Anxiety is a normal human feeling. We all experience it when faced with situations we find threatening or difficult.
People often call this feeling stress but the word 'stress' can be used to mean two different things - on the one hand, the things that make us anxious and on the other, our reaction to them.
When our anxiety is a result of a continuing problem, such as money difficulties, we call it worry, if it is a sudden response to an immediate threat, like looking over a cliff or being confronted with an angry dog, we call it fear.
Normally, both fear and anxiety can be helpful, helping us to avoid dangerous situations, making us alert and giving us the motivation to deal with problems. However, if the feelings become too strong or go for too long, they can stop us from doing the things we want to and can make our lives miserable.
A phobia is a fear of particular situations or things that are not dangerous and which most people do not find troublesome.
Symptoms
Anxiety
| In the mind: |
Feeling worried all the time
Feeling tired
Unable to concentrate
Feeling irritable
Sleeping badly |
In the body: |
Irregular heartbeats (palpitations)
Sweating
Muscle tension and pains
Breathing heavily
Dizziness
Faintness
Indigestion
Diarrhoea |
These symptoms are easily mistaken by anxious people for evidence of serious physical illness - their worry about this can make the symptoms even worse. Sudden unexpected surges of anxiety are called panic, and usually lead to the person having to quickly get out of whatever situation they happen to be in. Anxiety and panic are often accompanied by feelings of depression, when we feel glum, lose our appetite and see the future as bleak and hopeless.