Many people talk about anxiety but, really they know what is anxiety?. We need to understand the essence of this disorder to deal with it in a effective way.
When we try to describe the anxiety, we use expressions like:
We're not saying what is anxiety. We are focusing on the symptoms of anxiety. These symptoms may be anxiety or other physical disorder. The person listening may think we are not symptoms of anxiety, it can be symptoms of another physical disorder.
In fact, if we had never heard of what is anxiety, the first time we go to the doctor and we told what symptoms we had, we hoped we diagnosed a physical illness, not that we suffered from anxiety disorder.
It is difficult to explain since anxiety can manifest - and it do usually - with real physical symptoms.
To clarify what is anxiety we use sources like Wikipedia:
"Anxiety is an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior, such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints and rumination"
In several web pages:
"Anxiety is a natural part of life, and most of us experience it from time to time. But for some people, anxiety can be extreme."
"Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations."
"Anxiety is a normal, if unpleasant, part of life, and it can affect us all in different ways and at different times."
With these ideas we still don't know what is anxiety, then:
First of all we need to know that isn't the same anxiety that anxiety disorder.
Though the term anxiety is commonly used to refer to what, really, is the anxiety disorder, we must learn to differentiate it. What really worries us isn't anxiety, is the anxiety disorder.
To understand what is anxiety we have to go back to the first times, when the men didn't have the protection of the modern life, when they had to live exposed to the dangers of the nature. In this situation, they had to develop some system to survive.
This survival system is anxiety. Anxiety is normal. Anxiety is our body system to prepare to successfully overcome dangerous situations. Anxiety is the mechanism that prepares us to flee or fight and thus survive.
We all have anxiety (some more than others). When the student is faced with a test, he have anxiety. When the athletes will start the race, they have anxiety. When we go to a job interview, we have anxiety. Anxiety is normal and beneficial.
As the name of this disorder indicates, the anxiety disorder is a malfunction, a abnormal operation, of the defense system called anxiety.
In some people, the anxiety system stops working properly and is operated when it should not be activated, or they is activated with excessive intensity and, usually, does not know when to stop: this is the anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorder is a mental disorder because it is our mind who wrongly perceives that there is a danger where none exists and, therefore, the anxiety is activated when it should not.
To describe what is anxiety disorder we must only think of the tension and nerves that has the student before the exam and imagine that this feeling remains multiplied by lot for a long time (an hour, a day, a week, a month, .. .), unable to turn it off.
On this website we will try to teach how to overcome anxiety disorder, but the first step is to make it clear that:
When we try to describe the anxiety, we use expressions like:
- I feel dizzy and nausea.
- They hurt the neck.
- I feel a increased heart rate
- I am very nervous and do not know why.
- I can't travel by subway.
- ...
We're not saying what is anxiety. We are focusing on the symptoms of anxiety. These symptoms may be anxiety or other physical disorder. The person listening may think we are not symptoms of anxiety, it can be symptoms of another physical disorder.
In fact, if we had never heard of what is anxiety, the first time we go to the doctor and we told what symptoms we had, we hoped we diagnosed a physical illness, not that we suffered from anxiety disorder.
It is difficult to explain since anxiety can manifest - and it do usually - with real physical symptoms.
To clarify what is anxiety we use sources like Wikipedia:
"Anxiety is an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior, such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints and rumination"
In several web pages:
"Anxiety is a natural part of life, and most of us experience it from time to time. But for some people, anxiety can be extreme."
"Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations."
"Anxiety is a normal, if unpleasant, part of life, and it can affect us all in different ways and at different times."
With these ideas we still don't know what is anxiety, then:
what is anxiety? (in a comprehensible way)
First of all we need to know that isn't the same anxiety that anxiety disorder.
What is Anxiety
Though the term anxiety is commonly used to refer to what, really, is the anxiety disorder, we must learn to differentiate it. What really worries us isn't anxiety, is the anxiety disorder.
To understand what is anxiety we have to go back to the first times, when the men didn't have the protection of the modern life, when they had to live exposed to the dangers of the nature. In this situation, they had to develop some system to survive.
This survival system is anxiety. Anxiety is normal. Anxiety is our body system to prepare to successfully overcome dangerous situations. Anxiety is the mechanism that prepares us to flee or fight and thus survive.
We all have anxiety (some more than others). When the student is faced with a test, he have anxiety. When the athletes will start the race, they have anxiety. When we go to a job interview, we have anxiety. Anxiety is normal and beneficial.
What is Anxiety Disorder
As the name of this disorder indicates, the anxiety disorder is a malfunction, a abnormal operation, of the defense system called anxiety.
In some people, the anxiety system stops working properly and is operated when it should not be activated, or they is activated with excessive intensity and, usually, does not know when to stop: this is the anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorder is a mental disorder because it is our mind who wrongly perceives that there is a danger where none exists and, therefore, the anxiety is activated when it should not.
To describe what is anxiety disorder we must only think of the tension and nerves that has the student before the exam and imagine that this feeling remains multiplied by lot for a long time (an hour, a day, a week, a month, .. .), unable to turn it off.
On this website we will try to teach how to overcome anxiety disorder, but the first step is to make it clear that:
- Anxiety is normal.
All people have anxiety and it is estimated that more than 20% of the population has or has had anxiety disorder. - Anxiety is not dangerous.
Anxiety is a defense mechanism, it is to defend us and, therefore, it cannot harm us. - Anxiety does not last forever.
A common fear is thinking that it isn't possible to cure anxiety disorder, which anxiety disorder is an illness that lasts forever.
