To Define Anxiety can be difficult as there are many different forms. The dictionary definition is that Anxiety is "A state of uneasiness and apprehension". However it can depend on your circumstance as to why it is that you are feeling uneasy or nervous. For example if you are feeling as if you are constantly on edge, you could be considered to have "Generalized Anxiety Disorder", or if you have a concert coming up and you are nervous about playing you could be considered to have "performance anxiety". There can even be positive examples of anxiety, such as when you want to impress someone with maybe your cooking or another particular skill, you could be perceived as being "anxious to impress".
It is really down to the person to define anxiety and which it is that they have, and what is causing these feelings before they can look to ways to treat it.
Anxiety is in reality a very useful tool that your brain uses to keep you alive. For example if you didn't worry or become anxious about whether or not there was enough food to last the winter as a caveman/woman then you may have not survived, if you didn't worry about the way that Lion was looking at you earlier, then again you may not have lasted very long in the wild. It is an in-built system that helps keep us alive. Unfortunately our surroundings have changed drastically since the times of cavemen and women, but our brains have not. This means that we still use the same thought processes as then, but in a totally different environment.
Let's take that example of seeing a lion for example. Now when you were a caveman/woman, you would have seen the lion and your flight or fight response would kick in. This would help you to either run away as fast as possible, or it would help you to stand and defend yourself. Typical feelings you would associate with this could include; body temperature increase, chest tightness, dizziness, racing heart, sweating, do any of these sound familiar? they are the exact same feelings you get when you leave Wal-Mart and think that your car has been stolen, or when you are in a lift full of people and it stops momentarily. Your body doesn't know the difference between these events and so it treats them all the same. It's just trying to protect you.
Now that we have had a look at how some people Define Anxiety, let's see what can be done about it.
There are a few ways in which your anxiety can be dealt with, one of which is medication. Certain drugs are available to decrease your feelings of anxiety and put you more at ease. These are known as Beta Blockers, they are a fairly strong form of medication, and once a dose has started, you cannot just stop taking them so ensure you speak thoroughly with your GP before taking these.
Another way of dealing with anxiety is relaxation techniques or meditation. Once you have managed to define your anxiety, you can start to work on positive mental images of yourself dealing in a particular situation which would have at one time made you feel anxious. You can then begin to imagine yourself feeling more and more relaxed about this situation until you feel that you can deal with it more comfortably.
Decreasing caffeine can also be a good way of lessening anxiety as it is well known that coffee or other stimulants encourage your fight or flight response to kick in, and as we read earlier that can sometimes be a bad thing.
Group therapy can sometimes help if you have defined your anxiety as being caused by being around lots of people. Sometimes talking to people that have had the same experiences as you and are currently learning to deal with the problem can help you to overcome it yourself.
Speaking to your GP may be the best first option as they may well be able to help you Define Anxiety a little better and also steer you in the right direction for appropriate help.
If you have been troubled by persistent or even chronic Anxiety, then you need to do something about it. Unfortunately I know from my own experiences that it doesn't just go away on it's own, you need to take action. If you want to be free from Anxiety within days then visit this site immediately.
end-anxiety.org. Providing useful self development, self empowerment and self esteem tips and reviews online.
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