Secondary Anxiety: Characteristics And Associated Dangers
Secondary anxiety arises from the suffering of a person who lives with anxiety. Few realities are as tiring as one where a person feels as though they have no control over themselves. Anxiety is living with the fear that every moment a panic attack will strike and that anxiety symptoms will intensify even more.
It is necessary to point out here what the medical institutions indicate to us. It is customary to give the name of “secondary anxiety” to this universe of contradictory and distressing emotions which arise as a result of an illness. Thus, neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia or even dealing with cancer often lead to psychological disorders.
Either way, one thing is obvious: we can all develop primary anxiety at any time. This is a normal occurrence that can arise as a result of pressure at work, in our relationships, or in our inability to deal with stress. If we are successful in skillfully managing these dimensions, this anxiety will not drift into secondary anxiety.
On the other hand, if we feel overwhelmed, if we end up not being able to cope with so many opposing sensations, thoughts and emotions, the anxiety is disproportionately self-sustaining. The effects can also be quite significant. Let’s learn more about this topic.
Symptoms of secondary anxiety
Some see anxiety as something built from many layers of stress layered on top of each other. This is particularly common in generalized anxiety disorder where, from adolescence, the person has a tendency to worry excessively about everything, to feel overwhelmed, to have excessive fears, etc.
Little by little, this primary anxiety takes hold in every corner of the mind until one day the first panic attack sets in. This experience is often terrifying. Some people have the impression that they are going to die, that they are the victims of a myocardial infarction.
However, when their doctor tells them that this problem has a psychological and not a physical origin, these people take it to a new stage. The one where secondary anxiety appears, or the fear of one’s own anxiety and its consequences. Here are the most common symptoms:
- On average, people with secondary anxiety are very demanding of themselves. Having anxiety and panic attacks somehow plunges them into a state of anger and rejection of themselves because they fail to “control” this reality. Anxiety itself ends up generating greater anxiety.
- These people are also characterized by great hypervigilance. In other words, they are always on the alert in the face of possible threats in their environment, they overreact to sounds, smells, sensations …
- They feel defeated and overwhelmed most of the time.
What dangers derive from secondary anxiety?
Albert Ellis, creator and instigator of Rational-Emotional Theory, had already pointed out in his time that it was important to differentiate between primary anxiety and secondary anxiety. The most pronounced cases, such as panic disorder, come from the fact that the patient has become accustomed to their primary anxiety to the point of drifting into a deeper, more complex and dangerous reality.
It is therefore important to know that a panic attack will never arise if we are able to manage this internal state before seeing its final form, secondary anxiety. But what happens when the latter has already made an appearance and when we have internalized it?
- Secondary anxiety ends up taking away any sense of control over ourselves. It completely undermines self-esteem and self-confidence.
- With this state, it is very difficult for us to take a rational and reflective point of view to understand why we have come to this. We exaggerate the anxiety so we end up telling ourselves that there is no longer a solution. Very rigid psychological points of view are therefore put in place.
- Another important fact is that secondary anxiety is the basis for the onset of other disorders. It is common for it to drift into agoraphobia, major depression, or even that some patients resort to substance abuse.
How do you deal with this anxiety?
In general, the therapeutic approach for secondary anxiety requires first of all knowing the individual reality of the patient. The doctor will make a diagnosis, deepen its characteristics, background, circumstances, medical history, etc.
In a second step, specific treatments (a pharmacological approach will sometimes be necessary) will be combined with other broader ones according to the needs of the person. It is therefore usual for the following strategies to be used:
- Inform the patient about anxiety, panic attacks and bring him closer to the reality of his diagnosis (if he suffers from generalized anxiety, phobias, etc.).
- Identify erroneous behaviors and views that the patient uses that intensify their cycle of anxiety.
- To instill in him cognitive strategies and techniques to avoid preoccupation, catastrophic and automatic thoughts.
- Train him in relaxation and breathing techniques.
- Controlled exposure to feared situations or stimuli.
- Offer strategies for time management, social skills, planning fun activities, working for vital goals, etc.
In conclusion, the ideal would be to be able to ask for help before the primary anxiety turns into secondary anxiety. We would thus avoid arriving at situations of great psychological wear and tear behind which, very often, we find other latent realities, such as depression.
With the help of a good professional, we can better cope with these dimensions to gain well-being and regain control of our life. Let’s keep this in mind.
Our thoughts A stressful situation over a long period of time can lead to depression. This is an increasingly common reality.
