What is anxiety? Symptoms, causes, and management tips

What is anxiety?

Anxiety can be defined as a feeling of dread, stress, and uneasiness. Unlike fear, anxiety is an emotion which is based on anticipation and not a present threat.

Remember the Anxiety character from the movie “Inside Out 2?” Her projector shows her different negative scenarios happening in the future, so that she can take some action in advance to be best prepared and prevent any unfortunate outcomes.

How much of anxiety is good?

In small doses or in moderation, anxiety can be useful. It can be a motivator for taking some action. For example, you are more likely to pass an exam if you feel slightly anxious because it pushes you to study for it earlier. It can show us what matters and what we care about. Moreover, anxiety keeps us away from danger. For instance, you will not go to a forest in the middle of the night if you have a tight stomach just at a thought of it. Anxiety may also tell you to look around when you are crossing the street. Thank you, anxiety!

When is anxiety problematic?

Anxiety becomes problematic when it negatively affects your ability to function in a daily life. You avoid other people and places that you used to enjoy. Maybe you have become very judgmental of yourself and too afraid to make a mistake. Communication with friends, family, and colleagues can have more arguments and tensions. Perhaps you feel that you need to constantly defend yourself even if others do not attack you. Mood becomes more like a roller coaster, and you do not need much to go from happy to sad quickly. Tiredness gets heavier and heavier taking a toll on your ability to concentrate, make decisions, and be present. There are many different signals that anxiety might have crossed a line and instead of helping you, it turns into an enemy.

Examples of common anxiety disorders

How does your body react when you're stressed?

Anxiety can manifest in the body as various unpleasant physiological symptoms. When anxious, many people report having heart palpitations further worrying that they might get a heart attack. Others complain about chest pain as if something large and heavy was laying there. It is often the case that breathing gets more irregular too, which can lead to hyperventilation and dizziness. Other symptoms include narrow vision, dry mouth, knot in a stomach or a throat, numbness in limbs, sweating, muscle pain, or restlessness. Sometimes when anxiety gets severe, sufferers can have an out-of-body experience (depersonalisation) when they may feel detached from their own bodies. All these symptoms show how truly overwhelming anxiety can feel.

What is the vicious cycle of anxiety?

Humans get anxious when their brains start to perceive some form of danger, whether imagined or real. Then, the threat signal is sent to a fear centre of the brain – the amygdala – which in turn alarms the entire system. Consequently, more stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released. Muscles tense up, mouth gets drier, heart beats faster, nostrils enlarge to take in more oxygen, you know the drill. Your body tries its best to keep you safe, whether by making you fight back, run away, or freeze up (fight-flight-freeze response). If our bodies did not react this way, we would not have survived as species.

Importantly, what perpetuates anxiety is often negative interpretation of the meaning behind the bodily symptoms: “I can’t catch a breath; I am going to die!” When you try to stop them, they usually get worse, don’t they? This is because you pay even more attention and make more negative interpretations, so your body responds like a warrior to ensure your self- preservation. See how the vicious cycle goes on and on? This becomes more of an anxiety about anxiety.

Tips for better anxiety management

The bottom line with managing anxiety is to learn how to restore the sense of safety. Below are some tips that you can practice:

Deep breathing: taking deep breaths in through a nose for 4 seconds, holding in for 4 seconds, and breathing out through a mouth for 4 seconds. Repeat a few times.
Exercising: trying gentle stretching, jogging, swimming, or dancing. It can be any form of sport that you enjoy. Physical movement helps to release the feel-good hormones in the body: oxytocin, adrenaline, cortisol, and serotonin that are believed to improve mood and general well-being.
Journalling: writing down anxious thoughts thoughts and feelings in a notebook whenever you feel that they are building up. Even five minutes per day can be helpful.
Imagining a place that feels calm: noticing its colours, smells, sounds, textures. You can visualise a sunny beach, a walk in a forest, or a cozy corner in your room. Go to that imaginary place to soothe your nerves.
Grounding exercise: notice and name 5 things that you can see, 4 things that you can hear, 3 things that you can touch, 2 things that you can smell, and 1 thing that you can taste.