Anxious Facts About Anxiety

June 29, 2017 | Josh Mendelssohn

Anxious Facts About Anxiety


While many people suffer from worry, sometimes, worry can interfere with daily activities. That’s when worry can become full-blown anxiety. Anxiety disorders are real medical conditions that are no less serious than physical disorders such as heart disease or diabetes.

Knowing more about it is a good way to make sure you can deal with it either in yourself or in others, so here are some facts you may not have known about anxiety.

Anxiety Facts

32. Level of Worry

It’s normal to worry, but general worriers tend to spend an average of 55 minutes a day worrying. People with anxiety disorders spend over 300 minutes a day worrying.

Dumbest Patient FactsShutterstock

31. More Than One Type

There are many variations of anxiety such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), different phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Arnold Schwarzenegger QuizShutterstock

30. Asking for Help

Many people with social anxiety disorder report experiencing symptoms for ten years or more before seeking help.

Adam Levine factsPixabay

29. An Early Start

One third of adults with OCD experience symptoms in childhood.

boy, washing, handsPixnio

Advertisement

28. Risks to Kids

Anxiety disorders affect 1 in 8 children. Children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and engage in substance abuse.

Impress a Crush factsShutterstock

27. Physical Symptoms

Anxiety can cause a number of physical symptoms, especially during a panic attack. These symptoms include shortness of breath, shaking, nausea, headaches, rapid heartbeat, dizziness and more.

Dumbest Patient FactsShutterstock

26. The Wrong Kind of Company

Anxiety disorders are often accompanied by other disorders. For example, GAD frequently occurs along with depression or substance abuse.

stressPixabay

25. Hospitalization

People who suffer from anxiety disorders are six times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders.

HospitalPicpedia

24. Eating and Hyperactivity

Anxiety disorders often present in cases of eating disorders and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Stupidest Things to Impress Crush factsShutterstock

Factinate

Sign up to our newsletter.

History’s most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily. Making distraction rewarding since 2017.

Thank you!
Error, please try again.

23. Number One

Beating even depression, anxiety is the number one form of mental illness in the United States, affecting 18% of the US population.

Lawyers Share “I Rest My Case” FactsGetty Images

Advertisement

22. The Cost of Worry

Anxiety disorders in the US cost more than $42 billion a year, which is a third of the country’s entire $148 billion mental health bill.

Creep Gut FactsFlickr

21. Symptomatic

Anxiety is also a major symptom of depression.

Men's Secrets factsPixabay

20. It Gets Worse

Approximately 10% of teenagers and 40% of adults suffer from an anxiety disorder of some kind.

Forbidden Family Secrets factsShutterstock

19. Help Wanted

Despite being very treatable through therapy and/or medication, two thirds of adults do not receive treatment. Teenagers are treated even less frequently, where only 1 in 5 teen suffers receive help.

Survivor FactsShutterstock

18. The Brain

Brain scans of people who suffer from various anxiety disorders have often shown evidence of chemical imbalances.

Human Brain QuizPixabay

17. Gender Differences

Statistically, women are more commonly afflicted by anxiety than men, which is unsurprising given the fact that women have to put up with men.

Toxic Partners factsShutterstock

Advertisement

16. Smarty Pants

Researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Centre in New York confirm that anxiety is positively correlated with IQ. This doesn’t mean that all folks with anxiety are smart, but it does mean that, on average, anxious people have a higher IQ.

Adam Levine quizShutterstock

15. Inheritance

If either or both of your parents suffer from anxiety, there’s a high chance you’ll experience it as well.

Family Law, Divorce Lawyer, Silhouettes, Personal, ManMax Pixel

14. Isolating the Gene

In a 2013 study, the α-endomannosidase gene was found to be associated with panic disorder and social anxiety disorder.

Edward IV FactsShutterstock

13. Learning From Parents

While nature certainly plays a part, nurture is also a culprit. Anxious parents are more likely to visibly doubt their child’s competency, less likely to grant autonomy, and more likely to raise an anxious child.

Biggest “Guy Secrets” FactsShutterstock

12. Fear Itself

Not just regular fears, phobias can be seriously debilitating, inducing intense panic that can cause sufferers to go to great lengths to avoid the subject of their fear. Unless you’re running from giant spiders. Then it’s just common sense.

Scandalous Historical FactsGetty Images

11. Not Just Soldiers

Soldiers aren’t the only ones to suffer from PTSD. Survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, accidents, and natural disasters can all suffer from post-traumatic anxiety.

Depressed veteran meets with psychologist.Getty Images

Advertisement

10. The Trauma of Sexual Assault

Rape is the most likely trigger of PTSD where 65% of men and 45.9% of women who are raped will develop the disorder.

Edward IV FactsGetty Images

9. Fire and Hair

OCD has some close relatives in other compulsions and manias such as pyromania and trichotillomania, which are respectively, the uncontrollable need to start fires and to pull out their own hair.

Marilyn Manson FactsPxHere

8. Triggered

Anxiety disorders can be triggered by extended environmental stress or traumatic life events.

Angry Head EmojisFlickr

7. Run It Out

Anxiety is the body’s fight or flight response in full swing. Physical activity is the natural end to this response, so exercise can balance out the neurochemicals that contribute to anxiety. That's right, hoping on that old exercise bike could really help!

Human Attraction factsPixabay

6. The Scent of Fear

If you suffer from anxiety, there's a really good chance that you have a greater tendency to label neutral smells as bad smells, as anxiety can effect olfactory triggers.

Never Speak of Again factsShutterstock

5. You Spin Me Right Round

Anxiety can interfere with balance, and anxious people can get dizzy without any identifiable cause. Studies show that anxious people sway more than non-anxious people.

Virtual Construction Balance BeamFlickr

4. Making Faces

Anxious people are quicker to pick up on changes in facial expression, but they are less accurate in their interpretation. This means anxious people often misinterpret other people’s emotional states and intentions, creating tension and conflict in relationships.

Burst Out Laughing factsPixabay

3. Personal Space

Everyone likes personal space. While it differs for people, it’s generally about 20-40 cm away from our face. For anxious people, the personal space zone is much wider.

Shutterstock_611015732 Girl sitting on the ground and drawing personal space. Selective focus - ImageShutterstock

2. What a Treat!

A variety of treatment options exist, such as talk therapy, coping strategies, medication, and alternative therapies such as yoga, meditation, and acupuncture. One or a combination of these can be put together to find an effective way to treat a particular brand of anxiety.

Cults FactsPxHere

1. You’ve Got a Friend

People with social anxiety often think they don’t come across well. However, research has shown that people, particularly friends, think anxious people are wonderful. This is possible due to the sensitivity that anxious people display, which means their words are generally well considered and leave a good impression.

Biggest “Guy Secrets” FactsShutterstock

Sources: 1 2 3 4

More from Factinate

Featured Article

My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.

Dark Family Secrets

Dark Family Secrets Exposed

Nothing stays hidden forever—and these dark family secrets are proof that when the truth comes out, it can range from devastating to utterly chilling.
April 8, 2020 Samantha Henman

Featured Article

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.

Madame de Pompadour Facts

Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
December 7, 2018 Kyle Climans

More from Factinate

Featured Article

I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.

These People Got Genius Revenges

When someone really pushes our buttons, we'd like to think that we'd hold our head high and turn the other cheek, but revenge is so, so sweet.
April 22, 2020 Scott Mazza

Featured Article

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.

Catherine of Aragon Facts

Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but very few people know her even darker history.
June 7, 2018 Christine Tran



Dear reader,


Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!


Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!


Warmest regards,



The Factinate team




Want to learn something new every day?

Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.