Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but for someone experiencing anxiety, these feelings aren’t easily controlled.
Stress and anxious feelings are a common response to a situation where we feel under pressure, they usually pass once the stressful situation has passed. Anxiety is when these anxious feelings don’t go away – when they’re ongoing and happen without any particular reason or cause.
Anxiety is a serious condition that can be crippling and interfere with a person’s ability to carry out their daily tasks.
When the average person feels anxious about something they can simply bear through it and cope with their nervousness the best that they can. Someone with anxiety may find their symptoms are so severe that they have to completely avoid certain situations.
There is a difference between the kind of occasional anxious feelings that people experience and having an anxiety disorder.
When a person has an anxiety disorder they are often dealing with irrational fears that cause persistent symptoms for months, regardless of any particular situation. A person with this disorder might have anxiety about a potential disaster or issues with money, family, health, work or anything that they feel could cause problems for them.
Symptoms of anxiety also tend to occur at any period of time rather than being tied to a specific event.
Someone with an anxiety disorder may feel anxious about more general things such as being judged by other people or having a feeling that there is something wrong with them.
Their anxiety is not temporary and not something that they can cope with without professional help.
The good news is that anxiety is treatable and people with the disorder can learn to manage their symptoms so that it doesn’t interfere with their daily life. Talking to a therapist about anxiety can help patients learn to identify their triggers and develop strategies for them. Over time their anxiety will become more manageable.
There are many excellent options available, from meditation to medication. Most importantly, anxiety is very common and is nothing to be ashamed of!
The sooner people with anxiety get support, the more likely they are to recover!