What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety affects our whole being. It affects how we feel, how we behave and has very real physical symptoms. There are several aspects that cause anxiety. When you ask, what is anxiety? It can be anxiety that is linked to something biological, psychological, or social.
If you have other people that have anxiety disorder in your family, it is more likely that you will have it. For some reason, this runs in families. There have been studies with identical twins and anxiety. If one twin has anxiety, the other will most likely have it too.
Low self-esteem could be another component for the cause. In addition, if you don’t have good coping skills. Anxiety disorder can work the other way too. If you started having anxiety issues as a child, this can cause lowered self-esteem.
Stressful or traumatic life situations can also make a person more susceptible to anxiety disorder. For example, if you have a chronic history of abuse in your family, or are always worried about finances, you have a greater chance of having anxiety.
Life situations don’t even have to be chronic. It could just be a major change in your life like a death of a loved one, divorce, moving, changing jobs, etc.
Substances that alter your mood could also play a huge factor in anxiety. Caffeine is a big culprit because it can leave you jittery. Uncontrolled substances like amphetamines can do similar things.
New situations can also create anxiety. For example, meeting someone for the first time can be anxiety causing.
When you try to determine what is anxiety, you need to take in all the components and factors, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Anxiety is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. These disorders affect how we feel and behave, and they can manifest real physical symptoms. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can be extremely debilitating, having a serious impact on daily life.
People often experience a general state of worry or fear before confronting something challenging such as a test, examination, recital, or interview. These feelings are easily justified and considered normal. Anxiety is considered a problem when symptoms interfere with a person's ability to sleep or otherwise function. Generally speaking, anxiety occurs when a reaction is out of proportion with what might be normally expected in a situation.
What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder?
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic disorder characterized by excessive, long-lasting anxiety and worry about nonspecific life events, objects, and situations. GAD sufferers often feel afraid and worry about health, money, family, work, or school, but they have trouble both identifying the specific fear and controlling the worries. Their fear is usually unrealistic or out of proportion with what may be expected in their situation. Sufferers expect failure and disaster to the point that it interferes with daily functions like work, school, social activities, and relationships.
How will I recognize anxiety?
As well as feeling apprehensive and worried (possibly without knowing why), you may experience some of the following physical symptoms:
Tense muscles
Trembling
Churning stomach
Nausea
Diarrhoea
Headache
Backache
Heart palpitations
Numbness or "pins and needles" in arms, hands or legs
Sweating/flushing
It is easy to mistake symptoms of anxiety for physical illness and become worried that you might be suffering a heart attack or stroke. This of course increases anxiety.