What is Anxiety?
Anxiety, from a psychological standpoint, is a feeling of worry or nervousness unease about an imminent or upcoming events or uncertain outcomes.
Sometimes it just presents as a lingering sense of unease, and you can’t quite figure out why you feel this way.
It’s different normal stress or worry – these tend to be typically short-lived and often linked to specific external situations that pass when the stressor (remember that word) passes.
Anxiety, on the other hand, persists even in the absence of stressors and can severely impact a person’s everyday life. It presents itself both mentally and physically, playing on your emotions and often causing some uncomfortable bodily responses.
Mental symptoms can include persistent feelings of dread, anticipating the worst, irritability, and difficulty concentrating.
Physically common symptoms include increased heart rate, sweating, trembling, dizziness, fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues.
All in all, it can be a bit of an uncomfortable experience, but the good news is, once you know what’s happening, you’re in a better position to manage or even solve it.
Disorders and Orders.
Ok so before you start to worry you’re in real trouble – there’s a big difference between anxiety and an anxiety disorder.
The big book (DSM-5 currently) defines a disorder as “a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning”.
So, what does that mean? We simply put a disorder is psychological pattern that affects a person from living a normal, happy, mentally healthy life.
Anxiety disorders come in some defined types:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is chronic and exaggerated worry about everyday things.
Panic Disorder involves sudden and repeated moments of intense fear along with physical symptoms like chest pain or heart palpitations.
Social Anxiety Disorder, or social phobia, is an intense fear of social situations where one might be judged.
And Specific Phobias are intense fears towards particular objects or situations, often leading to avoidance behaviour.
So, do you have a disorder? Well, you might need to talk to a doctor, therapist or other specialist to find out.
It’s also very possible that you just need a bit of help understanding the cause of your anxiety and how to manage it to feel better.
Either way, if your anxiety is often interrupting your happiness and life, you should definitely ask the question.
Where does Anxiety come from?
Causes of anxiety disorders are pretty broad, incorporating a combination of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors.
Heredity plays a significant role, with some studies highlighting individuals with a family history of anxiety being at higher risk of developing the condition.
On a biochemical level, imbalances in neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine are known to contribute to anxiety disorders, underscoring the importance of brain chemistry in mental health.
Traumatic experiences, particularly those occurring in childhood, can trigger and perpetuate anxiety disorders. Other examples can include abuse, bereavement or post-traumatic stress events (think anxiety after a car accident).
Chronic stress (being stressed or anxious for too long) can often be caused and maintained by things like work pressures, financial trouble, or interpersonal relationships and can lead to anxiety disorders.
Certain psychological factors, including individual personality traits, can also play a role. If you’re naturally a bit highly strung or a perfectionist, you might be putting high expectations on yourself that can make you anxious.
Lifestyle choices have a big impact – poor diet, lack of exercise, and excessive caffeine or alcohol intake can all make you feel uneasy. And the biggest contributor is a lack of quality sleep. Getting those 5 – 8 hours of good shuteye are a lifesaver.
While women are more likely than men to experience anxiety disorders due to very different hormonal, emotional and social conditioning and expectations, men are also suffering severe impacts from isolation, loneliness and a lesser social ability to vocalise their challenges with anxiety. We’re all in it together, if for various different reasons.
So, what do we do about it?
Ok – the really important part so we’re going to go bold with it:
Anxiety can be managed.
There’s a bunch of ways to manage it and it all starts with asking for help. There are a swathe of people and professionals out there that can help and it’s important to tailor it to what you need. Whether you prefer to speak to a doctor, a counsellor or a priest, it’s up to you.
Your doctor will likely, after a hopefully helpful chat, present you with some options including some form of talk therapy (CBT is common), lifestyle management (diet/exercise/sleep as previously mentioned) and possibly some form of medicinal or pharmacological option to help manage the more severe challenges of anxiety. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and similar are commonly prescribed and are often a useful tool in management of anxiety disorders.
Support networks are also important in anxiety management. Connecting with family, friends, or support groups provides emotional support and shared experiences. You are not alone. Professional support from therapists or counsellors can offer guidance and practical self-help strategies, such as journaling or utilizing anxiety management apps, provide additional tools for individuals to cope with anxiety independently. Community and professional support together create a comprehensive safety net, fostering an environment where individuals can manage their anxiety more effectively.
One of the cornerstone psychological therapies is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which focuses on identifying and challenging negative thought patterns, allowing individuals to replace them with more positive and constructive thinking. It can also help you figure out where this anxiety is coming from and even being brave enough to have the conversation can help you feel a bit more in control. The practical and structured nature of CBT makes it particularly effective and easily understood and provides the individual for tools to help them manage anxiety and its symptoms for itself.
The take-away.
- It’s ok to be anxious – You are not alone, it’s just time to do something about it.
- Talk to someone – your doctor, a therapist, your friends or family.
- Learn to manage the anxiety symptoms – controlled breathing and mindfulness techniques help a lot.
- Look after your mind – talking, journaling and sharing with others who are working on their anxiety.
- Look after yourself – eat & drink healthy, exercise, get outside into nature and get that sleep regularly.