When is time to call a professional? 

Anxiety is considered a normal reaction when aroused by a real danger and dissipates when the threat is no longer present. It becomes troublesome when:

1. The degree of anxiety is disproportionate to the risk.
2. The condition continues even after the objective danger dissipates.
3. It starts affecting your relationships with family, friends, and at work.

Do you have anxiety?

Do you experience all these three conditions?

If your anxiety is making you suffer, maybe it is time to ask for help.

For the DSM-5-TR (20220), fear is the emotional response to a real or perceived imminent threat. In contrast, anxiety is the anticipation of future threats. In psychoanalysis, fear is associated with an object. We know what we are afraid of: cat, dog, or something else. Whereas anxiety is not attached to an object. We do know what to fear or when we are going to come across such unknown danger. That explains some anxious states, like in some cases of generalized anxiety. 

Stress means suffering

Anxiety is like an alarm state in which our body prepares for a defensive maneuver. In that sense, it is associated with stress. Stress is a word that comes from engineering. It refers to the force applied to a material. That is, how much strain and pressure a material can bear before changing or breaking. In psychology, it refers to the pressure we experience from real or imagined threats we are exposed to from our environment. Then anxiety becomes that overwhelming emotion upon a distressing expected challenge that requires an adaptative effort. 

What does the diagnostic manual say?

Anxiety disorders manifest in many ways. As with any disorder, no two cases are ever the same. However, certain types of anxiety symptoms present frequently to create the following diagnostic conditions:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder – When someone worries or experiences fear without any actual trigger. It can be overwhelming, as it often goes on many hours of the day. Besides worrying thoughts, there might be physical symptoms such as a fast heartbeat, accelerated breathing, sweating, stomach butterflies, a knot in one’s chest, or just feeling muscular tension and on edge.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) – Repetitive and distressing behaviors or thoughts are the key indicators of OCD. These thoughts or behaviors can be about hygiene, security, orderliness, cleanliness, or anything.
• Panic Disorder – Panic attacks that come out of nowhere and have no real explanation or may occur in specific contexts. Symptoms involve a rapid heartbeat, dizziness, shallow fast breathing, sweaty or cold hands, and often a deep sense of dread.
• Phobias – these are generally an irrational fear of something relatively harmless.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – When an individual suffers after a traumatic event. The individual may experience unwanted flashbacks or nightmares about the event. They may avoid situations that remind them of the trauma, and be generally hyper-vigilant, always on edge.

Make your life an enjoyable ride

You can try meditation, exercising, and the many other resources you have probably read about on the internet. Find a psychotherapist with sound professional experience. Someone that has good listening skills and is non-judgmental. Find relief. Give us a call today.