Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2026
06:58
Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
Anxiety disorders in the elderly
C N Carmin1, P S Wiegartz, C Scher
1University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Psychiatry (MC 913), 912 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. ccarmin@psych.uic.edu
Current Psychiatry Reports
|December 21, 2000
Summary
Anxiety disorders in older adults are understudied, despite their prevalence. This review highlights key aspects of geriatric anxiety, including its unique presentation and treatment needs.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Anxiety disorders are prevalent in older adults, yet research often focuses on younger populations.
- Existing knowledge on anxiety in children and adults may not directly apply to the geriatric population.
- The unique aging process may alter anxiety disorder phenomenology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the research gap concerning anxiety disorders in the geriatric population.
- To review the epidemiology, neurobiology, and treatment of anxiety in older adults.
- To explore potential age-related differences in anxiety disorder presentation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies on geriatric anxiety.
- Synthesis of findings on epidemiology and neurobiology.
- Analysis of pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatment approaches for older adults.
Main Results:
- Significant underrepresentation of geriatric populations in anxiety disorder research.
- Potential evolution of anxiety phenomenology with aging.
- Consideration of medical comorbidity in geriatric anxiety treatment.
Conclusions:
- There is a critical need for more research on anxiety disorders in older adults.
- Understanding age-specific factors is crucial for effective diagnosis and treatment.
- Geriatric anxiety requires tailored approaches considering unique neurobiological and comorbidity factors.
Related Concept Videos
01:18Anxiety: Overview
Anxiety is a common mental disorder featuring excessive worry, fear, and apprehension, significantly affecting daily life. People with anxiety disorders experience persistent and intense anxiety, interrupting their everyday functioning.
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
01:26Anxiolytic Drugs: Overview
Anxiolytic drugs are vital in managing anxiety disorders by effectively alleviating symptoms such as excessive fear, tachycardia, and tremors. There are several classes of anxiolytic medications, each with unique mechanisms of action and potential side effects.
Primary Types of Anxiolytic Drugs
1. Benzodiazepines:
Benzodiazepines bind to the GABA-A receptor in the brain, enhancing GABA's interaction. This action reduces neurotransmission, effectively blocking anxiety-associated limbic circuitry.
Primary Types of Anxiolytic Drugs
1. Benzodiazepines:
Benzodiazepines bind to the GABA-A receptor in the brain, enhancing GABA's interaction. This action reduces neurotransmission, effectively blocking anxiety-associated limbic circuitry.
01:15Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
Elderly individuals encompass a diverse population with varying degrees of age-related physiological changes. Defining the elderly presents challenges, as the geriatric population is often arbitrarily categorized as individuals older than 65. However, many individuals in this group lead active and healthy lives, with an increasing number surpassing 85 years and falling into the older elderly category. Physiological changes associated with aging impact performance capacity and homeostatic...
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Age-related pharmacokinetic changes are extensively documented, but understanding age-related pharmacodynamic alterations is relatively limited. This knowledge gap can be partly attributed to the complexity of developing appropriate measures of drug responses compared to bioanalytical methods for determining drug concentrations.Most information regarding age-related differences in human pharmacodynamics originates from cross-sectional studies. However, these studies assume that observed mean...
01:30Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry that persists for at least six months, significantly interfering with daily functioning. Unlike situational anxiety, which arises in response to specific stressors, GAD often occurs without a clear cause. Individuals may experience disproportionate worry about work, health, or relationships. For instance, a person might continuously fear poor health despite normal medical evaluations or...
01:27Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and sudden minutes-long episodes of intense fear, known as panic attacks. These attacks may feel like heart attacks and often happen without warning or a specific cause. They can include symptoms such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, chest pain, trembling, sweating, dizziness, and a sense of helplessness. During a panic attack, individuals may feel as though they are experiencing a heart attack or are in a...