Considering this is an anxiety blog and there is an extreme lack of understanding of anxiety, I thought I would do a post explaining what it actually is! I have encountered so many people who do not understand what anxiety really is and the real effects of it which has impacted my anxiety experience.
Definition of Anxiety - A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
Everyone has experienced some form of anxiety in their lives and if you haven’t you much be some kind of superhuman! This may have been in the build up to a big event like a show, exam or date. This kind of anxiety is completely normal and healthy. This anxiety should dissipate during or soon after the anticipated event. However, for many people, this isn’t the case and they are stuck in a constant state of anxiety over trivial things. These people are suffering with some form of anxiety disorder which is often triggered by certain things such as busy places, public transport or specific places.
Anxiety disorders can range in severity from mild to severe. Mild anxiety allows the sufferer to live their lives mainly normally with the anxiety only surfacing in very traumatic incidences or around big events. The most severe anxiety can be debilitating and effectively ruin someone’s life. It can stop them doing things they want or need to do such as use public transport, attend school, talk on the phone or even leave the house.
Why do people have anxiety?
Anxiety is based on the fight or flight response which I assume originated from caveman days where people would be faced with huge animals and would either fight them for hunting or run away to safety.
A fight or flight response activates two bodily systems: the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. The sympathetic nervous system uses nerve pathways to initiate reactions in the body, and the adrenal-cortical system uses the bloodstream. Adrenaline is released which causes many of the physical symptoms shown. People who suffer from anxiety have a particularly sensitive sympathetic nervous system which means it is set off by small things.
Everyone has a different reason for suffering with anxiety. Maybe a particularly traumatic experience or maybe they just don't know. You cannot define why people have anxiety.
Types of anxiety
There are many different types of anxiety disorders that people suffer from which affect them in different ways. These are some of the main ones and their definitions:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - GAD is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event.
Panic Disorder - Panic disorder is where you have recurring and regular panic attacks, often for no obvious reason.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - a condition that has psychological and physical symptoms and is caused by very frightening or distressing events
Social Anxiety - Social anxiety disorder is a persistent fear about social situations and being around people.
Phobias - an extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place or situation
Obviously this is a very basic outline of what anxiety is because it is as a very complex problem and can affect many people differently. I hope this helps you understand the condition a little better or opens your eyes to what it really is. I hope to write a post soon about my personal experience of anxiety which will give you an insight into what suffers have to deal with on a daily basis.
Definition of Anxiety - A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
Everyone has experienced some form of anxiety in their lives and if you haven’t you much be some kind of superhuman! This may have been in the build up to a big event like a show, exam or date. This kind of anxiety is completely normal and healthy. This anxiety should dissipate during or soon after the anticipated event. However, for many people, this isn’t the case and they are stuck in a constant state of anxiety over trivial things. These people are suffering with some form of anxiety disorder which is often triggered by certain things such as busy places, public transport or specific places.
Anxiety disorders can range in severity from mild to severe. Mild anxiety allows the sufferer to live their lives mainly normally with the anxiety only surfacing in very traumatic incidences or around big events. The most severe anxiety can be debilitating and effectively ruin someone’s life. It can stop them doing things they want or need to do such as use public transport, attend school, talk on the phone or even leave the house.
Why do people have anxiety?
Anxiety is based on the fight or flight response which I assume originated from caveman days where people would be faced with huge animals and would either fight them for hunting or run away to safety.
A fight or flight response activates two bodily systems: the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. The sympathetic nervous system uses nerve pathways to initiate reactions in the body, and the adrenal-cortical system uses the bloodstream. Adrenaline is released which causes many of the physical symptoms shown. People who suffer from anxiety have a particularly sensitive sympathetic nervous system which means it is set off by small things.
Everyone has a different reason for suffering with anxiety. Maybe a particularly traumatic experience or maybe they just don't know. You cannot define why people have anxiety.
Types of anxiety
There are many different types of anxiety disorders that people suffer from which affect them in different ways. These are some of the main ones and their definitions:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - GAD is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event.
Panic Disorder - Panic disorder is where you have recurring and regular panic attacks, often for no obvious reason.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - a condition that has psychological and physical symptoms and is caused by very frightening or distressing events
Social Anxiety - Social anxiety disorder is a persistent fear about social situations and being around people.
Phobias - an extreme or irrational fear of an animal, object, place or situation
Obviously this is a very basic outline of what anxiety is because it is as a very complex problem and can affect many people differently. I hope this helps you understand the condition a little better or opens your eyes to what it really is. I hope to write a post soon about my personal experience of anxiety which will give you an insight into what suffers have to deal with on a daily basis.