So What Exactly is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a normal and essential part of life that protects us from danger but there's also the type of anxiety that takes over your life.
The type that stops you from being the person you really want to be.
Anxiety is the biggest single mental health problem today so you are most definitely not alone.
And no, you're not going crazy either (even if it feels like it at times!).
So what exactly is anxiety? Anxiety is your body's normal response to a stressful situation.
It's the feeling you get when your body responds to a frightening or threatening event.
Just as when you're walking down a dark street and you hear footsteps behind you, your anxiety feelings may help you to get ready to flee or fight if need be.
(I expect you've heard of the phrase "flight or fight" before.
) We all experience anxiety from time to time and of course it's not a problem unless it begins to interfere with your everyday life.
Some of us may be a bit more prone to anxiety and worry than others, so don't compare yourself to friends and family and think that you're not 'normal'.
It is quite normal to feel anxious when you are facing something dangerous or difficult in your life, but it is certainly not usual to feel anxious all the time or to feel that anxiety is ruling your life.
Anxiety is considered to be 'abnormal' if it is out of all proportion to the stressful situation you are in, or if it continues when a stressful situation has gone.
Or sometimes it can happen when there is no obvious cause.
It is triggered at an unconscious level, and may be a result of similar experiences in the past, or a sense of not feeling in control in a situation, or an inability to cope with not knowing how something will turn out.
It can arise suddenly, as in panic, or gradually over many minutes, hours, or even days.
The medical profession choose to speak of three types of anxiety disorders, though you may find that you suffer from more than one of these or that perhaps they "overlap" with you at times: Panic Disorder is where you have severe attacks of panic, often producing such bad physical symptoms you might feel as if you are having a heart attack or even dying.
The overwhelming urge is for you to run away, to escape the awful situation you find yourself in.
Such feelings can then lead you to be afraid of having a panic attack in a place that you would not easily be able to escape from - and so this fear merely fuels the anxiety further.
Panic attacks normally start very quickly and they last nowhere near as long as you feel that they do! The attack seems so extreme to you because the body's normal response to fear has been exaggerated to the level where adrenalin (used for the "fight or flight" response) is flooding into your body and causing all of the dreadful symptoms.
During an attack you may feel detached from your body and find your surroundings very unreal.
Social Anxiety Disorder is where you find it hard to cope in social situations.
Quite often you will have very low self confidence and are afraid of what other people might think of you.
The anxiety may make you suffer excessive sweating, blushing, palpitations or even dizziness.
Again, it is often easier for you to avoid such social situations rather than risk further anxiety.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder does not usually cause people to avoid certain situations as happens with the two other types of anxiety.
It is a more general form of anxiety that focuses on things such as money, career, health, etc.
but nevertheless it still brings with it distressing symptoms such as trembling, irritability, insomnia, feelings of unreality, and depression.
Whilst some may say that it's not as "bad" as Social Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder, it is the constant thinking about yourself all the time and not being able to shut off your mind at times that is so incapacitating in the long run.
Remember, you are not alone in suffering with anxiety.
There's a whole world out there full of anxious people! Try talking to your friends or family about your problems.
Who knows, maybe they too suffer from anxiety but are also too embarrassed to talk about it.
It really is possible to get your life back on track so that it's not dominated by anxiety any more.
There are many different things to try and you need to find what works best for you.
It may take some time but it'll be a journey that you'll never regret taking.
The type that stops you from being the person you really want to be.
Anxiety is the biggest single mental health problem today so you are most definitely not alone.
And no, you're not going crazy either (even if it feels like it at times!).
So what exactly is anxiety? Anxiety is your body's normal response to a stressful situation.
It's the feeling you get when your body responds to a frightening or threatening event.
Just as when you're walking down a dark street and you hear footsteps behind you, your anxiety feelings may help you to get ready to flee or fight if need be.
(I expect you've heard of the phrase "flight or fight" before.
) We all experience anxiety from time to time and of course it's not a problem unless it begins to interfere with your everyday life.
Some of us may be a bit more prone to anxiety and worry than others, so don't compare yourself to friends and family and think that you're not 'normal'.
It is quite normal to feel anxious when you are facing something dangerous or difficult in your life, but it is certainly not usual to feel anxious all the time or to feel that anxiety is ruling your life.
Anxiety is considered to be 'abnormal' if it is out of all proportion to the stressful situation you are in, or if it continues when a stressful situation has gone.
Or sometimes it can happen when there is no obvious cause.
It is triggered at an unconscious level, and may be a result of similar experiences in the past, or a sense of not feeling in control in a situation, or an inability to cope with not knowing how something will turn out.
It can arise suddenly, as in panic, or gradually over many minutes, hours, or even days.
The medical profession choose to speak of three types of anxiety disorders, though you may find that you suffer from more than one of these or that perhaps they "overlap" with you at times: Panic Disorder is where you have severe attacks of panic, often producing such bad physical symptoms you might feel as if you are having a heart attack or even dying.
The overwhelming urge is for you to run away, to escape the awful situation you find yourself in.
Such feelings can then lead you to be afraid of having a panic attack in a place that you would not easily be able to escape from - and so this fear merely fuels the anxiety further.
Panic attacks normally start very quickly and they last nowhere near as long as you feel that they do! The attack seems so extreme to you because the body's normal response to fear has been exaggerated to the level where adrenalin (used for the "fight or flight" response) is flooding into your body and causing all of the dreadful symptoms.
During an attack you may feel detached from your body and find your surroundings very unreal.
Social Anxiety Disorder is where you find it hard to cope in social situations.
Quite often you will have very low self confidence and are afraid of what other people might think of you.
The anxiety may make you suffer excessive sweating, blushing, palpitations or even dizziness.
Again, it is often easier for you to avoid such social situations rather than risk further anxiety.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder does not usually cause people to avoid certain situations as happens with the two other types of anxiety.
It is a more general form of anxiety that focuses on things such as money, career, health, etc.
but nevertheless it still brings with it distressing symptoms such as trembling, irritability, insomnia, feelings of unreality, and depression.
Whilst some may say that it's not as "bad" as Social Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder, it is the constant thinking about yourself all the time and not being able to shut off your mind at times that is so incapacitating in the long run.
Remember, you are not alone in suffering with anxiety.
There's a whole world out there full of anxious people! Try talking to your friends or family about your problems.
Who knows, maybe they too suffer from anxiety but are also too embarrassed to talk about it.
It really is possible to get your life back on track so that it's not dominated by anxiety any more.
There are many different things to try and you need to find what works best for you.
It may take some time but it'll be a journey that you'll never regret taking.
