Worry is a natural emotion that everyone experiences at different moments in their lives. Feeling uneasy before a date with a potential partner? Butterflies fluttering in your stomach before delivering a speech? Not sure about whether you will be able to pay the bills next month? That’s it, there you have it! The emotion that you feel during these disconcerting moments is called worry. Scientifically and in simple terms, worry refers to the negative thoughts, feelings, images and ideas that crowd and ruffle your mind in response to real or imagined future problems.
The word anxiety is often used interchangeably with worry. You may have heard people say “I’m feeling anxious about my job interview tomorrow or the playoffs next weekend.” While there is a chance that they actually do feel anxious, people sometimes confuse anxiety is worry. However, both have different definitions, symptoms, and effects. While worry is a milder state of mind and focuses more on the thoughts in our heads, anxiety is more intense and visceral and we feel its effects all over our bodies.
According to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), more than 40 million people in the US over the age of 18 suffer from some anxiety-related disorder. To understand why anxiety can be a stronger and a more fearsome force for some people, let’s talk about what happens in the brain we are anxious.
Research reveals that some parts of the brain play a key role in the creating anxiety. The amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the brain that helps in processing and interpreting stimuli, triggers a fear or an anxiety response when a threat is nearby. As a result, the body’s flight or fight response is triggered and the stress hormones norepinephrine and cortisol are released to boost speed, perception, and reflexes. Heart rate increases and the body turns to survival mode. Ideally, it returns to normal once the threat passes, however, constant anxiety keeps us on edge all the time. Our brain becomes wired to watch out for potential threats. Anything that can cause an undesirable emotion can trigger anxiety—and once you develop thinking patterns that perceive every event in your life as a threat, it can become a never-ending cycle.
In some situations, it’s normal and in fact healthy to feel anxious. For instance, an upcoming exam or a fight with a friend. However, when it becomes overwhelming, it may be an anxiety disorder. There are several types of anxiety disorders. People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) experience excessive worry most days over a period of 6 months about their health, work, social life etc. People with Panic Disorder have frequent and unexpected panic attacks which are sudden periods of intense fear that reach their peak within a few minutes. There are also Phobia Related Disorders which can be caused by powerful fears of various things people may be scared of like flying, heights etc.
Anxiety can either occur without any particular cause or be triggered. As the name suggests, triggered anxiety can be caused by various factors such as financial concerns, medications, health issues, conflict, stress personal triggers etc. On the other hand, Generalized Anxiety Disorder refers to excessive worry and anxiety about a number of activities (e.g. work, academics) which a person finds hard to control.