Anxiety disorders are no small matter, but knowing which symptoms point to trouble may help you navigate your intense fears and worries. First, you are not alone: Anxiety disorders are estimated to plague nearly 40 million people in the United States each year, according to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America. James Maddux, an emeritus professor of clinical psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., explained that “the best way of thinking about anxiety…is to see it as having three interlocking, interacting components”: thinking or cognition; feeling or emotions; and then behavior. “Finding somewhere to intervene at one of those three points, that breaks up that pattern, is also a way of reducing or eliminating the physiological part of anxiety,” Maddux noted. If you think you may be experiencing generalized anxiety disorder or any other type of anxiety, there are some telltale symptoms worth noting. Here’s how you can recognize the most common anxiety symptoms, plus tips on how to calm them down if they flare up. Common anxiety symptoms The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) states that, while each type of anxiety is unique, they share some common symptoms: Anticipating the worst or an excessive fear of a threat Rapid breathing Pounding heart or heart palpitations Fatigue Sweating and shaking Nausea, diarrhea and increased urination Restlessness or irritability Anticipating the worst…  read on >  read on >

When waiting for medical test results, days can feel like an eternity. In a new survey, patients overwhelmingly say they’d like their results immediately — even if their provider has not yet reviewed them and even if the news is bad. In April 2021, new rules went into effect requiring health care providers in the United States to make all results and clinical notes available immediately to patients. “Online patient portals have emerged as important tools for increasing patient engagement,” said study co-author Catherine DesRoches, executive director of OpenNotes, a movement focused on increasing information transparency in health care based at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “They enable patients to access information, participate in medical decision-making and to communicate with clinicians,” DesRoches said in a medical center news release. “Prior studies performed by OpenNotes investigators established immediate release of clinical notes as a recommended best practice,” DesRoches added. “However, releasing test results to patients immediately, often before a clinician can provide counselling and context, was yet to be studied widely and remains controversial.” Researchers analyzed survey responses from more than 8,100 patients and care partners who accessed their test results through an online patient portal account between April 2021 and April 2022. Patients had been tested at University of California, Davis…  read on >  read on >

Sometimes an anxiety disorder feels like worry and ruminating about lots of little and big things. Other times it’s focused on a specific phobia, such as a fear of flying or being in social situations. It can also be expressed as intense feelings about separation from loved ones. What’s clear is that someone experiencing anxiety disorder symptoms isn’t alone. About 40 million American adults have one or more types of anxiety disorders, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). If you think you may be among those dealing with these issues, it is possible to get help. There are a range of treatment options for anxiety disorders. A common experience The pandemic exacerbated anxiety issues, which led the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to recommend screenings for all adults under the age of 65. “COVID has taken a tremendous toll on the mental health of Americans,” panel member Lori Pbert, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, said when the screening recommendations were changed. “This is a topic prioritized for its public health importance, but clearly there’s an increased focus on mental health in this country over the past few years.” Anxiety disorders are so common that nearly 30% of adults will experience one at some point in their lives, according to the American Psychiatric Association…  read on >  read on >

Anxiety attacks can seem overwhelming when you’re in the middle of one, but with the right coping tools you can come out the other side. What is an anxiety attack? According to the Detroit Medical Center, an anxiety attack is a stretch of time during which you experience “intense” anxiety symptoms, especially fear. It can last anywhere from minutes to weeks. So, what does an anxiety attack feel like? A racing heart, dizziness and being out of breath are common experiences for people who are having an anxiety attack, according to Harvard Health. In addition, this “fight-or-flight” response that is triggered by worry or fear can cause more fear to develop, creating a negative loop of panic. “If you’re feeling lightheaded, your heart racing and chest tightening, it really contributes to a sense that something terrible is going to happen,” said Jacqueline Bullis, an assistant psychologist at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, told Harvard Health. “But physical symptoms themselves aren’t the problem. It’s really the way we respond to them. We want people to learn that these distressing physical sensations aren’t dangerous and they can learn ways to tolerate them.” Anxiety attack symptoms According to Harvard Health, anxiety attacks occur when your symptoms become so intense that they interfere with everyday activities. These anxiety symptoms may include: Steadily increasing feelings of fear or worry Panting or gasping…  read on >  read on >

In state after state, doors are quickly slamming shut on the ability of doctors to provide gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The newest restriction is set to take effect Thursday in Florida, where that state’s Board of Medicine decided last month to ban the use of all puberty blockers, hormone therapies and/or surgeries for any patient under 18, whether or not those minors have parental approval for such care. The ban stems from an effort first launched by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Surgeon General back in April 2022, when the pair issued a joint call for the ban. That was followed in August 2022 by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s rewriting of Medicaid coverage rules that disallowed reimbursements for any gender-affirming treatments involving both minors and adults. Minors who were already receiving puberty blockers before the new ban may continue taking them. Otherwise, the ban is complete: Florida transgender minors are no longer allowed access to gender-affirming medical care, even in a clinical trial. As a board ruling — rather than a new state law — Florida doctors who violate the ban will not face criminal charges, though they will be subject to censure, fines and the potential loss of their right to practice medicine in the state. Last week, Republican state lawmakers tabled a bill that would have gone a…  read on >  read on >

Like humans, some dogs suffer from anxiety. They might show fear or excitability toward strangers. Loud noises might result in “accidents.” They may get destructive when you leave home. The cause of their distress could lie in their brain makeup, researchers from Ghent University in Belgium say. For the study, published March 15 in PLOS ONE, researchers Yangfeng Xu and Emma Christiaen recruited 25 healthy dogs and 13 anxious dogs. They then used a type of noninvasive brain imaging called fMRI. The researchers discovered the anxious dogs had different features in their brains, with stronger connections between a component of the brain known as the amygdala and other regions of the anxiety network. The amygdala is responsible for emotions and behavior, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Although animals, including rodents, are often studied to aid in understanding anxiety disorders, the investigators said the dogs’ larger brain and bigger cortex could aid research into neural networks associated with anxiety. The researchers looked at the resting state of dogs with and without anxiety, comparing network metrics and connectivity between the groups. With the resting-state fMRI, the study team could see that functional connections between the amygdala and other parts of the anxiety circuit, particularly the hippocampus, were stronger than normal in anxious dogs. Certain other measurements known as global and local efficiency were also…  read on >  read on >

Your eyes close and your mind shuts down the second your head hits the pillow, but you wake up 10 hours later still feeling tired. Many people complain about sleeping too little, but some struggle with the opposite problem: oversleeping. Oversleeping, or hypersomnia, is a sleep disorder characterized by complaints of excessive daytime sleepiness occurring regularly or often, even after sleeping 10 or more hours a night. “Healthy sleep encompasses three major things,” Marishka Brown, a sleep expert at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), said recently. “One is how much sleep you get. Another is sleep quality — that you get uninterrupted and refreshing sleep. The last is a consistent sleep schedule. If you’re sleeping more than nine hours a night and you don’t feel refreshed, there may be some underlying medical issue.” If you are asking yourself, “Why do I need so much sleep,” here are the most common reasons for that and some tips on how to revamp your sleeping routine. While individual sleep needs may vary depending on age and conditions such as illness, stress or physical activity levels, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine notes that experts recommend that schoolchildren get nine hours of sleep per night and teens get eight to 10 hours, while adults may only need seven hours or more. Some adults, known as long sleepers,…  read on >  read on >

Don’t rely on TikTok for accurate health information about mpox, the virus once known as monkeypox, a new study says. An international group of researchers who watched and analyzed videos about mpox on the social media site found them to be often inaccurate, incomplete and of poor quality. Study findings were published May 14 in BMJ Global Health. A global outbreak of mpox made headlines last year. It’s usually spread by close contact and involves fever, swollen lymph glands and painful skin pustules all over the body that last several weeks. “Overall, the material on the recent mpox outbreak shared through TikTok videos was frequently unreliable and incomplete, hindering public health efforts to share accurate information on mpox,” the authors said in a journal news release. They include Dr. Ao Shi from St. George’s University of London. Researchers determined overall quality was higher when the videos were made by doctors and science communicators rather than institutional users, nurses and the general public. Still, the overall average score for the videos was 39.56 out of 80 using DISCERN, a tool used to help consumers gauge the reliability of health information; and 1.93 out of 4 using criteria from the Journal of the American Medical Association. No video met all the JAMA criteria. “Our quality-of-information results emphasize the need for developing instructions on health information videos on…  read on >  read on >