What is anxiety?

Key Facts

What is anxiety?

Thursday, 03 February 2005

Anxiety, tension, stress, and panic are all terms used to describe what is a widespread problem for many people. Anxiety can affect anyone. At any one time, over one in ten people experience high levels of anxiety. Think back to your class at school. In an average class size of thirty, this means that typically three of your classmates will have anxiety problems at the moment. Some well known people have experienced problems of high anxiety. You may have seen television programmes or read books about their experiences. When anxiety occurs at a high level, it affects the person's mood and thinking, creates a range of physical symptoms in their body, and often causes the person to alter what they do.

The anxiety balance.

In anxiety the threat or danger being faced is often overplayed and built up in our mind. At the same time we usually underplay our own capacity to cope with the problem. We become overly sensitive to possible threats so that we can escape and avoid these.

In a situation with no anxiety we feel in balance. We know we can deal with our problems. Normally, when there is no anxiety, we feel able to cope with the problems we face. In anxiety this balance is upset. An unhelpful focus on problems and difficulties occurs. The problem is seen as too large or overwhelming, and we think we cannot cope. In both situations, the anxiety balance is upset, and the result is increasing distress.

The anxiety balance has important implications. It means that it is not the situation or problem alone that causes anxious worrying, instead it is how we interpret it. This is not to say that practical problems and difficulties don't need to be dealt with - they do. However, anxious worrying is not an effective solution.

Can anxiety be helpful?
Some level of anxiety is a common and normal emotion that at times can be helpful even though it can feel unpleasant. For example, in situations of sudden danger anxiety helps us to get away as rapidly as possible.
Example: If you walk along a badly maintained path next to a large drop, anxiety can be life saving, appropriate and helpful. However, sometimes anxiety can occur inappropriately and then it becomes unhelpful. Anxiety may arise in situations that are not really dangerous at all, or it can be excessive and well beyond what is actually helpful or appropriate in the circumstances.

How our bodies react to anxiety.
Your body reacts to physical danger in a set way. The Fight or Flight Adrenaline Response creates many different physical and emotional changes. Your heart rate and breathing both speed up so that your muscles are ready to react to defend yourself or run away. This is very useful when the danger is real. Think about a time when you have had a sudden shock - perhaps you have stepped into the road when a car was coming and didn't realise till you heard the car horn. Your body releases Adrenaline which makes your heart beat faster. The fight or flight adrenaline response causes you to pay especial attention to any potential threats around you. In the same way, your body reacts to frightening thoughts just as it would to a physical danger. You can find out more about this in the workbooks in the Overcoming Anxiety book.

Key point: Anxiety is an uncomfortable experience. It can affect your thinking and feelings, create physical symptoms in your body, and interfere with your daily activities. Each of these changes can then act to keep anxiety going. If you are experiencing anxiety, you need to find out more about how anxiety is affecting you so that you will have a clear plan of what you need to do to overcome it.

References:
Overcoming Depression: A Five Areas Approach. Williams C, (2001) Hodder Arnold: London ISBN 0-340-76383

Overcoming Anxiety: A Five Areas Approach. Williams C, (2003) Hodder Arnold: London ISBN: 034081005X

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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 August 2005 )

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