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Anxiety
Definition
Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient’s personal history and memory, and the social situation. As far as we know, anxiety is a uniquely human experience. Other animals clearly know fear, but human anxiety involves an ability, to use memory and imagination to move backward and forward in time, that animals do not appear to have. The anxiety that occurs in posttraumatic syndromes indicates that human memory is a much more complicated mental function than animal memory. Moreover, a large portion of human anxiety is produced by anticipation of future events. Without a sense of personal continuity over time, people would not have the “raw materials” of anxiety.
It is important to distinguish between anxiety as a feeling or experience, and an anxiety disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis. A person may feel anxious without having an anxiety disorder. In addition, a person facing a clear and present danger or a realistic fear is not usually considered to be in a state of anxiety. In addition, anxiety frequently occurs as a symptom in other categories of psychiatric disturbance.
Description
Although anxiety is a commonplace experience that everyone has from time to time, it is difficult to describe concretely because it has so many different potential causes and degrees of intensity. Doctors sometimes categorize anxiety as an emotion or an affect depending on whether it is being described by the person having it (emotion) or by an outside observer (affect). The word emotion is generally used for the biochemical changes and feeling state that underlie a person’s internal sense of anxiety. Affect is used to describe the person’s emotional state from an observer’s perspective. If a doctor says that a patient has an anxious affect, he or she means that the patient appears nervous or anxious, or responds to others in an anxious way (for example, the individual is shaky, tremulous, etc.).
Exerts taken from Medical dictionary
Interesting post and something that is overlooked far too much.
So I guess the important question is – how can one harness anxiety in a positive way?
When I thought about this, I’m thinking about this in the context of yesterday’s question about determination, and consequently with training and life in general.
To a certain extent I think it’s healthy to have some anxiety or stress when you’re pushing your physical or mental limits (obviously in a controlled manner).. Risk versus reward I guess. In the end though – I think anxiety without determination or peserverance is what determines whether or not you grit your teeth and find out something new about your limits or whether anxiety makes you cower in the corner.
- Kam
Steve has taught me life changing lessons. I suffered the daily struggle with anxeity and post traumatic stress disorder. Steve believes in the ability of every person and able to tap into your inner strength and enable you to achieve things that you thought you could never do. Listen, learn and be inspired by him. Never put of something you can do. Do it now! Nathan Miles
TBL09