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Anxiety disorder is the most common mental illness in the world, according to The Journal of American Medical Assosiation! In fact, Canadian researchers believe that one in six people has suffered from the problem at least once in their life.
The nature of fear.
It is normal to be afraid. Fear is inherent to all living things: even the shoe insect, having once suffered a shock from an electric shocker, will flee from it as far away as possible. More evolved forms have more complex reflexes.
Humans have always feared hunger, cold and predators, and fear triggers the instinct of self-preservation and forces action. We can still observe this mechanism today.
Psychiatrist Grigory Usov explains: "A cautious, anxious person has a better chance of surviving because he avoids danger. Whereas people with low levels of anxiety tend to engage in extreme sports - understandably, they are more likely to die prematurely from an accident." But most people live their lives nourished, comfortable and safe - so what's to be afraid of? Scott Stossel, author of The Age of Anxiety, calls anxiety a price to pay for intelligence: we have created an ideal life, but our instincts remain. "Fear is regulated by the ancient (subcortical) parts of the brain," explains Grigory Usov. - Despite changes in living conditions, the mechanisms laid down by nature have not gone anywhere and can be activated for cause and without cause.
Find 7 differences.
And so we begin to worry about everything: health, life of loved ones, disapproving glances of the boss, the risk of failing the project, to remain in the cottage alone and without light. You will say: but it is normal, what if burglars really come to the house? And there is a fine line here.
Fear is always substantive and productive. It forces us to act. Whereas anxiety is unreasonable, vague, and eats away at our energy and mental strength.
For example, it is normal to feel cold because of oncoming traffic, but not to be afraid of driving long distances. When a mother is frightened because her baby has a fever, it's a natural fear. But if she constantly wraps her baby in seven scarves just to avoid catching a cold, it's anxiety.
Recognize it easy: you do not feel good at heart, and you do not really understand why. Or you do, but you can't do anything about it, so you turn bad thoughts into mental gum.
Questions of physiology.
"Don't panic!", "Stop being hysterical", "Take some motherwort" - most often we hear from others in response to our worries. But willpower alone cannot defeat anxiety - it is too complex. A special part of the brain - the amygdala bodies - is responsible for the basic level of anxiety: if they are initially more active, a person is likely to suffer from pathological anxiety in life. "At the biochemical level, it is associated with a deficiency of two inhibitory neurotransmitters: gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and serotonin", adds psychiatrist Grigory Usov.
Contemporary realities are also affecting us. 20-30 years ago, everyone was socially equal, worked all their lives at the same bench, received a flat from the state and was not plagued by career issues or the choice of a nanny for the child. Today, the general neuroticisation of society, the abundance of information and the rush to find a babysitter give rise to a lot of fears. To miss out, to forget, to miss the deadline, to be inadequate... And there is another difference between anxiety: it is always directed towards the future, uncertain and scary, like a dark corridor.
You can't shake off your worries - they will catch up with you anyway: in the form of insomnia or, worse, a panic attack. This is the name given to the sudden onset of very intense fear accompanied by massive bodily symptoms: heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and a premonition of death. This is a very traumatic experience for the person, and is definitely a reason to see a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.
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