Highlights
- Unspecified anxiety disorder is a valid diagnosis used when a person experiences anxiety symptoms that do not clearly fit a specific anxiety disorder.
- Symptoms can affect your emotions, thoughts, behavior, and physical health. They include persistent worry, irritability, difficulty concentrating, avoidance behaviors, muscle tension, and a racing heart.
- A diagnosis can be made after a clinician assesses your symptoms and their impact on your daily life.
- The condition is treatable with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), medications such as SSRIs and SNRIs, and healthy lifestyle habits. Coping strategies like grounding and diaphragmatic breathing can also help to reduce symptoms and improve your quality of life.
While some people show symptoms that perfectly meet the textbook criteria for diagnosing named anxiety conditions, others experience the unease of anxiety in a way that doesn’t quite fit into any specific anxiety condition. In this case, a clinician may make a diagnosis of
If you live with unspecified anxiety disorder, just like people who live with specified anxiety, you are likely to experience a persistent unease that affects sleep, strains relationships, and makes daily living burdensome.
A diagnosis of unspecified anxiety disorder does not deny your symptoms. It, instead, shows a clinical reality that human nervousness and edginess cannot entirely be explained in a manual.
What Is Unspecified Anxiety Disorder?
When you show anxiety-related symptoms that cause you distress or functional impairment, yet these symptoms don’t seem clear enough to clinicians, you may have unspecified anxiety disorder.
Healthcare providers diagnose mental health conditions based on a guidebook called DSM-5 (a
When your symptoms don’t fully capture any of these conditions, clinicians call it “unspecific,” and unspecified anxiety disorder is also listed in the DSM-5.
Unspecified anxiety disorder should not be confused with other specified anxiety disorder (OSAD). In other specific anxiety disorder, a clinician knows precisely why your condition does not fit into a specified category. For example, you miss just one of the core symptoms needed to make a diagnosis or the symptoms have not lasted long enough.
With unspecified anxiety disorder, however, the clinical picture is often too unclear to specify which condition matches the diagnostic criteria. This can be due to inadequate information or vague history. Thus, unspecified anxiety disorder is often diagnosed in emergency settings and other occasions where your full history may not be available.
Symptoms of Unspecified Anxiety Disorder
Symptoms of unspecified anxiety disorder vary significantly from person to person. However, most people experience a mix of emotional, psychological, behavioral, physical, and cognitive symptoms.
Emotional Symptoms
If you have an anxiety disorder of an unspecified type, you are likely to feel very strong emotions that affect your mood, such as:
- Persistent Dread or Worry: Worry that is hard to control. A feeling that you are in danger, or that danger is coming your way.
- Hyper-Irritability: You may notice that you feel frustrated by the slightest inconvenience. You may also become snappy and edgy.
- Nervousness: You feel nervous and overwhelmed, a feeling that does not go away no matter how you try.
Psychological Symptoms
These include
- Problems With Focus: You find it harder to focus on anything.
- Cognitive Fatigue: You feel your mind lagging or blanking, like you have to spend more time than necessary thinking simple thoughts.
- Indecisiveness: You find it overwhelming to make even simple decisions.
- Emotional Exhaustion: You may feel emotionally numb, procrastinate more, and feel more tension in response to ordinary situations.
Behavioral Symptoms
These are changes in behavior that you may not immediately recognize as the symptoms of anxiety:
- Avoidance: You may avoid your friends, family, and colleagues more, feeling the need to isolate and be alone. When a conversation becomes difficult, you may
want to step away[4] to get some air. - Constantly Seeking Reassurance: Driven by the fear that you may be betrayed or abandoned, you might find yourself
seeking reassurance[5] from others more. In a romantic relationship, you may become more doubtful of your partner’s affection and so demand that they tell you how they really feel many, many times a day. - Blaming Others Without Any Proof: You may notice that you have begun to
blame others more[6] than you used to. Most of the time, without proof. The smallest change in routine rouses your suspicion that something is wrong. Say, your partner gets home five minutes late, you may assume that they had been plotting to harm you.
Physical Symptoms
Unspecified anxiety disorder can also produce physical symptoms such as:
- Racing Heart:
A racing heart[7] means your nervous system is on high alert as a result of the anxiety you are experiencing. Anxiety may make you more aware of your heartbeat, too. There may be a strange, uncomfortable feeling in your chest sometimes, some kind of tightness that does not go away. - Muscle Tension: Muscles can
become tense[8] when you feel anxious. You may notice your muscles twitching more, or that you are fidgeting a lot. - Stomach Upset: Anxiety can cause stomach upsets and changes in bowel habits. You may experience stomach pain, use the toilet more or even less.
- Change in Appetite and Weight: You may notice that you no longer want to eat the meals you used to love. This may also
contribute to weight loss[9] . Some people might experience a spike in appetite, making them want to eat more than they used to. Or engage into comfort eating more frequently, turning to food for solace.
Cognitive Symptoms
These include the
- Intrusive Thoughts: Unwanted thoughts that scare you and refuse to go away.
- Replaying Past Mistakes: Anxiety can drive you to replay the past mistakes of others, urging you to see how bad they are. You may also replay your own mistakes and dive deeper into a belief that you are a bad person. Sometimes, you may not remember things the exact way they had played out. Instead, you remember them in an exaggerated, scary, or frightening way.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder vs Unspecified Anxiety Disorder
Some people mistake generalized anxiety disorder for unspecified anxiety disorder, but they are not the same.
The specific requirements under the DSM-5 for diagnosing generalized anxiety disorder include:
- Excessive worry that is difficult to control.
- At least three symptoms from a list that includes: restlessness, fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbances, and problems concentrating, among others.
- The presence of symptoms for at least six months.
Unspecified anxiety is a more appropriate diagnosis when anxiety symptoms are severe but haven’t lasted for up to 6 months, when the symptoms are not up to the required number, or when there is not enough information available to the clinician.
What Causes an Unspecified Anxiety Disorder?
Anxiety disorders do not have a single cause. A number of biological, psychological, and environmental factors can contribute to the development of the disorder.
How Is a Diagnosis of Unspecified Anxiety Disorder Made?
There are no laboratory tests that confirm anxiety. A diagnosis of unspecified anxiety disorder is made clinically. A clinician listens to your health history and compares your symptoms side by side with those listed in the DSM-5. You’ll be asked about specific symptoms, how long they have lasted, a history of anxiety in any of your relatives, a history of substance use, etc.
Screening tools such as GAD-7 and PHQ-9 can be used to measure how severe your anxiety is. If your symptoms don’t fit into any specific anxiety disorder, a clinician can diagnose you with unspecified anxiety disorder. It helps to note that unspecified anxiety is not a lesser diagnosis than anxiety. It does not aim to belittle your experience. If you have any disturbing symptoms, you can consult a healthcare provider via a video visit and get anxiety treatment online.
See a licensed medical provider online for a mental health assessment and individualized treatment.
Unspecified Anxiety Disorder Treatment
Unspecified anxiety disorder is treatable using the same approaches that work for named (specific) anxiety disorders. Treatment usually combines therapy and medication to improve symptoms and make living easier.
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: This is the
first-line psychological treatment for anxiety[12] . It helps you see distortions in your thinking pattern and helps you overcome these distortions. You would have sessions guided by a professional therapist. Medications[13] : SSRIs and SNRIs are the most commonly prescribed medications for anxiety. Even though they can take up to a few weeks to reach their maximum effect, most people tolerate these medications quite well. They work to help your bodyregulate mood[13] and emotional states.- Self-Help Strategies: Aerobic exercise, stress management, reduced caffeine and alcohol, and better social connection can help reduce your anxiety symptoms. You should also get enough sleep every day, spend time on your hobbies, and be around people who love you.
Coping Alongside Treatment
While you are receiving anxiety treatment, here are some tips to help you cope:
- Diaphragmatic Breathing: Slow, deliberate breathing has been shown to
activate your resting nervous system[14] and pull your body out of panic mode. Inhale for four counts, hold for four, and exhale for six or eight. - Grounding: Anchor yourself in the present. Don’t think of the past or the future. Think about what is happening now. Notice five things that you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste.
- Limit Reassurance-Seeking: Even when you feel like it,
reduce the need to seek assurance[15] from others. Seeking reassurance can make you feel better in the short term, but it doesn’t help much in the long term. Turn to resources such as books and supportive media (videos, music, art) instead.
Conclusion
Unspecified anxiety disorder is a formal diagnosis. Clinicians diagnose you with unspecified anxiety disorder when your symptoms don’t fully fit into a criteria for a named anxiety condition. Unspecified anxiety disorder produces real symptoms that make daily life harder than it should be. Fortunately, it is treatable using a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. If you have concerns, speak with a clinician about your symptoms to get individualized care.
