What is anxiety? What causes anxiety? Why me? All of these questions come to mind when someone starts talking about anxiety. So here is a little background. Anxiety is the obsessive worry or fear that does not go away right away. It can get worse over a period of time. Most of the time, anxiety can interfere with daily activities such as sleeping, going to class, exercising, or even just getting out of bed in the morning. Many people are not able to classify their anxiety because there are multiple types of anxiety disorders.
If you are not sure what your anxiety disorder is, here is a little overview on a few of them. Social anxiety disorder is the excessive fear of becoming embarrassed in a certain social situation. This often leads to avoidance of this specific behavior. Panic disorder is a disorder where one experiences panic symptoms (heart pounding, sweatiness, weakness, numbness) randomly, in combination with continuous worry that the symptoms will return again. Generalized anxiety disorder is often characterized by excessive, uncontrollable worry over events or potential negative outcomes.
All of these disorders are different in their own manner. Just because someone has anxiety does not mean that it will control them. There are a multitude of ways to control anxiety, you just have to find the ones that work best for you. Exercising, going for a walk, deep breathing techniques, and meditation are all good ideas for helping to treat anxiety. Just remember, everyday worries are normal to have, but knowing when those worries become over existent is important.