

• Read more about typical panic attack symptoms (the same as an anxiety attack).

The study was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry (Meuret et al., 2011).

The common signs of anxiety disorders are both psychological and physical.

Anxiety comes in many forms, but the different types often have certain core features.

Like many mental health problems, almost everyone experiences anxiety from time-to-time.

Whether it is a problem all depends on the amount and nature of the anxiety.

Everyday anxiety in response to stressful events is normal, but severe anxiety in response to relatively minor events can be seriously disabling.

Bear that in mind when reading the signs of anxiety.

For example, a lot of people have problems sleeping and muscle tension every now and then.

This might happen before a job interview, when going into hospital or before a stressful event.

But experiencing signs of anxiety frequently and intensely over smaller matters can be a sign of something more serious.

Signs of anxiety

Here are four typical psychological signs of anxiety:

• Feelings of panic, fear and uneasiness.
• Feeling constantly ‘on edge’ or restless.
• Having a frequent sense of dread.
• Problems concentrating.

And here are six typical physical signs of anxiety:

• Muscle tension.
• Problems sleeping.
• Dry mouth.
• Shortness of breath.
• Heart palpitations.
• Dizziness.

More subtle symptoms of anxiety

These ten signs of anxiety do not cover the full extent of what people experience.

People often report a very wide range of different physical and psychological signs of anxiety.

I have seen lists of signs of anxiety with at least 50 items.

Some people have many symptoms of anxiety, others have fewer.

Here are some of the more subtle symptoms and signs of anxiety:

1. Disappearing is a sign of anxiety

Anxiety can make people feel they want to escape or run away.

One of the signs of anxiety is that people experiencing anxiety may find it hard to continue doing the things they used to do.

For example, they may avoid contact with others in many subtle ways such as avoiding public transport or only going to deserted places.

They may also make excuses to avoid social occasions.

2. Change of eating habits

People experiencing anxiety may start eating more or a lot less — it takes people in different ways.

The important sign of anxiety is the change.

Some people who are anxious eat less because they don’t feel hungry or feel too sick to eat or find it hard to keep food down.

Other people may use food as a distraction from their worries.

They might experience constant cravings for sweet foods or anything that redirects their attention away from worries.

3. Physical symptoms are signs of anxiety

While we tend to think of anxiety as being something that is primarily mental, it actually has many physical manifestations.

Indeed, the physical symptoms of anxiety can be extremely varied.

For example, someone experiencing anxiety may complain of headaches or stomach pain.

Some people experience a dry mouth and throat, others feel nauseous, others still might grind their teeth or have the urge to urinate constantly.

4. Difficulty focusing

Constant worrying makes it hard to focus, which is one of the signs of anxiety.

People describe being a fog, or feeling dizzy or experiencing giddiness.

The swirl of anxious thoughts easily distracts from the task at hand.

The symptom of anxiety can make doing your job or even carrying out regular household chores much more challenging.

5. Signs of anxiety: poor sleep

Worries can keep people experiencing anxiety awake at night because they are exhausting.

Imagine drinking a double espresso and getting straight into bed.

With all that stimulation running around mind and body, it is difficult to drop off.

Similarly, when waking in the night, all those same anxieties are likely to come to the fore.

6. Change in appearance

Like weight, the appearance of people experiencing anxiety can be one of the signs of anxiety.

Some might start to lose interest in maintaining their physical appearance.

Clothes are not washed or ironed, hair unkempt and personal hygiene can suffer.

Alternatively, anxious people can become even more obsessed with their appearance.

People who are anxious are often perfectionists and their appearance is no different.

Again, a change in this other together with other signs could indicate excessive anxiety.

7. Need for excessive reassurance

Anxiety is frequently linked to difficulties making decisions or the avoidance of decisions.

Someone who is unusually anxious may request a lot of reassurance or help with their decisions.

Again, the thing to look for is a change in a person’s normal tendencies.

8. Anxiety literally makes everything stink

This is perhaps one of the most unusual signs of anxiety.

As people get more anxious, they are more likely to label neutral smells as bad smells (Krusemark & Li, 2013).

So, anxiety literally makes the world stink.

The reason, explains Professor Wen Li is:

“In typical odor processing, it is usually just the olfactory system that gets activated.

But when a person becomes anxious, the emotional system becomes part of the olfactory processing stream.”

And as people get more anxious they become better at distinguishing between different bad smells (Krusemark & Li, 2012).

9. Anxious people jump to conclusions

One of the signs of anxiety is that highly anxious people jump to conclusions more quickly when judging facial expressions.

A study by Fraley et al., (2006) suggests that anxious people may have problems in their relationships because they jump to conclusions too quickly about facial expressions.

Professor Fraley explained:

“This ‘hair trigger’ style of perceptual sensitivity may be one reason why highly anxious people experience greater conflict in their relationships.

The irony is that they have the ability to make their judgments more accurately than less-anxious people, but, because they are so quick to make judgments about others’ emotions, they tend to mistakenly infer other people’s emotional states and intentions.”

10. Poor balance is a symptom of anxiety

People who experience more severe levels of anxiety also often have problems with their balance.

They sometimes feel dizzy for no apparent reason and sway more than others while standing normally.

This often starts in childhood and, because symptoms of anxiety can be difficult to treat in children, psychologists have started trying to treat the balance problems.

Studies have shown that treating the balance problem can help with the anxiety (Bart et al., 2009).

11. Personal space changes are signs of anxiety

We all have an invisible field around us that we dislike other people invading.

In front of the face it’s generally about 20-40cm; if others get closer without our permission, it feels weird.

But, researchers have found that one of the signs of anxiety is that for anxious people, their personal space is larger (Sambo & Iannetti, 2013).

So, don’t charge up too close to anxious people, their ‘safety margin’ is larger.

Causes of anxiety

Like many things, high anxiety is partly in the genes, but part of the reason anxious people are anxious is because of their parents’ behaviour.

Children are more likely to experience signs of anxiety when their parents direct criticism at them, display high levels of doubt and are emotionally cold (Budinger et al., 2012).

Other factors that might cause signs of anxiety include an underlying health problems, a traumatic experience or it could accompany another mental health problem, such as depression.

Apart from ‘generalised anxiety’, symptoms of anxiety can also be triggered by all sorts of different things.

Many of these are familiar terms nowadays: phobias, PTSD and social anxiety.

Anxiety disorder treatment

Anxiety disorders are diagnosed on the basis of the extent of the symptoms and how they affect everyday life.

People experiencing severe or disabling symptoms of anxiety most days should consider seeking some kind of help.

1. Therapy reduces signs of anxiety

Psychological therapies (including self-help) are particularly good at treating signs of anxiety disorders.

One approach psychological therapies use to reduce signs of anxiety is to think about situations differently.

For example:

• It’s not an exam; it’s a fun little quiz.
• It’s not a scary presentation; it’s a little chat with a few colleagues.
• It’s not a job interview; it’s a chance to meet some new people.

Most situations can be re-framed in this way and studies show that people who do this naturally — as opposed to trying to suppress their anxiety — feel less anxious in stressful social situations (Llewellyn et al., 2013).

2. Exercise reduces signs of anxiety

Generally, when people get a little exercise they feel fewer signs of anxiety in their lives.

As little as 20 minutes can make you feel calmer right now.

The benefits of a little workout extend beyond the gym, though, into everyday life.

One study has found that although simply resting reduces anxiety, it doesn’t help protect against stressful events (Smith, 2013).

Exercise, though, seems to have a more lasting effect, helping to reduce anxiety when faced with stressful situations afterwards.

Indeed, many think exercise should be prescribed for depression and anxiety instead of drugs.

3. Meditation reduces signs of anxiety

On top of exercise and thinking differently, those experiencing anxiety can also try meditation.

To pick just one of many recent studies, Zeidan et al. (2013) found that four 20-minute meditation classes were enough to reduce anxiety by up to 39 percent.