Anxiety and the Worry Agenda

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By georgie (Contact - View My Woyano)

Published Fri 18 May 2007, 879 Views, 5 Comments

Anxiety & Phobias

Introduction

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. This makes it a confusing word and so it will not be used in this leaflet.

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 he 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.

Source: The Royal College of Psychiatrists http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk

To read more about anxiety, including how to recognise signs and where to find support, visit Anxiety and Phobias

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5 Comments

Interesting comment about two meanings of 'stress' - I wonder if there is another? For most of my career I worked in an industry which involved meeting deadlines, thinking on my feet, having to react to and resolve last minute problems arriving out of left field etc. I found that it was the adrenalin rush of 'stress' that got the job done - and frankly I loved and thrived (and succeeded) on it. Perhaps I was an adrenalin junkie? But 'worries' ( involving children/money/car etc) wld cause distress. Quite a different feeling/response.

[ reply ]

Perhaps it's the difference between positive stress and negative stress. Research shows that some degree of stress (when it is perceived as manageable) helps us perform well under pressure, i.e. when we have an important deadline to meet or have an exam coming up. It's only when that stress is prolonged, or it seems to exceed our capacity to manage, that we might call it negative stress. And when worries continue with no end in sight, or without reasonable cause, it would be termed anxiety.

[ reply ]

Good article georgie, I suffer from a stomach condition that is a direct result of negative stress ... not really distress ... just plain bad stress and anxiety. I'm also living proof of just how bad negative stress and anxiety can be on a persons mental and physical health.
I went through years of fatigue, pain and depression that follows that pain. Only within the last year have I really come to understand what is wrong with me and how to treat it properly. Before all this though, I would have never thought that anxiety/stress could do such a number on a person! I also never felt more alone in my life then I did during that time, major Kudos to yah for the article... someone might leap the same mile stone I had to, in a lot less time :)

[ reply ]

Dreamz, you bring up an excellent point. Anxiety often manifests itself as physical symptoms or somatic complaints (like a stomach ache, headaches, neck pain, etc) because among other reasons, tension has built up in the body and must be expressed somehow. Anxiety sufferers often find themselves totally exhausted, as you have experienced.

Dreamz- You mentioned how to treat anxiety properly... if there is anyone out there suffering, what steps would you recommend to them. Where should they start?

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Much thanks Georgie . I urge anyone encountering the above symptoms to see thier doctor and to not be afraid to ask for help .
Also you can contact your local mental health service (depending on your country)
who will usually have a fair amount of information on who you can talk to etc.
Its sometimes hard work to recover from a serious anxiety disorder but you can with time and some help. Promise ;>

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This is my two cents...

Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)

Anxiety and the Worry Agenda

Anxiety & Phobias

Introduction

Symptoms

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