The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that more than 40 million American adults have some type of anxiety disorder, including social anxiety disorder, social phobias, separation anxiety disorder, and other more specific or niche phobias.
That number represents more than 19% of the adult population in the United States(!), meaning that anxiety is one of the most common mental health issues today.
Anxiety affects nearly every aspect of your life – including sexual function — and it’s not uncommon for chronic anxiety to contribute to erectile dysfunction. Here's how anxiety and ED are linked.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a general sense of fear, dread, or being uneasy as the result of a real or perceived threat.
It’s a natural human response, developed to aid our ancestors in surviving situations our bodies recognize as threatening or potentially dangerous.
For example, it's anxiety that keeps you alert and focused when driving in heavy traffic or during a rainstorm. It's anxiety that puts you into "go mode" for that big presentation tomorrow. And it may be anxiety around "being liked" that has you preparing for that first date!
In many ways, anxiety is a productive response to threats! It keeps you alert during poor driving conditions and motivates you to work hard ahead of big professional events.
The problem with anxiety emerges when you experience an inappropriate or constant response to triggers, like social situations. Feelings of intense panic and dread due to mundane or routine activities could be a sign of an anxiety disorder.
What Are the Different Types of Anxiety?
Several diagnosable anxiety disorders exist, each with specific triggers and causes. The most common of these anxiety disorders include:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder or GAD is the most common anxiety disorder and can turn everyday situations into potential triggers.
What makes generalized anxiety disorder so challenging to manage is that it can result in panic attacks, heart palpitations and increased heart rate, muscle tension, and high blood pressure seemingly coming out of nowhere. This differs from other anxiety disorders where triggers are more consistent and avoidable.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is characterized by sudden and intense panic attacks that provide feelings of mortal terror despite no actual danger, paired with a fear of having future panic attacks. These panic attacks generally last between five and 20 minutes, but they can last as long as an hour in some cases.
Panic disorders can be difficult to manage as the attacks often come out of nowhere, and the triggers can be different each time.
Phobias
Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that have a specific trigger, leading to an intense and irrational fear that can bring on panic attacks, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, and other intense symptoms.
This type of anxiety can be easier to manage than others as the triggers are often identified. Precautions can be made to avoid them in the future.
Some of the most common phobias include:
- Acrophobia is a fear of heights.
- Agoraphobia is a fear of public spaces.
- Arachnophobia is a fear of spiders.
- Astraphobia is a fear of thunderstorms.
- Autophobia is a fear of being alone.
- Claustrophobia is a fear of enclosed spaces.
- Cynophobia is a fear of dogs.
- Entomophobia is a fear of insects.
- Hemophobia is a fear of blood.
- Hydrophobia is a fear of water.
- Ophidiophobia is a fear of snakes.
- Pteromerhanophobia is a fear of flying.
- Technophobia is a fear of technology.
- Trypanophobia is a fear of needles.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is generally the result of experiencing a severely traumatic event in which serious injury or death was a potential outcome.
Veterans commonly experience PTSD as a result of being in active combat, but civilians can also develop PTSD.
Women are more than twice as likely to experience PTSD than men, and people of color also have higher rates of PTSD.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by unwanted or intrusive thoughts and obsessions that lead to repetitive compulsions. A common compulsion is the desire to clean, which can lead to excessive hand washing, showering, brushing teeth, or other hygienic behaviors.
These recurrent and persistent thoughts can often cause feelings of anxiety or disgust and be violent, sexual, or involve death. Due to these intense thoughts, a person may be compelled to repeat physical movements compulsively to quell disconcerting thoughts and ease intense feelings.
What Does Anxiety Feel Like?
The exact symptoms of anxiety are just like the potential triggers in that they vary depending on the person and type of anxiety. The severity of anxiety symptoms can also vary, ranging from butterflies in your stomach to full-blown paralyzing panic attacks.
Some of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety include:
- Chest pain
- Diarrhea
- Difficulty breathing
- Elevated heart rate
- Fatigue and being tired
- Fear of death
- Feeling nervous
- Fidgeting
- Insomnia or trouble sleeping
- Intense feelings of being hot or cold
- Nausea
- Numbness or tingling sensations
- Obsessive or intrusive thoughts
- Persistent worrying
- Shaking or trembling
- Sweating
- Tense or twitching muscles
- Upset stomach and other GI discomforts
These symptoms come as the result of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline being released in the body, a result of the body’s fight or flight response.
What Happens If You Don’t Treat Anxiety?
There is no singular cure for anxiety, but cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), counseling, and medication like benzodiazepines or anxiolytics are the most common treatments.
Anxiety can sometimes be hereditary, and certain risk factors may make you more likely to develop an anxiety disorder too.
One of the most common medications prescribed for anxiety is Xanax (alprazolam), a benzodiazepine. It can help to restore brain signalling chemicals to normal levels and help reduce anxiety and prevent panic attacks. However, it can also come with some sexual health-related side effects and is generally not meant for long-term maintenance use.
Even if it's intimidating to seek treatment, getting help for anxiety is important.
Anxiety disorders can worsen and have a severe impact on daily life if left unaddressed. One research study found that leaving anxiety untreated can even lead to impaired homeostatic function, similar to the effects of diabetes or congestive heart failure.
Anxiety can also have an impact on the relationships in your life. Along with an increased desire to isolate and withdraw from others, anxiety can lead to other mental health disorders such as depression and substance abuse.
Both depression and abusing certain substances contribute to sexual dysfunctions like ED.
They can also strain personal relationships with friends, family, and significant others, as well as professional relationships and career opportunities.
The Takeaway
Anxiety is a common experience for American adults, affecting an estimated 15-20% of the population. The triggers and severity of your anxiety symptoms will depend on the individual; however, it’s not uncommon for sexual dysfunctions like ED to occur for men experiencing anxiety.
If you're dealing with anxiety, therapy can help you learn effective ways to avoid your triggers and manage your symptoms. Medications can help, too, and a licensed medical practitioner will be the best person to help you find anxiety relief. If anxiety is limiting your ability to function, talk to a medical professional about the right treatment approach for your situation.
Sources
Generalized Anxiety Disorder | Mayo Clinic
What Is PTSD? | Pyschiatry.org
What Is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? | Psychiatry.org
Anxiety Disorders | Mayo Clinic
Untreated Anxiety Among Adult Primary Care Patients | Pubmed
