What Is Anxiety?

What Is Anxiety?

Imagine that you are driving along, and suddenly you start feeling kind of weird. Your muscles tense up. Your heart starts beating fast and you feel a little nauseous. You start sweating profusely. Was the chicken salad that you had for lunch bad? The chances are good that you are experiencing an anxiety attack.

Anxiety is more common that you may realize. You may think that only people who have genuine worries or problems suffer from anxiety, but this is not the case. In fact, anxiety attacks can occur in people who do not have any obvious problems, although anxiety is commonly caused by stress. We simply are dealing with more stress than our minds -- and therefore our bodies -- can handle.

The stress that you are experiencing doesn't even have to be "great" for an anxiety attack to occur. It could be that you've had a moderate amount of stress for a very long period of time, culminating in an anxiety attack. Think of it as stress overload, even though it isn't great amounts of stress all at one time.

Again, anxiety is quite common, and today it is more easily recognized by professionals. Anxiety is suffered by most people at one point in their life, but it becomes a serious problem when it is interfering with your day-to-day life, when it causes health problems, and when it presents dangerous situations -- such as having a panic attack while driving. Anxiety is not a phobia; however, numerous phobias can cause an anxiety attack.

Numerous treatments are available for serious anxiety. Treatments may include medication, relaxation techniques, and counseling. Depending on the cause of the anxiety, long-term treatment may be needed. However, if the situation causing the anxiety is short term, short-term treatment will do, if treatment is needed at all.