Conquering Anxiety: Introduction to Anxiety and its impact on life
Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. It is time for our very first post in the Conquering Anxiety series. This is an introductory post. For most people who deal with anxiety, you likely do not need an introduction therefore we are only briefly talking about this topic.
What is anxiety?
NHS UK defines anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe. It is normal to feel anxious from time to time such as before an exam. However it is an issue when your anxiety starts to hinder you from living your life. When you do not show up to your exams because you are anxious, when you no longer want to meet people because of how anxious you feel etc.
Why does anxiety exist?
Because it is helpful in reasonable situations, it protects us from immediate dangers. Usually it encourages flight or fight state where you either wish to fight the situation or flee to save yourself from the immediate danger. Duke University professor Mark Leary put it, “A deer may be startled by a loud noise and take off through the forest, but as soon as the threat is gone, the deer immediately calms down and starts grazing. And it doesn’t appear to be tied in knots the way that many people are.”
The challenge for most of us is that the stressors are usually not immediate and even if they are the solutions are not as simple as the deer’s example. When we start to feel anxious about things that are out of our control or are way in the future, so often that it disturbs our life, then we need to put a stop to it.
When your anxiety stops you from living your life or disturbs your routine where you go out of your way to avoid certain things and do other things to avoid worsening anxiety then it is worth checking with a professional about the possibility of an anxiety disorder.
What areas of life can be impacted by anxiety?
We are specifically talking about the kind of anxiety experienced by someone who has an anxiety disorder. You will have heard of many different ways anxiety impacts but lets look at some broad common experiences.
- Physical sensations like stomach aches, fast beating heart, excessive sweating, and feeling hot or cold.
- Experiencing worry, excessive stress, and ruminating over things (rumination is obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice especially when it interferes with normal mental functioning)
- In social life, people can withdraw from social situations to avoid heightened anxiety.
- Relationships, if you are often on edge and experiencing anxiety, the disturbance it causes can impact your relationships.
- Work and study, you may do poorly on work and/or study.
Almost everything can be impacted but it can vary from person to person, therefore we have a wide list of anxiety disorders.
What are some common Anxiety disorders?
People often talk about anxiety in general but this is an umbrella term and there are quite a few categories of anxiety.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Perhaps the most common one and the one people think about when we say anxiety).
- Panic Disorder (panic attacks being the main reoccurring symptom)
- Social Anxiety (Trouble socializing)
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Often misrepresented in media, compulsions are one of the main symptoms of the disorder)
- Phobia-related (The list is extensive but the underlying factor is the inability to continue with daily life because you are terrified of X or Y)
It is important to understand that labels are only as helpful as the help they lead to. To some, it can feel validating to receive a label and for others it may be devastating. It is best to leave the assignment of such labels upto a qualified professional. If you feel like you have an anxiety disorder, please reach out to a trained professional.
This series will tackle anxiety in general, the principles can help people across any anxiety disorder as anxiety is the main factor in all of these disorders, just the specific focus of it tends to differ.
Questions for you. Please note you note you need to answer these questions to be eligible for the certificate at the end of the series.
- When did first notice anxiety disrupting your day to day life?
- If you could do one thing without feeling anxious, what would you pick?
The above questions require talking about personal experiences which is not possible on a listener account, listeners, you can instead tell us about your key takeaways from this post.
Further Reading
The Evolution of Anxiety: Why We Worry and What to Do About It
This post is part of the Conquering Anxiety series, you can find all posts of the series here.
The first post of the series is here!
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@exuberantBlackberry9105 @unassumingEyes @WeEarth @CordialDancer @YourCaringConfidant @daydreammemories @yellowPineapple3652
Yes!
Thank you @Hope for this insightful post! This introductory post is simple yet useful.
@Hope
I first noticed anxiety disrupting my day to day life probably during the third year of the pandemic. I just stopped being able to manage it somehow like I used to.
If I could do one thing without feeling anxious, I would pick anything.
@Hope Thanks so much for making this post! You are so right! For many of us, anxiety is no stranger. While I am a listener, I do feel comfortable enough to share to an extent.
1. When did first notice anxiety disrupting your day to day life?
I have struggled with anxiety for most of my life. It may not have been diagnosed back then as a kid/teen, but the signs were all there. I noticed it most as a teen when I couldn't even go into a convenient store "alone" (parent figure could see me from the vehicle) to grab one thing because there were too many people for me.
2. If you could do one thing without feeling anxious, what would you pick?
Honestly, it would be to run into stores when it's crowded. As an adult now, I can do it but I am not fond of it. 🤣 But even now if it's entirely too packed, whatever I needed is not that important to me. I will leave. Luckily for me, I have delivery services in my area. I love it. Saves me time and reduces stress.
@YourCaringConfidant
It looks like it impacted you early on in life. I think that the fact that you can do it is a big improvement!
Growth is rarely linear. It makes sense that you still struggle with the same. I think you may find the cycle of anxiety post interesting. You may wish to switch to a member account if you want to explore your anxiety. As on a listener account, you will only be able to learn from the posts and not share that many details.
@Hope
Hi😊 Thanks a bunch for the post!
When did first notice anxiety disrupting your day to day life?
Well due to my experience, when you feel like tasks may not feel normal. You might be finding yourself that it takes much energy to get out of a comfort zone to do even simpler tasks.
If you could do one thing without feeling anxious, what would you pick?
It's honestly fun to be able to do anything without anxiety! I would most likely spend a holiday traveling without being worried 😁
@Hope
The upshot of anxiety is the cost in missed opportunities. There are countless social and business opportunities i have missed in life.
I have a dump truck load of regrets from it.
When did you first notice anxiety disrupting your day to day life?
My key takeaway from this point is that anxiety can completely cause a person to live on edge. This can result from physical feelings, racing thoughts, or other symptoms. Anxiety can make it hard to enjoy the present moment due to feeling the need to be on guard.
If you could do one thing without feeling anxious, what would you pick?
From this forum post, it is clear that being able to live without anxiety would be very freeing for most people. For example, someone struggling with social anxiety could go up and order food without feeling overwhelmed. This would allow them to go about their day and enjoy the food they wanted without anxiety hanging over them.
@Hope When did you first notice anxiety disrupting your day to day life? I think I've been anxious since I was a kid but it's gotten worse as I've gotten older
@mytwistedsoul
I didn't notice it until recently. It started in Jr. Highschool.
@Hope Thanks a lot for this post, Hope.
When did first notice anxiety disrupting your day to day life?
I think anxiety has kinda affected my life for a long time but I never really understood or noticed it much until about a year ago. (Maybe it doesn't directly disrupt my day to day life by making me avoid doing things too much (there are a few things it does make me avoid, just not too many things), but it does disrupt my life a lot by not allowing me to sleep well often. More recently though, I sometimes feel anxious for no reason and that tense uneasy feeling all the time is quite disruptive because it prevents me from being able to focus well.)
If you could do one thing without feeling anxious, what would you pick?
I would pick being able to say things, especially in front of many people or unfamiliar people, without feeling anxious and overthinking it a lot. That is one thing I avoid doing because it makes me too anxious.
@exuberantBlackberry9105
Great to see you again! I think this is your third time participating in our series. Love the dedication
I think that happens often where people don't even realize they are dealing with anxiety untill they consider doing the things that make them anxious. The challenge with avoidance is that your world starts to shrink.
Hopefully by the end of the series you can achieve your goal