Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of anxiety sensations themselves, based on the belief that those sensations will have harmful consequences — physical, psychological, or social. A person with high anxiety sensitivity does not only feel anxious; they fear the anxiety itself. This meta-fear amplifies and prolongs the original distress.
Concept origin
Reiss and McNally (1985) introduced the construct and developed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). Subsequent research showed it is a transdiagnostic risk factor for anxiety disorders, predicting the onset of panic attacks and GAD more strongly than general anxiety trait.
How it manifests
- ▸ Fear that palpitations indicate a heart attack
- ▸ Worry that dizziness will lead to fainting in public
- ▸ Concern that feeling anxious means "losing one's mind"
Therapeutic approach
Interoceptive exposure (deliberately inducing physical anxiety sensations in a safe context) directly reduces anxiety sensitivity by disconfirming catastrophic predictions about those sensations.
Related concepts
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