Pattern of anxiety, insecurity, fear, panic and/or phobia observed by quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG)

Abstract

Stress is a response in which an individual wants to have more control over a situation. A constant state of stress is called anxiety. Some patients deny symptoms. An instrument can help arrive at a diagnosis. Objective: Using TQ-7 QEEG, this study aimed to evaluate the association of symptoms of anxiety, insecurity, fear, panic and phobia with hot temporals defined as Beta (15-23 Hz) >17% and High-Beta waves (23-38 Hz) >10% at T3 and T4. Methods: Five hundred and forty-three patients of both genders with ages ranging from 16-59 years were evaluated, divided into two groups: Control (without hot temporals: n=274) and Case Group (with hot temporals: n=269). The Chi-square test was used (p-values ≤0.05). Results: There was a significant association (p-value <0.001) between the symptoms related to amygdala activation, expressed in the temporals (Beta >17% and High-Beta >10%). (Anxiety, T3=89.6% – T4=88.8%; T3=92.6% – T4=93.3%), (Fear, T3=80.7% – T4=84.4%; T3=82.9% – T4=95.9%), (Insecurity, T3=82.2% – T4=81.4%; T3=69.5% – T4=97.8%), (Panic, T3=52.4 – T4=72.5%; T3=90.3% – T4=74.0%), (Phobia, T3=17.5% – T4=22.7%; T3=19.7% – T4=27.1%), when compared to the respective controls (Beta control, T3=8.4%, 10.2%, 21.2%, 1.1%, 0.4% and T4=11.3%, 4.4%, 23.0%, 2.6%, 1.1%) (High-Beta control, T3=4.0%, 6.9%, 6.2%, 0.4%, 0.0% and T4=17.5%, 6.2%, 3.3%, 4.0%, 0.7%). Conclusion: Anxiety, insecurity, fear, panic and phobia are observed by QEEG when the levels of total Beta >17% and High-Beta waves >10% at T3 and T4.