Somatic anxiety, also known as somatization, is the physical manifestation of

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

. It is commonly contrasted with ''cognitive anxiety'', which is the mental manifestation of anxiety, or the specific thought processes that occur during anxiety, such as concern or

worry Worry refers to the thoughts, images, emotions, and actions of a negative nature in a repetitive, uncontrollable manner that results from a proactive cognitive risk analysis made to avoid or solve anticipated potential threats and their poten ...

. These different components of anxiety are especially studied in

sports psychology Sport psychology was defined by the European Federation of Sport in 1996, as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. Otherwise, sport is considered as any physical activity where the individuals engage for competi ...

, specifically relating to how the anxiety symptoms affect athletic performance. "Symptoms typically associated with somatization of anxiety and other psychiatric disorders include abdominal pain,

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier ...

, chest pain, fatigue, dizziness, insomnia, and headache." These symptoms can either happen alone or multiple can happen at once. Although commonly overlooked, scientists are starting to study somatic anxiety more. Studies are actually starting to show that some medically overlooked cases that could not relate physical pain to any type of organ dysfunction typically could have been somatic anxiety.

Anxiety-performance relationship theories

Drive theory

The Drive Theory (Zajonc 1965) suggests that if an athlete is both skilled and driven (by somatic and cognitive anxiety) then the athlete will perform well.

Inverted-U hypothesis

The Inverted-U Hypothesis (Yerkes and Dodson, 1908), also known as the Yerkes-Dodson law (Yerkes 1908) hypothesizes that as somatic and cognitive anxiety (the arousal) increase, performance will increase until a certain point. Once the arousal has increased past this point, performance will decrease.

Multi-dimensional theory

The Multi-dimensional Theory of Anxiety (Martens, 1990) is based on the distinction between somatic and cognitive anxiety. The theory predicts that there is a negative, linear relationship between somatic and cognitive anxiety, that there will be an Inverted-U relationship between somatic anxiety and performance, and that somatic anxiety should decline once performance begins although cognitive anxiety may remain high, if confidence is low.

Catastrophe theory

The Catastrophe Theory (Hardy, 1987) suggests that stress, combined with both somatic and cognitive anxiety, influences performance, that somatic anxiety will affect each athlete differently, and that performance will be affected uniquely, which will make it difficult to predict an outcome using general rules.

Optimum arousal theory

The Optimum Arousal Theory (Hanin, 1997) states that each athlete will perform at their best if their level of anxiety falls within an "optimum functioning zone".

References

Additional references

* {{cite journal , doi=10.1097/00006842-197806000-00004, pmid=356080, title=Patterning of Cognitive and Somatic Processes in the Self-Regulation of Anxiety: Effects of Meditation versus Exercise, journal=Psychosomatic Medicine, volume=40, issue=4, pages=321–328, year=1978, last1=Schwartz, first1=Gary E, last2=Davidson, first2=Richard J, last3=Goleman, first3=Daniel J, s2cid=2810663 Anxiety Somatic psychology