Anxiety

 

Sometimes we experience a fight, or anger with someone, the emotion often passes. We calm down and get over it and, as we do, the physical symptom of arousal disappears as well. But sometimes we can experience emotional arousal which does not go away.

 

Being anxious about whether there will be enough money to pay the bills, for instance, is a continuous worry, not a passing thing. This means that it is constantly producing physiological arousal which does not go away.

 

Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the person’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 post-traumatic 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.

 

 

 

References

 

1. Chamorro-Premuzix, T. (2007). Personality and Individual Differences.Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. .
2. Malim, T., & Birch, A. (1998). Introduction to Psychology. Palgrave.
3. Medicine, G. E. (2008, – -). Medical-Dictionary. (I. The Gale Group, Editor) Retrieved February 02, 2012, from The Free Dictionary: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Psychological+anxiety