Anxiety is fear of something real or imagined and is part of our fight or flight response, that is whether we stand and fight or we run because the we feel the danger / threat is too much of a risk. This is an innate trait left over from prehistoric times when we hunted wild animals and we had to make snap decisions whether to stay and fight for food for our family or to run, because we could end up being the food for the animal.
But those of us who are not afraid for our lives project this feeling about other perceived threats / fears, ie: phobias, after a road traffic accident we may fear driving in a car again both as a passenger and as a driver, or indeed any accident situation – train, car, plane, mountain, or sea etc., we may be afraid of being in any of these locations again for ever, or at least for some time. As you will now relate to them as being unsafe.
Also our minds create ‘ what if threats ‘ say, you feel hot and stressed shopping in the supermarket one day, all you want to do is get your shopping done and get out of there. But it is very busy and it takes longer than usual or it seems to take longer, you get more and more tense, you begin to take short breaths, your heart palpitates, your head becomes light and you feel like you are going to faint. You can’t get out of there fast enough. What started out as being stressed and in a hurry turned into a panic attack. Following that episode you may think ‘ what if I fainted in there, I’d fall on the floor all the people would crowd round me and I’d feel such a fool ‘etc. You have created a huge picture in your mind of the worst scenario. By doing this you are giving the fear your full attention and so you give it energy, by doing so you are more likely to make it happen again, and again. So turn your thoughts to positive outcomes instead.
TICK ANY OF THE ABOVE SYMPTOMS YOU SUFFER FROM FREQUENTLY TO FIND OUT HOW ANXIETY HAS TAKEN OVER AND CLOSED DOWN YOUR LIFE.