What is it?
Anxiety is rooted in our, and our ancestors’, need to stay safe from danger. Back in ancient times, when humans lived in the wild, being alert and cautious helped them survive. For example, if there was a threat like a predator nearby, feeling anxious would prompt them to act quickly to protect themselves.
Our brains developed anxiety responses over time as a way to cope with challenging situations. Even though we don’t face the same dangers as our ancestors, our brains still react similarly to things that make us feel uncertain or stressed.
How do we notice anxiety?
So, anxiety can be seen as a natural part of being human, helping us stay alert and ready to handle whatever comes our way.
We feel anxious for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because we’re facing something new, uncertain, or challenging. Other times, it might be due to past experiences. Sometimes we don’t know why. Physical symptoms like a fast heartbeat, sweating, or feeling tense are common with anxiety.
Types of anxiety
Anxiety disorders can come in different forms, like generalized anxiety disorder (feeling anxious most of the time), panic disorder (having sudden, intense panic attacks), phobias (being extremely afraid of certain things or situations) and social anxiety (a fear of social situations).
What about 22q?
From research we know most about del22q11.2, where about one third of people is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in childhood. The most common anxieties include specific phobias, social anxiety and generalised anxiety.
Some of the things that can indicate an anxiety disorder in people with del22q11 can include repetitive questions, clinginess, avoidance of certain situations, fear of uncertainty, and social withdrawal.
High anxiety is also linked with lower daily living skills also known as adaptive functioning and higher distress for parents.
What can help?
Modelling explicit emotion regulation skills at home can be very useful. Talk about how you are feeling and why – label it and be clear.
Racing intrusive thoughts are quite common among people with 22q, learning to identify them, accept them and learning strategies to let them go can be useful.
Helping individuals recognise, understand, express the relationship between their thoughts, emotions and behaviours and identifying coping strategies can be effective.
