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Anxiety is something we all experience at some time
or other. We may feel anxious taking a driving test,
attending a job interview or awaiting the results of
some medical tests. However, for some people anxiety
can be so overwhelming that it inhibits their ability
to lead an ordinary life.
We all know the symptoms of our mouth going dry or our
palms sweating if faced with situations which can cause
us anxiety. Such reactions are known as the fight or
flight response because it allows us either to fight
what we perceive as the enemy or flee from it.
What makes anxiety a mental health problem for the individual
is in the identification of threat. Most often we become
anxious and can pinpoint the source, such as flying
or making a speech. However, anxiety may negatively
affect our mental health if the individual cannot identify
the source but is only aware that he or she is afraid.
Or it may be that the level of anxiety is completely
out of proportion, such as anxiety about being ill despite
all kinds of reassurance.
Anxiety may affect our thinking to the extent that we
have disturbing thoughts going round and round in our
minds. The feeling of being unable to switch off will
affect our ability to concentrate. Also there are a
number of physical symptoms which can occur if someone
is suffering from anxiety including blurred vision,
severe muscle tension, nausea and vomiting. Panic attacks
are a more extreme form of anxiety. They are relatively
common and might last for a few minutes or occasionally
several hours. Symptoms are often exaggerated forms
of the ones identified in relation to anxiety.
Assistance in coping with anxiety includes helping the
person identify and understand what is underlying the
anxiety, so that they can be helped to develop ways
of coping with it; medication can also be helpful in
maintaining the calm necessary to deal with what makes
someone anxious.
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