Anxiety

Anxiety is similar to worry, only it’s more intense and disruptive to wellbeing.  It has a fearful quality that differentiates it from normal worry.

Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time, because it’s a normal part of life.  It’s only when it becomes persistent or very disruptive that anxiety earns its place as a psychological disorder.

There are a number of types of Anxiety Disorder and related conditions, including:

• Generalised Anxiety.  This is a near-continual fearfulness or nervousness.
• Anxiety or Panic Attacks.  These are very unpleasant brief episodes of debilitating anxiety, sometimes initially mistaken for a life-threatening condition such as a heart attack.
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  This is a severe form of anxiety that can follow extreme life events.  It’s characterised by distressing mental replaying of the events and hyper-arousal of the nervous system.
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  This manifests as a tendency to (for example) repeatedly re-check that doors are locked, or continually wash one’s hands to remove imagined germs.  It has anxiety components, but may also have other causes.

Below are the articles on Shrink Wrap that mention anxiety.

(If you need psychological help for yourself or a loved one who’s experiencing anxiety, please contact me via my clinic web site.)