What Are the Causes of Cognitive Anxiety?

Cognitive anxiety refers to anxiety symptoms that are not physical in nature, such as worry, fear and nervousness. When most people think of anxiety they think of treatments like cognitive-behavioral therapy, which seeks to lessen both cognitive and physical symptoms by changing the way a person thinks about his disorder. However, while most people think of treatment options and symptoms where anxiety is concerned, it's also important to take note of the causes of cognitive anxiety in order to have the highest chance of helping an anxiety sufferer get better.

Function

• Anxiety is a normal reaction to various types of stimuli. If no one ever experienced anxiety there would likely be a much higher death rate, because people wouldn't respond to perceived danger. With that in mind, though, too much anxiety can also be unhealthy. It can cause people to 'freeze' when they should be doing something important to protect themselves, and long-term, chronic anxiety can put a person at greater risk for health problems, because the stress and worry wear down the immune system. Cognitive anxiety can be treated in many different ways, but knowing what causes it in a particular person makes it easier to address.

Significance

• Each year, around 40 million American adults suffer from anxiety disorders.That doesn't include children who may be struggling with cognitive anxiety because of parental relationships that are not strong, problems in school, and the pressures of dealing with siblings or peers. Even adults deal with these kinds of issues, which are all causes of cognitive anxiety. Adults can also struggle with job stress or job loss, marital problems, lack of money and trouble paying bills, problems with neighbors, rebellious or ill children, and many other factors. Not everyone can shrug these issues off, and when these kinds of problems build up they can trigger bouts of cognitive anxiety in some people.

Considerations

• The most important thing for a person with cognitive anxiety to consider is what the cause of that anxiety is. Sometimes, there is little that can be done about the issue that's causing the anxiety, and the sufferer must look for ways to handle the problem better. Other times, the cause can be eliminated or minimized, allowing an anxious person to feel better. If the cause is a job, for example, it may be possible to change employers or even careers to reduce cognitive anxiety. Other causes that can't be eliminated, such as a medical condition, require a person to think differently about his problem in order to reduce the cognitive anxiety that he feels.

Expert Insight

• Some people who have cognitive anxiety can control it fairly well, but others cannot. They are often told that they are too dramatic, that they need to "get a grip," and that "it's all in their head." A recent study conducted at the University of Michigan says that there might be a strong biological cause for cognitive anxiety. The study showed that rats that were anxious---and bred to be that way for 19 generations---were deficient in a brain chemical called FGF2. When the rats were given more of this compound, they quickly became more like their less-anxious counterparts. Exploring this further could treat the actual, biological cause of cognitive anxiety instead of only sedating patients, which is what is mostly done with current medications. If the biological cause is real, the other causes of anxiety are not actually "causes" in themselves, but merely triggers which vary from person to person.

Prevention/Solution

• While a person cannot prevent cognitive anxiety if he is predisposed to it, he can be aware of its symptoms and what triggers the feelings of fear and worry. Everyone is different in that regard. The medications that are offered today can help a person calm down and eliminate some of the worry, as can cognitive-behavioral therapy and other types of treatment. The most important issue is that, whatever the cause of cognitive anxiety, it should be treated by a professional for maximum benefit to the patient.