Anxiety
Anxiety is probably the most basic of the emotions that any of us feel. Anxiety is not only experienced by all humans but also all species of animals. The experience of anxiety can vary tremendously in its severity from relatively mild uneasiness to extreme terror and panic. Anxiety can also vary in length from an almost fleeting flash to a constant all day or longer experience.
While anxiety by its nature is unpleasant and can be extremely so, it is important to emphasise that despite this it is not in the least bit, to our overall well being, dangerous. It is in fact a survival mechanism that has a proven track record of success for each and everyone of us, as I will explain below.
An actual definition of anxiety is difficult to provide, whole books have been written on the subject however each of us does know the feeling which we call anxiety. Each of us at some point in our lives has experienced feeling anxious.
What is less well known however is that sensations such as extreme dizziness, spots before the eyes, blurring of vision, numbness and tingling in different parts of the body, stiff almost paralysed muscles and feelings of breathlessness extending to choking or feelings of being smothered can also be a part of anxiety. When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, then anxiety can increase to levels of panic since people imagine that they must have some disease.
Anxiety is a response to a perceived or real danger or threat. Immediate or short term anxiety is commonly termed the ‘flight or fight’ response as it describes the effect it has upon us of either fighting or fleeing the danger. The main purpose of anxiety therefore is to protect the organism not harm it.
Since the purpose is to protect the organism it is logical that it also cannot be dangerous or harmful to the organism that it is striving to protect. It is the effectiveness of this response that has maintained the bloodline, that you are currently one of the carriers of, to be continued through the generations from when man/woman had to respond rapidly to immediate danger in order to literally survive.
Anxiety manifests itself through three systems any of which can be the primary way that someone may experience it, remembering that all three systems may be activated in some way, when the flight/fight kicks in, as it is aimed at getting the organism ready for immediate action. It is this same fight/flight anxiety response that got our ancestors away from sabre-tooth tigers which highlights its long standing organism protecting abilities.
The three systems where it manifests are:
the mental system, which includes the actual feelings of nervousness, anxiety and panic as well as thoughts such as “there is something wrong”;
the physical system, which includes all the physical symptoms such as dizziness, sweating, palpitations, chest pain and breathlessness and ;
the behavioural system, which includes the actual activities such as pacing, foot tapping and avoidance.
Dr John Kenworthy in the the video below explains how the brain behaves in respect of Anxiety and Stress.
In panic attacks the physical system becomes the most important since it is these symptoms which are most easily mistaken as indicating some serious disease. This is particularly so as the part of the human nervous responsible for the releasing of energy to prime the body for action is largely an all or nothing system so when it is activated all of its parts respond causing changes throughout the body so indicating why most panic attacks involve many symptoms rather than just one or two.
Due to the release of chemicals within the body at the activation of the fight/flight response initially there is an increased level of activity within the organism, however in time there is a counter-balancing release of chemicals, in order to restore a relaxed feeling. In brief, anxiety cannot continue forever nor spiral to ever increasing and possibly damaging levels. Although it can take some time for the chemicals to be completely removed from the system which explains why it is usual for the continued feeling of apprehension to last beyond the passing of any perceived or real threat or danger.
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