Anticipatory Anxiety and Panic Disorder

woman writing in notebook
Gianni Diliberto / Getty Images

预期:安溪ety happens when people experience increased anxiety and stress when they think about an event that will happen in the future. Such anxiety may occur in response to large events such as giving a presentation at work, but it can also precede minor, everyday activities such as driving to work, parking your car, or having conversations with co-workers. While this is not a distinct mental condition, anticipatory anxiety is a symptom of other conditions including panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

如果你有恐慌症,您可能会发现自己期待许多生活事件。开车去上班,去商店,参加社交聚会,其他活动可能是您预期的日常焦点。在您进行恐慌之前,您可能没有对这些常见事件的任何一个都没有思考。但现在预期可能会导致您感到焦虑并干扰您在日常生活中充分发挥作用的能力。

People often feel anticipatory anxiety because they fear that they will a panic attack when they are in these situations.

Normal vs. Problem Anticipatory Anxiety

无限数量的人类经历会导致正常的预期焦虑。我们经历过多次anxiety期待在我们完成主要任务或通过即将举行的生活事件中完成新的或之前做某事。在第一次约会之前,您可能会觉得预期的焦虑期末考试, a job interview, moving to a new home, or before a major trip.

如果您有恐慌障碍,预期焦虑可能超出了人们通常在新的或主要生活中经历的限制,导致焦虑的问题。这是因为预期或你想象一个未来的事件的方式,专注于拥有一个惊恐发作in certain situations.

The fear of having a panic attack can be associated with any life situation or event, big or small. In some cases, anticipatory anxiety surrounds any activity that involves leaving the safety of your own home.

How Your Thoughts Contribute to Anticipatory Anxiety

预期焦虑与您的思维方式密切相关。凭借恐慌症,您的想法通常集中在担心恐慌攻击,这将导致尴尬,极端不适,心脏病发作,甚至更糟糕。

如果你有恐慌症, you are probably very familiar with “what if” worries. Perhaps your worries are similar to these:

  1. 如果我有恐慌的攻击,怎么把我的车进入沟渠?
  2. What if I start to panic in the store and embarrass myself with some bizarre behavior?
  3. 如果在一家餐馆吃饭,我不能吞下并开始窒息我的食物?
  4. 如果我在街区散步并开始恐慌,不能回家怎么办?

This kind of thinking causes a lot of anticipatory anxiety that can lead to avoiding certain activities. The anxiety may be so intense that it causes a condition called agoraphobia.

How to Cope With Anticipatory Anxiety

Here are some ways to cope with anticipatory anxiety:

学习和练习放松技巧

By learning and practicing relaxation techniques, you will be able to reduce your level of anticipatory anxiety. You may even be able to defuse a panic attack in the making. Some techniques that may be helpful include:

  • 深呼吸:深呼吸锻炼通常是减少恐慌和紧张感受的有效途径。因为恐慌的感觉往往伴随着迅速,浅浅的呼吸,学习慢,深呼吸可以帮助你的身体。
  • Progressive muscle relaxation(PMR):恐慌往往会导致人们紧张,但练习逐步收紧,然后放松身体的肌肉可以帮助您学会更好地控制这种紧张局势。在学习这种技术之后,您将能够释放肌肉的紧张局势,这可以具有缓解和平静的效果。
  • Guided imagery:这个过程涉及关闭你的眼睛和可视化图像,帮助您感到平静和放松。您可以使用这种类型的图像来想象自己在不同情况下成功或只是帮助您的身体恢复平静状态。
  • Mindfulness meditation:这种类型的冥想可以有助于缓解预期的焦虑,因为它鼓励您专注于现在,而不是担心未来。
  • 日记写作:写下你的感情可以帮助您更好地注意到您的思想和情绪如何导致预期焦虑的模式。

尝试自助策略

当你发现自己遇到了预期的焦虑时,有一些事情可以做到这可能会更容易应对:

  • 挑战焦虑的想法。When you get nervous about something you have to do in the future, ask yourself if you are being realistic. In many cases, you might find that you are catastrophizing or thinking of worst-case scenarios. Challenging these thoughts with more realistic ones can help calm your feelings of anxiety.
  • 重新聚焦你的想法。当消极或焦虑的想法开始时,故意打断你的思想。强迫自己有意识地关注可能发生的良好事情,而不是通过焦虑挑衅情景来跑步。
  • 采取行动。预期:安溪ety often leads people to put off tasks rather than face them; which can then lead to even more anxiety.如果您正在害怕某些东西并发现自己对此感到紧张,请先控制这种情况。提醒自己,如果你现在拿到它,你就不必花费你所有的时间都会担心它。

获得专业帮助

如果您无法自行控制焦虑,请与您的医生或心理健康专业人士交谈很重要。万博手机客户端各种专业人士可以帮助您解决预期焦虑。

Some of the treatments they may be able to provide include:

如果你或亲人正在努力焦虑,请联系药物滥用和心理健康服务管理局(Samhs万博手机客户端a)国家帮助热线at1-800-662-4357有关您所在地区的支持和治疗设施的信息。

为了更多的心理健康万博手机客户端资源,看看我们的National Helpline Database

此页面是否有帮助?
文章来源
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial process要了解有关我们如何检查的更多信息,请保持内容准确,可靠和值得信赖。
  1. Helbig-lang S, Lang T, Petermann F, Hoyer J.作为恐慌攻击和恐慌相关的自我效能的函数的预期焦虑:恐慌症的动态评估研究表演Cogn Speculother.。2012; 40(5):590-604。DOI:10.1017 / S1352465812000057

  2. GRUPE DW,NITSCHKE JB。Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety: an integrated neurobiological and psychological perspectiveNAT Rev Neurosci.。2013; 14(7):488-501。DOI:10.1038 / NRN3524

  3. Jerath R, Crawford MW, Barnes VA, Harden K.Self-regulation of breathing as a primary treatment for anxietyAppl Psychophysiol Biofeedback。2015; 40(2):107-15。DOI:10.1007 / S10484-015-9279-8

  4. Hoge Ea,Bui E,Marques L等人。Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for generalized anxiety disorder: effects on anxiety and stress reactivityJ Clin Psychiatry。2013;74(8):786–792. doi:10.4088/JCP.12m08083

额外阅读