“What is anxiety?” These are commonly the first words people utter when they are told by a professional that they are suffering from this emotional state. The first thought that comes into their mind is that dealing with anxiety must be a very difficult thing to do. Let me ask you, are you or someone you love suffering from this disorder?
Defining What is Anxiety
So to answer your question of what is anxiety, in the simplest sense, it is defined as an unpleasant feeling of fear and apprehension. Anxiety is rooted from the Latin word angere which means to strangle or to change. Now, it really does make sense why when we feel anxious, we tend to feel suffocated.
Realistically, many of us experience a general state of worry before facing serious things such as examinations, public speaking or job interviews. These feelings are in a general sense mostly reasonable. This emotional state is considered a normal reaction to stressors which people face every day. It helps us cope with difficult situations.
It doesn’t become a problem until an uncontrolled and chronic feeling of senseless fear takes over. Anxiety is recognized as a problem when the condition overly interferes with your ability to sleep and to function on a normal daily basis. So basically, you are suffering from anxiety disorder when your reaction is out of proportion with what is normally expected in a specific situation.
How Can I Recognize Anxiety?
This is the next question most people want answered after find out the answer to what is anxiety. Recognizing the symptoms is important to the overall understanding of this condition. So, listed below are the basic symptoms:
- Sweating
- Uneasiness
- Tense muscles
- Trembling
- Stomach unsteadiness
- Nausea
- Headache
- Heart palpitations
How Rampant is Anxiety in the United States?
Now that you’re more acquainted as to what is anxiety and its accompanying symptoms, let’s look at how prevalent this condition is. Anxiety issues mostly occur in Americans aged 18–54. Anxiety is so widespread that it even beat out depression in the number of reported cases.
Research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health showed anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem among American women. More or less 40 million people in the United States suffer from anxiety. Unfortunately, only 4 million of them receive treatment. And only 400,000 receive the proper treatment.
Now that we have discussed issues on what is anxiety, its time to discuss the seriousness of this mental health issue. Even though many of us use the terms anxiety and anxiousness quite freely, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of this matter. It truly is a serious condition and one that shouldn’t be ignored. Don’t suffer alone as it really is best to ask for help.
In mild to severe cases, it’s still advisable to seek professional help. Finding a personal counselor or a psychologist to help you face your anxiety issues is quite helpful while more severe cases may require more medical attention. And continue to search for more information on what is anxiety so you do indeed understand it more fully.