What is Anxiety

What is anxiety?

This article will give you the answers to certain questions about anxiety such as: “what is anxiety”, “what causes anxiety”, “what are the symptoms of anxiety”, “how to treat anxiety”, etc.

What is not anxiety?

It is important to know what anxiety is as well as what is not. This is why we will first define anxiety and then distinguish anxiety from fear.

Anxiety is a pervasive and unpleasant feeling of tension, dread, apprehension, and impending disaster.

What is the difference between anxiety and fear?

Fear is a response to a clear and obvious danger. For example you see a mad dog running toward you and you feel scared and start running away from the dog. This is a normal response to the given situation, and your fear is a part of that normal and productive response; which resulted in you being safe and not being infected and bitten.

On the other side anxiety is a response to an undefined or unknown treat which may derive from internal conflicts, feelings of insecurity, or forbidden impulses.

A side from knowing what is anxiety, you should also know how to recognize it. This is very important because if you are not capable to recognize the signs of anxiety or the anxiety symptoms, you may live your whole life in necessary pain.

Signs of Anxiety

Alcohol abuse

Ticks

Blushing

Becoming pale

Nail biting

Skin picking

Excessive shaking

Excessive scratching

Vomiting in certain situations

Always in need to do something

Excessive arguing

Loss of interest in sex and other previously enjoyed activities

Eating too little or overeating

Waking up in a panic attack

Sweating a lot

Coughing for no reason

Excessive crying

Hyperactivity

Symptoms of Anxiety

Abdominal pain

Headaches

Muscle tension

Chest pain

Dry, watery or itchy eyes

Waking up in a panic attack

Thinking about death or suicide

Recurrent or obsessive thoughts

Tendency to predict the worst

Having problem concentrating

Constant negative thinking

Fear of going crazy

Fear of passing out

Fear from specific situation (such as being in public)

Feeling constant tension

Feeling agitated

An important thing to note is that only a healthcare professional can properly diagnose an individual with anxiety disorder or other mental condition. Signs and symptoms of anxiety in this article are numbered only for educational purposes and not to be used for self-diagnosis or diagnosing someone else.

A side from knowing what is anxiety and what anxiety signs and symptoms are, you need to know how to treat anxiety disorder properly.

Treatment for Anxiety

Anxiety is best treated with psychotherapy alone or combined with anxiety medication. Medication is not needed in many cases however that fact doesn’t stop it from being overused by millions of people around the world.

Anxiety medication should be used in case of severe anxiety, and in some cases of moderate anxiety disorder. In all other cases (which is majority of them) anxiety medication is not necessary.

Right from the start you should know that anxiety cannot be cured only with medication. Anxiety medication can help you with your symptoms but it cannot treat you for your anxiety disorder.

Medication cannot explore and work on causes of your anxiety nor can it provide you with understanding, support and guidance. All of which are essential for successful treatment. This is why psychotherapy is the foundation of anxiety treatment and place where the real healing process takes place.

The outcome of your treatment will depend a lot on your answer to question: “What is anxiety”. If anxiety is something horrible and unbearable to you, it is time for you to change your perspective. If anxiety, to you, is a challenge and something you will use to become better and stronger person you are already half cured.

Go from What is Anxiety to Home of Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

Information on Anxiety Disorder / Severe Anxiety Disorder