Left untreated, anxiety carries unique health risks for older adults, including heart disease and dementia.
Giving a speech in front of a packed room. Going in for a major—or even minor—surgery. Running late for a flight.
We all encounter situations that make us anxious from time to time. But for older adults with an anxiety, fear and worry are both constant and excessive.1 For these folks, anxious feelings are difficult to control, interfere with daily life, and can last a long time if untreated.
Sadly, most people with anxiety are left to fend for themselves. And though anxiety disorders are highly treatable, only 37% of sufferers actually get treatment.2
For older adults, untreated anxiety means living with never-ending fear and worry. It also puts them at greater risk for certain health conditions.
The Risks Of Untreated Anxiety In Older Adults
There are many different types of anxiety disorders, but older adults are most likely to have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).3 In contrast with other anxiety disorders (like panic disorder and social anxiety disorder), GAD tends to crop up later in life. In fact, roughly half of older patients with GAD say their symptoms started after age 50.4
Older adults may be afraid of falling, health changes, being unable to afford living expenses and medication, being left alone, relying on others, and more.6 While these fears are common among older adults, chronic anxiety is neither normal nor a natural part of aging.
It’s critical to get help if you notice anxiety symptoms. “When anxiety is left untreated, it tends to grow more and more difficult to deal with over time and becomes a self-feeding loop,” said Shelby Riley, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Pennsylvania.7
Anxiety tends to get worse without treatment because it becomes your brain’s default response to stress. Moreover, your definition of “stress” broadens to include more people, things, and events.
The brain forms a short and efficient neural pathway so that any perceived threat leads to a highly anxious response
—— 8
Living in constant anxiety is not only scary, it’s exhausting and hard on the body. The longer anxiety goes unchecked, the greater the potential for damage.
The dangers of untreated anxiety are especially pronounced in older adults, as they tend to face more health risks in general. Let’s review some of the health conditions that can result from untreated anxiety later in life.
Depression
Depression is another common mental health condition in older adults. It often occurs alongside anxiety, though it can be difficult to tell which condition came first.9
There are different reasons why anxiety may lead to depression. Anxiety may cause you to avoid anything that makes you anxious or nervous, which can make life less enjoyable. Avoiding things may also change the way you view yourself, lowering your self-esteem and self-confidence.10
Anxiety tells you, ‘I can’t do this. This is scary.’ So you don’t go to the dance, or you find a way to pass off the presentation at work. Now, self-criticism starts because you didn’t do the hard thing that was important to you, that you wish you had done
—— , a licensed professional counselor in Birmingham, Alabama.11
All of these factors can increase your depression risk if you have anxiety.
Unfortunately, it can be challenging to spot depression in older adults. Why? Many seniors don’t display the symptoms we typically associate with depression. Think sadness, hopelessness, and changes in sleep and appetite.12 Instead, seniors with depression may have physical aches or pain, personality changes, and prefer to stay home rather than go out and socialize.13
Even when older adults show classic depression symptoms, family and healthcare providers may write them off as a natural part of enduring the life changes that come with age... such as divorce, retirement, losing a loved one or health struggles.14
In any event, the result is the same: A bunch of people who don’t get the help they need. Without help, depression can spiral out of control, leading to complications like weight gain, memory and thinking problems, social isolation, relationship conflicts, and turning to alcohol and drugs.15 16
Chronic Stress
Chronic anxiety causes chronic stress. And chronic stress is linked with a cluster of health issues.
When something makes you anxious, your sympathetic nervous system (also known as the “fight-or-flight” nervous system) spits out stress hormones like cortisol. These hormones tell your body to prepare to battle or run away. Usually, these hormones settle down once the threat has passed, but for people with chronic anxiety, the danger never really goes away. The body’s stress switch gets stuck in “On” mode.
A constantly active sympathetic nervous system overwhelms your body with cortisol and other stress hormones, eventually disrupting everyday body processes.18 This disruption increases your risk for digestive issues, headaches, muscle pain, heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.19 It can also increase your risk for mental health issues such as depression, sleep disorders, and memory problems.20
Sleep Troubles
Anxiety and sleep problems go hand-in-hand. In fact, anxiety often triggers insomnia, a sleep disorder characterized by trouble falling asleep and/or waking frequently during the night.
You’ve probably noticed you’re cranky and impatient when you don’t sleep enough. Once high, your motivation to do what you usually enjoy is now low. And you can’t shake your fatigue and brain fog, no matter how many cups of coffee you throw back. These are the short-term consequences of tossing and turning.
The more nights you go with little or poor-quality sleep, the more pronounced these consequences become. Eventually, chronic sleep deprivation can increase your risk for health conditions, including high blood pressure (hypertension), heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and obstructive sleep apnea (a sleep disorder that causes you to stop breathing while asleep).21
Dementia
Untreated anxiety can increase your risk for dementia, a group of brain-related health conditions that affect your ability to think, remember, or make decisions. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and mostly affects older adults.22
Consider this: When researchers reviewed nine studies, they found that people with chronic anxiety had a 24% greater risk of developing dementia with age.23 Their findings were published in June 2020 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
The thinking is, untreated anxiety can create changes to areas of the brain that control decision-making, memory, and thought processes.24 These changes may increase your risk for disorders like dementia.
The researchers of the Journal of Clinical Medicine review do note that any link between anxiety and dementia is still unclear. It’s possible that anxiety can cause dementia in some people, but it may just be a symptom of dementia. So, we’ll have to see how future research plays out.
Heart Issues
The stress that comes with being anxious day after day can have not-so-great effects on your ticker. Chronic stress spikes your heart rate and blood pressure, reduces blood flow to the heart, and keeps stress hormones like cortisol circulating. Over time, these effects can lead to heart disease, warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).25
Plus, people with anxiety may turn to less healthy coping strategies for stress, such as smoking.26 Smoking, for one, is a major risk factor for heart disease.27
It’s Never Too Late To Get Help For Anxiety
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been anxious for days, weeks, or years - most people can be cured of chronic anxiety. You owe it to your health and happiness too certainly try.
You should be able to continue to enjoy your life at any age. Anxiety is common with aging, but it’s not a normal part of aging if it’s interfering with your life.29
—— , chief of the Cedars-Sinai Geriatric Program.28
Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor for help with anxiety. They may suggest medication, supplements, and other techniques for managing worry.
We can help with that last part. In future articles, we’ll cover proven strategies from top mental health experts for getting anxiety under control.
1 Anxiety Disorders. World Health Organization (WHO). September 27, 2023.
2 Anxiety Disorders - Facts & Statistics. Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA). Last updated October 28, 2022.
3 Anxiety Disorders - Facts & Statistics. Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA). Last updated October 28, 2022.
4 Anxiety in Late-Life. Synergies: UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. Fall 2019.
5 Generalized Anxiety Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health.
6 Anxiety and Older Adults: Overcoming Worry and Fear. American Associatiion for Geriatric Psychiatry. October 27, 2022.
7 What Happens if Anxiety Goes Untreated? Psycom. Last updated December 16, 2022.
8 What Happens if Anxiety Goes Untreated? Psycom. Last updated December 16, 2022.
9 Can Anxiety Cause Depression if Left Untreated? PsychCentral. Last updated July 8, 2022.
10 Can Anxiety Cause Depression if Left Untreated? PsychCentral. Last updated July 8, 2022.
11 Can Anxiety Cause Depression if Left Untreated? PsychCentral. Last updated July 8, 2022.
12 Depression: What Is Depression? National Institute of Mental Health. Revised 2021.
13 Depression (Major Depressive Disorder). Mayo Clinic. Last reviewed October 14, 2022.
14 Depression is Not a Normal Part of Growing Older. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last reviewed September 14, 2022.
15 Depression: What Is Depression? National Institute of Mental Health. Revised 2021.
16 Depression (Major Depressive Disorder). Mayo Clinic. October 14, 2022.
17 Depression - Ages 65+ in United States. America’s Health Rankings analysis of CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United Health Foundation.
18 How Stress Affects Your Health. American Psychological Association (APA). Last updated October 31, 2022.
19 How Stress Affects Your Health. American Psychological Association (APA). Last updated October 31, 2022.
20 How Stress Affects Your Health. American Psychological Association (APA). Last updated October 31, 2022.
21 Insomnia. Cleveland Clinic. Last reviewed February 13, 2023.
22 About Dementia. CDC. Last reviewed April 5, 2019.
23 Santabarbara J, Lipnicki DM, Olaya B, et al. Does Anxiety Increase the Risk of All-Cause Dementia? An Updated Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. Journal of Clinical Medicine. June 2020.
24 Mah L, Szabuniewicz C, Fiocco AJ. Can Anxiety Damage the Brain? Current Opinion in Psychiatry. January 2016.
25 Heart Disease and Mental Health Disorders. CDC. Last reviewed May 6, 2020.
26 Heart Disease and Mental Health Disorders. CDC. Last reviewed May 6, 2020.
27 How Smoking Affects the Heart and Blood Vessels. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Last updated March 24, 2022.
28 Anxiety in the Golden Years: What You Should Know. Cedars-Sinai. July 24, 2023.
29 Anxiety in the Golden Years: What You Should Know. Cedars-Sinai. July 24, 2023.