Psychotherapist: humanity survived thanks to anxious people

On September 14, ETV+ will air a new episode of the programme "Своя правда" dedicated to anxiety disorder. The show explores why timely diagnosis matters, where ordinary anxiety ends and disorder begins, and where disorder ends and a trend around it begins. Studio guests and experts will discuss these questions.

Among the participants is psychotherapist and addiction specialist Andrei Shapovalov, who notes that people with anxiety disorder often tend toward addictive behaviour.

Addiction and diagnosis

According to Shapovalov, nicotine dependence is the number one addiction accompanying anxious people, and alcohol or tranquilizers can quickly follow. In such cases, people end up seeking treatment for alcohol or medication dependence, even though the underlying issue is the anxiety disorder itself rather than the addiction. He points out that it can be difficult to determine whether the core problem is an anxiety disorder, a personality disorder, or a thought disorder — making accurate diagnosis essential, since personality disorders call for pharmacotherapy while thought disorders call for psychotherapy. Often, both issues are present simultaneously.

Anxiety as a survival mechanism

The psychotherapist notes that everyone experiences anxiety to some degree, though levels vary between individuals. He points out that humanity owes its survival, in part, to anxious people — in prehistoric times, when humans lived in caves, it was the anxious individuals who warned others of danger, such as not to go outside because a tiger might attack. People with very low anxiety levels, he says, historically did not live long.

The episode of "Своя правда", titled "Anxious People", airs Monday, September 14, at 20:30 on ETV+. The host is Yelena Solomina.