What is Anxiety?
When an individual faces potentially unsafe, harmful or worrying triggers, feelings of anxiety are not only normal but necessary for survival.
Some alarming sign become noticeable in the form of a raised heartbeat, sweating, and increased sensitivity to surroundings.
The danger causes a rush of adrenalin, a hormone and chemical messenger in the brain, which in turn triggers these anxious reactions in a process called the
“fight-or-flight’ response. This prepares humans to physically confront or flee any potential threats to safety.
For many people, running from larger animals and close danger is a less pressing concern than it would have been for early humans. Anxieties now revolve around work, money, family life, health, and other crucial issues that demand a person’s attention without necessarily requiring the ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction.
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as
“an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure.”
The nervous feeling before an important life event or during a difficult situation is a natural echo of the original ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. It can still be essential to survival anxiety about being hit by a car when crossing the street,snack will eat, for example, means that a person will instinctively look both ways to avoid danger.
