Anxiety can be defined as emotions which are typically negative in nature. It will often consist of fear and worry, and some organisms may even experience physical signs such as nausea or chest pains. Anxiety is a complex emotion, and is composed of a number of different elements. Some of these elements are somatic or cognitive, and the body will prepare itself to deal with an external threat. The heart rate speeds up, and the blood pressure is increased. The various muscles in the body will also receive elevated levels of blood. At the same time, the functions of the digestive system will slow down.
People experiencing anxiety have feelings of dread. The body would show both voluntary and involuntary responses to the source of dread. All these bodily responses are meant to assist the individual to flee from whatever is causing the anxiety. This emotion is actually part of an organism’s survival instinct. Two areas of the brain are believed to be responsible for the processing of anxiety. These are the hippocampus and the amygdala. For instance, if a person smells bad odors or tastes something that is unpleasant, there will be an increase in the blood flow to the amygdala. This situation would incite a moderate level of anxiety.
The results of studies on anxiety point out to the fact that this particular emotion aims to discourage humans and animals from ingesting things that may be harmful to their health. Anxiety is a normal emotion. Too much anxiety, on the other hand, is no longer normal and may be classified under the term anxiety disorder. Excessive anxiety may lead people to feelings of extreme terror. The different anxiety disorders may be classified under phobias, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorders. A phobia creates an irrational amount of fear of seemingly ordinary objects or situations. Phobias tend to play on people’s imaginations, and continue to affect them even though they are aware that their fear is unfounded and unrealistic.
Panic disorder, on the other hand, creates panic attacks with somatic symptoms such as dizziness and problems with breathing. Panic attacks quickly escalate to very intense fear in a matter of minutes. Less specific feelings of anxiety are more prevalent, and these are broadly categorized as generalized anxiety disorders. This type of anxiety affects both men and women equally. This is usually characterized by prolonged durations of anxiety from undetermined causes. One other type of anxiety disorder is obsessive compulsive disorder. A person with this disorder exhibits certain obsessions or compulsions. These obsessive actions are actually the person’s efforts to minimize or eradicate his or her feelings of anxiety.
Many people who have this disorder need to be extremely clean, and are afraid of germs. To reduce their anxiety, they will wash their hands numerous times in a single day. There are two primary methods that are used to help those who are suffering from anxiety, and this is either therapy or prescription medications.
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