You will have heard many of your friends and family talk about being nervous or anxious before a big event, such as an exam, driving test or first date. It is completely normal for a human to experience periods of anxiety before such events. Sometime during the event and by the time the event is over, the anxiety will have disappeared. However there are some people who tend to be in an almost permanent state of anxiety. These are the people like you and I who suffer with anxiety as a condition. The anxiety may be triggered by specific places or events such as school, going to a shop and meeting friends.
Anxiety can come in different severities too, from mild to severe. People who suffer with mild anxiety can still get on with their lives and tend to only experience anxiety before big events. But as we move down the scale, the worse the anxiety gets until we reach severe anxiety. Severe anxiety can result in not being able to leave the house, not being able to go on public transport and not even having the ability to talk to someone on the phone. It stops practically everything you want to do. I have experienced this severity of anxiety.
There are many different symptoms which come with anxiety including: loss of appetite, dizziness, sickness, tender stomach and lack of sleep. No person is the same. Not every symptom will be present in each person and its severity will differ from person to person. An additional symptom can be depression which is caused by the anxiety. This can also go from mild to severe.
Anxiety is based upon what is known as the 'fight or flight' system. This fight or flight system comes from when we were cavemen. This system will tell us whether to run, or fight the situation and the person will tend to have a lot of adrenaline in order to deal with what they are facing. The difference with an anxiety sufferer is that this adrenaline tends to be present in almost every situation, even if the situation presents no threat.
It is also important for an anxiety sufferer to get lots of sleep. I understand that it's very hard to sleep when you are suffering with the condition, but whilst you are sleeping you undergo REM (rapid eye movement) which is essential in order to relieve your anxiety, as it is the body's way of getting dealing with the stress from that day.
Some sufferers will have an anxiety disorder for many years, others for a few weeks or months and recovery has no time limit. Personally I believe that I am at a good stage in my recovery. It has taken me over a year to get where I am today and I hope that this post has improved your understanding of anxiety. If there is anything else I can help with or you need me to explain further, let me know. I'm here to help!
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