subject: Anxiety Is A Subjective State Of Being [print this page] Any emotion can be described as a subjective state of being, associated with changes in our behavior, ideas and physiology. Anxiety is an emotion related to the anticipation of a threat: we experience anxiety when we expect that something will result in any form of harm if we do not stop it from happening. As such, it is useful and helps us prepare to face problems or difficult situations. It is an adaptive emotion that contributes to survival and well-being, thus completely normal.
Anxiety can become a problem if we are unable to manage it in our day-to-day life. Maybe we do not have the resources (at any level, whether cognitive, behavioral or social) needed to manage it successfully, maybe we are being suddenly exposed to new situations, or find ourselves trying to manage too many dilemmas at once. There are many possible motives that can turn anxiety into a too frequent, intense or uncomfortable emotion. According to recent estimates, up to 30% of people living in the so-called First World will suffer at least one episode of what mental health professionals tag as "anxiety disorders" during their lives.
These disorders include phobias (and there are many), like social phobia and agoraphobia, to mention two of the most common ones. In phobias, people is anxious to face something they fear and, as is the case with all anxiety disorders, display avoidance behavior towards the feared object or situation, whether social interaction, closed cubicles, spiders or heights. Naturally, this can make life pretty difficult. Just as a reminder, it also causes a lot of suffering to the people involved.
Other disorders included under the anxiety title are the obssessive-compulsive disorder, the generalized anxiety disorder, the panic disorder, the post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety and the childhood anxiety disorder. Whenever we notice that anxiety is significantly harming our daily life, our capacity to go about our daily tasks and work, our precious time to rest and share with loved ones, our strength to face and find solutions to problems, we should seek advice.
A few sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy with a competent mental health or behavior professional, usually a Psychologist, will make wonders. That is indeed little inconvenience, compared to the consequences of living with a significant and interfering level of anxiety. This also applies whenever anxiety becomes a problem, even if our situation does not fit into any disorder category. Fortunately, cognitive & behavioral techniques are available and effective for any anxiety level, as well as easily learned.
