what is anxiety

We all want to know what anxiety is. What are its causes? Anxiety symptoms and available treatments. We often paint it as the bad guy.

Should we?
May be we should understand this term first.

Let’s explain anxiety as a structure housing nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worry. It is also the general term used to explain several disorders that cause all those issues mentioned above. Let’s not forget disorders negatively affect how we behave and mostly cause physical symptoms.
So what is the generally accepted definition of Anxiety?

None. But we have a few.

Anxiety is an ongoing sense of worry with or without a specific cause
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as “an emotion characterised by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.”
There goes our first physical change, increased blood pressure. But as humans we feel and worry, emotions are built up and released every single day.

When faced with potentially harmful or worrying triggers, feelings of anxiety are not only normal but necessary for survival.
So we can say anxiety is a type of fear associated with a perceived feeling of threat for a present or an upcoming problem.
If we are faced with incoming danger as humans our body sets off alarms allowing an individual to take evasive action. These alarms are noticeable in the form of increased heartbeat, sweating and increased awareness of our surroundings.
The rush of adrenaline in response to danger causes these reactions, this boost of adrenaline is known as “fight -or-flight” which prepares humans to physically confront or flee any threat to safety.
Like that nervous feeling before an important life event – anxiety about being hit by a car before crossing the street, for example means that a person would instinctively look both ways before crossing in other to escape being hit. It also revolves around family life, health, work and other important activities that demand attention without necessarily requiring the flight-or-flight response.

You just finished taking your bath upstairs about to settle into bed then you hear the creak. You pause, it comes again then the third time it is slow and long, faint but loud enough for your ears because you know any sound in your porch and you’ve gotten accustomed to every sound around your home. So yes there is an uninvited guest on your door.

Anxiety sets in. fight-or-flight?

The dead bolt unlocks. It was loud and clear. Very loud and clear so this is not a drill. Your heart beat starts to rise. You can feel the blood pumping and almost rushing out of your nose. Then the water starts to rush from the kitchen sink. Your sight and senses have heightened so uou you are able to pinpoint the slightest movement. Your entire body is now charged with unknown energy. Even a wind break doesn’t go unnoticed You get out of bed, tip toe to the door you luckily didn’t shut and lay your hands on your younger brothers’ baseball bat.

Fight-or-flight? The adrenaline kicks in. You just made your choice

The refrigerator door slams shut and bottles inside jingle, the light has been switched on, you are now at the foot of the stairs one step at a time you advance, one careful foot after another you are behind this tall and macho male on wool. You have a second thought because you can’t take on him then you reassure yourself you are with a bat besides; you are too close to the action to withdraw as you raise the weapon prepared to lay waste to this intruder, he turns and ducks screaming your name “Anna”.
Your younger brother is there right before your eyes, you’ve not seen him in 6 years but he is there with a bottle of coke on his right hand, heavily buttered bread on his left hand and crumbs all over his moustache.
There and then your heart beat starts to drop your folded forehead and your muscles start to relax. You are safe now and things start to normalize. Everything you felt there is real, whether the heartbeat went two times over or you perspired enough to fill a bucket. It’s normal and should be that way.

That is a real life situation.
Life is filled with potentially stressful events and I want to stress that its normal to feel anxious about all these events. There could be a single trigger or event that raises anxiety levels, but generally it may be a number of things that increase anxiety levels like examination, work deadlines, how we think we look, going on a first date or whether we feel safe travelling home late at night.
Anxiety has a strong effect on us because it is one of our natural survival responses. It causes our minds and bodies to speed up to prepare us to respond to an emergency.

All these attempt to open up the confused term simply puts anxiety as a natural human reaction to stressful situations. Which makes it normal. Then what could be the problem? It only becomes a condition when it frequently occurs without a trigger. Hence the name, “anxiety disorder”

Anxiety disorder or related problems reflects the subconscious ways humans have evolved to protect themselves. Almost everyone exhibits at some point in their lives anxiety disorder behaviours
Statistics show anxiety disorders affect 0ver 40 million people in the United States it is the most common group of mental illnesses in the country. Sadly below 40% of affected individuals receive treatment. Why is it so? With all the finance put into medical research and treatment in general. We’ll get to that.

On my next post i'll talk more on this issue.