What is the relationship between Anxiety Sensitivity and Anxiety Disorders?
Anxiety Sensitivity refers to a person’s tendency to fear anxiety-related symptoms due to the belief that there will be some negative outcome as a result of having those symptoms.[1] They perceive their physical responses to certain triggers as a sign of imminent personal harm. They not only fear their reactions, they also fear that other people will detect their anxiety, which only serves to increase their anxiety.[2] These symptoms may be as common as increased heart rate, sweating, muscle tension, headaches, or a sense of unreality in a given situation (derealization). Anxiety Sensitivity fears lead to unrealistic conclusions: • A person may fear having an increased heart rate because they believe that it will increase their risk for a heart attack or it will lead their having a heart attack.[3] • An individual may fear being anxious because they think that others will view them in a negative light.
