We all experience symptoms of anxiety at some point in life. It is a normal emotion that encompasses human responses to the perception of danger. In moderation, anxiety is good as it stimulates an adaptive response to challenging or stressful events. Thus, anxiety is a protective mechanism of a body that helps us to maneuver through our daily challenges and help us to perform better. 

However, when in excess, anxiety destabilizes an individual resulting in dysfunctional state of mind. Condition becomes debilitating when symptoms of anxiety are persistent and causes significant emotional distress. This is where a natural human state of anxiety takes a form of anxiety disorder.

But the question is what makes you anxious, fearful and nervous? Why some specific situations make you feel tense? Why you found yourself stuck in challenging situation where everything seems dark and unfair? 

Anxiety as a defensive mechanism

Normal anxiety has its root in fear. Fear, a biologically basic human emotion, is a conscious awareness initiated by particular patterns of threat-related stimuli indicating that you are in danger. 

In dangerous or stressful situation, fear helps your body to take necessary action by activating flight or fight response. On most of the occasion, fear alerts us to the danger and prepare us to deal with it. You experience faster heart beats, shallow and rapid breathing and tense muscles making your body ready for next movement. Thus, anxiety is body’s natural way to face challenge as a part of defensive mechanism.

Feeling anxious, especially in challenging or threatening situation, is an extremely common phenomenon. It is completely normal to feel fearful and nervous before an examination, presentation, competition, interview or any other challenging situation. Mild to moderate anxiety in challenging time helps you to stay alert and focus your attention on important aspects of life.

Anxiety as a reflection of stress

Life is a reflection of your response to various situations happening to you on day to day basis. These events are usually related to family, finance, health, relationships and work. 

Issues with family and personal relationships or struggles with income and employment status are common ups and downs in the life. When any of these areas of life get disturbed, you feel stressed and worried resulting in amorphous state-of-mind. 

Stress is your body’s response to pressure from a situation or life event. Everyone feels stressed out sometimes, but it becomes a problem when persists for a prolong period.

Focusing on the negative experiences of the life will only make things harder. Unmanageable stress is a common trigger for provoking signs of anxiety including worry, irritability and restlessness. When this stress becomes excessive and persistent, it negatively affects your mental well-being.

Moreover, we are living in a world where expectations from self are common. Setting high expectations from self not only make you feel stressed but leave little time for relaxation and quality sleep. Placing too much emphasis on achieving goals, having no “me time”, frequent disappointments and sleep deprivation fuels anxiety and this anxiety make it harder to relax creating a vicious cycle of anxiety and poor sleep. 

Expectations are strong hopes or beliefs that something good will happens or you will get what you want from life. However, sometimes your own expectations hurt you more than others. When associated with perfectionist tendencies and fear of failure, your own expectations take significant mental toll. 

Feeling guilty for not meeting expectations or when you have no control over performance may lead to the loss of self-esteem and helplessness that further triggers anxiety.

Childhood trauma and anxiety

Adverse childhood experiences may lead to long-term pain in adulthood resulting in undesirable consequences. Experience of adversity in childhood can cause the onset of anxiety by creating changes in neuro-hormonal regulations. 

For many of us emotional neglect, physical abuse, untimely death of a parent, bullying, dysfunctions in the house and poverty are common traumatic experiences during childhood. 

Such traumatic events are always frightening that poses threat to child’s sense of safety. Traumatic experiences can initiate strong emotions that can persist long after the event. If left unaddressed, trauma can have a long-term psychological impact in the form of stress, anxiety and depression.

Your genes might enhance your susceptibility for developing anxiety, at least in part. When you have anxiety issue, you might notice same signs in other family members. Research studies have shown that risk for anxiety runs in families.

Having a blood relative with anxiety significantly raises the chance that you might inherit these genetic traits. Even if  your one parent is anxious all the time, this likely affect your ability to handle stress.

Sometimes, your anxiety may be linked to underlaying health issues. In some cases, anxiety is an indicator of medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, endocrine disorders, heart diseases, diabetes, respiratory disorders, chronic pain, calcium deficiency and drug withdrawal. 

Anxiety is a sign of other mental health illness including depression. Sometimes anxiety is a side effect of certain medications used to treat various medical conditions.

Anxiety resolves on its own only if the underlaying cause is addressed or if person take control of the situation. 

Changing your thinking patterns and the way you react to situation helps to control unsettling and out-of-control worry pattern to some extent. 

When anxiety is unaddressed, a sense of stagnation and lack of purpose causes a lot of dis-satisfaction. 

Nothing is more terrifying than battling with your own thoughts every single day. 

Disclaimer 

Mediclin Brain Health’s content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.