Research For Understanding And Treatment Of Anxiety Disorders
Research for Understanding and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
NIMH supports research into the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of anxiety disorders and other mental illnesses. Scientists are looking at what role genes play in the development of these disorders and are also investigating the effects of environmental factors such as pollution, physical and psychological stress, and diet. In addition, studies are being conducted on the "natural history" (what course the illness takes without treatment) of a variety of individual anxiety disorders, combinations of anxiety disorders, and anxiety disorders that are accompanied by other mental illnesses such as depression.
Scientists currently think that, like heart disease and type 1 diabetes, mental illnesses are complex and probably result from a combination of genetic, environmental, psychological, and developmental factors. For instance, although NIMH-sponsored studies of twins and families suggest that genetics play a role in the development of some anxiety disorders, problems such as PTSD are triggered by trauma. Genetic studies may help explain why some people exposed to trauma develop PTSD and others do not.
Several parts of the brain are key actors in the production of fear and anxiety. 15 Using brain imaging technology and neurochemical techniques, scientists have discovered that the amygdala and the hippocampus play significant roles in most anxiety disorders.
The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is believed to be a communications hub between the parts of the brain that process incoming sensory signals and the parts that interpret these signals. It can alert the rest of the brain that a threat is present and trigger a fear or anxiety response. It appears that emotional memories are stored in the central part of the amygdala and may play a role in anxiety disorders involving very distinct fears, such as fears of dogs, spiders, or flying.
The hippocampus is the part of the brain that encodes threatening events into memories. Studies have shown that the hippocampus appears to be smaller in some people who were victims of child abuse or who served in military combat. Research will determine what causes this reduction in size and what role it plays in the flashbacks, deficits in explicit memory, and fragmented memories of the traumatic event that are common in PTSD.
By learning more about how the brain creates fear and anxiety, scientists may be able to devise better treatments for anxiety disorders. For example, if specific neurotransmitters are found to play an important role in fear, drugs may be developed that will block them and decrease fear responses; if enough is learned about how the brain generates new cells throughout the lifecycle, it may be possible to stimulate the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus in people with PTSD.
Current research at NIMH on anxiety disorders includes studies that address how well medication and behavioral therapies work in the treatment of OCD, and the safety and effectiveness of medications for children and adolescents who have a combination of anxiety disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Anxiety Attacks - Anxiety Attacks
Because so many symptoms that are realized during an anxiety attack are similar if not exactly like those of some other kind of condition, it is almost impossible to determine if what you have been feeling is due to an anxiety attack, or another condition.
Many people report the notion of being "frozen by fear" and an anxiety attack definitely resembles that to a large degree.
Please Don't Make Me Go On Vacation
Many Americans would rather give up days than go away.
You Are Cleared for Takeoff
Nervous airline passengers are increasingly turning to pills to make hours of sealed confinement more bearable; among most popular pills are benzodiazepines, class of anti-anxiety drugs that tend to be relatively safe; doctors caution against borrowing from friends or mixing with alcohol; drawing; photo
For Fear of Flying, Therapy Takes to the Skies
With small steps, participants in Freedom to Fly learn to “out-bluff” their anxiety.
Can't Keep From Shopping? Help Could Be on the Way
In its extreme forms compulsive buying may be a psychiatric illness — an impulse control disorder associated with abnormal levels of depression and anxiety.
Rockets Fray Nerves in Israeli 'Bull's-Eye' City
After seven years of rocket fire, sometimes sporadic and sometimes intense, Sderot, a working-class Israeli town, has turned into a city of fear.
Other Anxiety Attacks Article Snippets:
How To Recognize An Anxiety Attack Symptom
"Beta blockers are especially helpful in controlling the physical symptoms of panic and anxiety attacks."
Anxiety Attack Or Something Else
"The "fight or flight" response was said to evolve from early human types that either fled danger or took it on if they could."
Physical Anxiety Symptoms May Be Due To Medical Causes
"One of the main symptoms of an anxiety attack is extreme fear which may be acknowledged as a symptom of anxiety, but in reality it is just the end result of the real symptoms."
Separation Anxiety In Children
"Some patients discover that the side effects of some anxiety attack medication can be worse than the actual problem."