Living with Anxiety
The word “anxiety” comes from Latin “anxietas” meaning “mental trouble”, “troubled in mind” which portrays the essence of this experience, its mental foundation and unsettling grip. Although it is normal to feel anxious, it happens that the level of distress becomes unbearable and debilitating; for instance worrying about the future or what might happen, becomes suffocating. Living with anxiety becomes overwhelming.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a persistent and exaggerated stress reaction to everyday events. Feeling of excessive anxiety may result in irrational fears of situations that seem normal to other people. Anxiety and stress affect sleep pattern, eating, emotional health, mental clarity and physical well-being.
“Throughout the centuries, anxiety has variously been categorised as a psychological problem, a physiological syndrome, a philosophical enquiry and an existential predicament. Depending on where you stand and how you look at it, anxiety presents a different face.”
It is important to distinguish between distress and anxiety. Distress is defined as a negative emotional reaction when unable to manage stressors. Although psychological distress is a subjective experience, it is characterised by inability to calm down, heightened state of stress, low energy and general fatigue, increased sensitivity and irritation, foggy thinking and disturbed sleep pattern. Distress is related to external events, while anxiety is linked to internal stress overreactions rather that an external factor.
Anxiety manifests itself in hyperarousal of brain and physical body, autonomic nervous symptoms such as dryness of mouth, shortness of breath, numbness. Sleep and ability to relax are interrupted and life is dominated by fear.
It is crucial to obtain knowledge and tools to manage anxiety. When untreated, anxiety can become so severe that a person isolate themselves, avoid situations and withdraw themselves from everyday life.
Living with anxiety