Anxiety & Panic - What is it?
Anxiety
Anxiety is a term which describes a normal feeling people experience when faced with threat or when stressed. When people become anxious they typically feel upset, uncomfortable and tense.
Feelings of anxiety are caused by life experiences, such as school exams, relationship breakdown or serious illness. Feeling anxious is appropriate in these situations and usually we feel anxious for only a short period of time. These feelings are considered to be a part of everyday life. The exception to this 'normal' anxiety is when these anxious feelings occur most of the time and involve continual or extreme discomfort or tension. It is in these circumstances where anxiety may become problematic and interfere with day to day functioning.
Phobias and panic
Phobias are a type of anxiety. Although most people have some irrational fears, phobias are intense fears about particular objects or situations which interfere with our daily lives. These might include fear of heights, closed spaces or needles. Someone with a specific phobia is generally fine when the feared object or situation is not nearby, but can become highly anxious and experience a panic attack when directly faced with the object or situation.
