How to Understanding and Cope with Anxiety
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Anxiety is the most common of all psychiatric disorders in the U.S. today. Anxiety affects over 40 million adults in the United States each year. Understanding what causes anxiety is the first requirement to overcoming and coping with it. In some cases, medication and or psychological therapy may be necessary. However, it is my opinion that, in many cases, there is self-help that will work. In this article, you will learn:
- What anxiety is
- What causes anxiety
- How to avoid irrational anxiety
- How to best cope with anxiety in order to keep your life on track
The purpose of this article is to deal with normal anxiety, not anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders take on many different forms, which are far more complex than normal anxiety. Everyone experiences anxiety sometimes and worries but if you experience extreme worry, are fearful most of the time, and feel panicky, you could have an anxiety disorder, which may require professional help. However, for most of us it is just a matter of how to understanding and cope with anxiety, the normal everyday kind.
What is anxiety?
A simple definition of anxiety is, “Anxiety is a signal of an impending danger.” Psychologically anxiety is an emotional drive that is only one of many drives of the human soul. No one ever gets rid of anxiety completely, nor would you want to. Its purpose is self-preservation. Without it, the mind would not know how to respond to certain challenges. In essence, it prepares the body for fight or flight. The soul is made up of mind will and emotions; anxiety is an emotional drive that sends the signal of imminent danger to the mind; the mind must then evaluate it and determine what action to take and then the will takes action. If a grizzly bear charges a person in an open-air vehicle, the emotion of anxiety, and the mind, and will works together in a split second…push the pedal to the metal now and escape.
In most experiences of anxiety, it works much slower. There is a challenge; there is anxiety; the mind carefully evaluates it, and the will takes action. That is the normal procedure. That is an example of good anxiety that prepares one to take the appropriate action best suited for each circumstance. The challenge met; there is a conclusion, and it is on to the next challenge. When anxiety crosses over the line, it then can become a detriment instead of an aid. This is “Test Anxiety” which makes a person to freeze and be unable to carry through with the proper action.
What causes anxiety?
Any challenge we face in life can cause anxiety. If you work as a sales clerk and have a quota of sales to make each month that can create anxiety. To exacerbate it, the thoughts of what if I do not meet my quota, what if I lose my job, how will I pay the bills, or will I lose what I have worked to gain can cause anxiety. That is normal anxiety. In this case, it is good anxiety that motivates one to work hard and carry through with the requirements of the job. The requirements are set low enough ordinarily, for you to meet them with a normal amount of effort. This is anxiety that is necessary to insure your survival. Abnormal anxiety far exceeds the challenge at hand, blowing it out of proportion and creating unnecessary stress and worry.
If a person is already unemployed, normal anxiety is also in play which is intended to motivate the unemployed person to send out those resumes, and to make contacts, and to do all they can to secure employment for fear of not being able to pay the bills, and buy food, and have shelter. In this case, anxiety, the signal of imminent danger, motivates one to take the appropriate action. These are legitimate concerns and anxiety helps to motivate and remind, in order to secure employment. In many situations anxiety helps to resolve the issues, and secure safety and survival.
Irrational Anxiety:
Irrational anxiety is a fear with no rationality. I knew a person who had a fear of wearing seat belts because he knew someone killed in a car crash because he had his seat belt fastened. This is irrational thinking which does not take into consideration the thousands killed because they were not wearing seat belts.
Some have a fear of flying and prefer driving instead. Data proves that flying is much safer than driving. This kind of anxiety, like so many, has no basis of reality and interferes with the regular activities of life.
The best way to avoid irrational anxiety is to apply logic. Access the real dangers rationally and determine if they are great enough for serious concern. There are degrees of dangers in most everything we do. For example, many die worldwide from falls while taking a shower, but the dangers are not prevalent enough to be a matter of great concern, and certainly not enough to quit taking showers.
Coping with anxiety:
There is an excellent tip based on the AAA prayer: “Change What You Can and Accept the Rest.”
There is no shortage of anxiety nowadays. There is plenty to go around and then some. The source of many of our anxieties is beyond our control. It is important to determine what we have the power to change and what we cannot and how to know the difference, and then learn to live with those things beyond our control.
Learn to accept a certain amount of anxiety as good and normal. The extra energy and motivation created by anxiety helps to get things done. I have been a public speaker for many years and have long ago learned that some anxiety concerning a speaking engagement keeps me on my toes and enables me to perform better.
In addition, learning how rationally to respond to that warning from our emotions of an impending danger is ever so important. It is so easy to blow a thing way out of proportion. Consider the amount of danger imposed and then deal with it appropriately.
Some people consistently over respond to most every circumstance as if it is the end of the world, when actually all it takes is just a little action to resolve it calmly and move on. When anxiety becomes overwhelming, it reduces our ability to make rational decisions and exacerbates the problem.
Conclusion:
Life is complex, making solutions difficult for many of the challenges we face. However, allowing anxiety to rule our lives will only make things worse than they are. If you will stop to think about it, it is the challenges that we face and our ability to resolve them that gives excitement to life. We have only one trip through this life, and we will never pass this way again, so why not make the best of it and be thankful for life. There are so many good things make life worthwhile.
Finally, if you are consistently overwhelmed with anxiety, do not try to suffer through it alone. Get some help. There are solutions even for the most complex anxiety disorders.
About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is a motivational speaker and author who has been involved in teaching Christian Personal Development for more than 30 years. There are hundreds of articles to help you on this website (Website Contents) in your personal growth.
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