There are various symptoms of anxiety ranging from minor; sweating, dry mouth and feeling tired, to severe; choking sensation, derealization, fear of dying and insomnia. These panic symptoms are more commonly related to anxiety disorders such as Social Phobia or GAD, and may last for minutes if not longer.
Anxiety disorders aside, there are many preconceptions as to what anxiety is and why it happens. In actual fact, anxiety is a very common reaction to experiences of danger, stress and fear. Most people have experienced anxiety, but we may have experienced it and reacted in a different way,
One person may respond to a stressful situation well and actually take control. Another person might feel too much pressure and respond entirely differently. The chemical reaction to the situation is the same, yet the outcomes completely different.
We are all unique, so it’s no surprise that our perceptions and fears are different from each other. Although this stress response was designed to help us react to an actual physical danger thousands of years ago, it still has its uses.
Even in modern society the stress response can be highly useful. For example, perhaps you have an important test coming up – you experience anxiety because you don’t want to fail and you want a decent grade. This anxiety is likely to motivate you to study harder for the test and pass.
This can also work in a negative fashion. Say, you have the job interview of a lifetime in a week’s time. You’ve been worrying and stressing about it for the entire week before the interview. On the day of the interview, you’re jittery, sweaty and a nervous wreck – anxiety got the better of you.
Although anxiety is highly adaptive, it can spiral out of control. For people who suffer from anxiety disorders, this is often the case. Sufferers of anxiety disorders usually have an overly sensitive reaction to stress and anxiety. And this is often hard to live with.
Causes of such disorders can be due to excessive stimulation of the stress response. In other cases it can be hereditary and be passed on from parent to child. This does not mean that anxiety disorders aren’t treatable however.
Minor symptoms of anxiety may build up to a full blown panic attack. Often emotions can bottle up and when you least expect it, come pouring out. These kinds of attacks can seem unprovoked but in reality they are not. The important thing to realize, is that symptoms of anxiety are just chemical reactions that we interpret as feelings and sensations.
