letting people down. There are hundreds of reason for why people have anxiety, however it is
different for everyone. Anxiety is a natural human reaction to stressful situations but can get worse
by certain thoughts/triggering emotions. It is important to know the difference between normal
feelings of anxiety and an anxiety disorder that may require medical attention.
Ever since the earliest days of humanity, the approach of predators and incoming danger has set
off alarms in the body and allowed an individual to take evasive action. These alarms were noticeable
in the form of a raised heartbeat, sweating, increased sensitivity to surroundings, and, in today's
society, these alarms are not set off by predators but by everyday problems that people encounter in
the 21st century. I n the 80s, anxiety disorders went under the name of phobias. In 1980, a small
group of people founded the Phobia Society of America; they started to wonder what anxiety was,
the impact it would have on people and the different treatments it required.
There is one main difference between stress and anxiety - stress is a response to a threat in a
situation while anxiety is a reaction to stress . The term "anxiety disorder" is used to refer to specific
psychiatric disorders that have symptoms extreme fear or worry; these may include separation
anxiety, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder etc. Stress is your body's way of responding to any
kind of demand or threat, it is your body’s reaction to a trigger. You can experience stress symptoms
if you have a lot of work, exams or if you feel pressured, after a while stress becomes anxiety.
The Symptoms:
○ When you experience anxiety, you can be very vulnerable, as well as possibly
experiencing mental pain and a lot of physical pain such as:
○ Feeling nervous, irritable or on edge
○ Having a sense of panic or doom
○ Having an increased heart rate
○ Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation), sweating, and/or trembling
○ Feeling weak or tired