Anxiety Disorders - Facts & Information

Anxiety & Our Natural Response to Danger

Relation between Anxiety & ‘Fight or Flight’ Response

Anxiety is our natural “Fight or Flight” response to deal with dangerous situations effectively. It’s our body’s way of warning us of a possible danger ahead. All organisms have been given a fight or flight response mechanism that protects and preserves them. It is an adaptive function placed in us for the sole purpose of self-preservation.

The purpose of this response is to prepare the individual for vigorous muscular activity in response to a perceived threat. By itself, this response is normal, healthy, and adaptive. It is when the "Fight or Flight" response occurs too frequently or is greatly prolonged that we begin to experience the negative effects of stress.

How to identify an Anxiety or a Panic Disorder? Learn about the typical Anxiety Disorder Symptoms

The human nervous system has a component that works automatically (the Autonomic Nervous System). The Autonomic Nervous System has two divisions:

• Sympathetic
• Parasympathetic

When the Sympathetic division is active we experience the Fight/Flight response. Interestingly, when the Parasympathetic division is active we experience something quite opposite from "Fight or Flight".

Parasympathetic activity results in a response of rest & relaxation. These two systems work to help us maintain our physical balance. Too much "Fight or Flight" activity without corresponding rest and relaxation is what distress is all about.

For people who are prone to Anxiety Disorder, their Parasympathetic Nervous System, or their ability to restore their body back to normal after experiencing a stressor, does not seem to function properly. Hence, people who suffer from Anxiety and Panic Attacks have a faulty Parasympathetic Nervous System, which for some unknown reason mal-functions in its ability to restore the body back to a normal state.

The sufferer then remains keyed up simply because there are high levels of free-floating adrenaline in the body that have not burned off yet. For some it lasts for hours, for others it can last for days.

So, what causes Anxiety Disorders? Learn about the various Causes of Anxiety Attacks.

‘Fight or flight’ Response and Modern Day Anxiety

Originally named for its ability to enable us to physically fight or run away when faced with danger, it’s now activated in situations where neither response is appropriate.

Recent research points out that we experience the Fight or Flight response when encountering something unexpected; like in traffic or during a stressful day at work. The situation does not have to be dramatic: People experience this response when frustrated or interrupted, or when they experience a situation that is new or in some way challenging

Unfortunately, this mobilization of the body for survival also has negative consequences. In this state, we are excitable, anxious, jumpy and irritable. This reduces our ability to work effectively with other people. With trembling and a pounding heart, we can find it difficult to execute precise, controlled skills. And the intensity of our focus on survival interferes with our ability to make fine judgments based on drawing information from many sources. We find ourselves more accident-prone and less able to make good decisions.

You might recognize the description of someone in Fight or Flight mode if you suffer from Panic Attacks. People having Anxiety / Panic Attacks experience the same physical symptoms as a person in immediate physical danger. Panic Attacks are a type of Fight or Flight response.

Once this response "kicks in," we tend to perceive anything and everything around us as a potential threat to our safety. When we are in Fight or Flight mode, our brain chemistry is altered. The part of the brain, which controls our rational thoughts, is bypassed and we move right into "attack" or "run" mode.

Similarly, when the perceived threat is gone, systems are designed to return to normal function via the relaxation response, but in our times of chronic stress, this often doesn’t happen, thereby causing damage to the body. Actually, most modern day stress situations call for a calm, rational, controlled and socially sensitive approach.

Therefore, the primary objective of most treatments is to break the Anxiety loop into which we are automatically drawn; owing to our genetic predisposition, as soon as the Fight or Flight response is activated. Success of any treatment; drug, therapy or techniques, depends largely on its ability to break this loop and activate the rational side of our brain.

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When Normal Anxiety Becomes A Disorder

Normal Anxiety is our ally that has a positive effect on us. It is helpful because it can help prepare the body for action, and it can improve performance in a range of situations for instance, it helps us to perform better in an interview or an exam. But, Normal Anxiety takes the form of a Disorder when the feelings of uneasiness, anxiety and fear consume you totally and affecting your day-to-day life.

People may suffer from more than one type of Anxiety Disorder at a particular time. Find out the varied Types of Anxiety Disorders.

Anxiety Disorders involve excessive levels of negative emotions, such as fear, worry, nervousness, and tension, and the anxious feelings occur involuntarily despite your best attempts to avoid them or stave them off.

From chronic worrying, called Generalized Anxiety Disorder by experts, to Panic Attacks, most seem to have the same root cause: unrealistic, overwhelming fears that can not only paralyze the mind but also cause serious physical problems. Distinguishing among different Anxiety Disorders is important, since accurate diagnosis is more likely to result in effective treatment and a better prognosis.

Facts & Figures

• Anxiety Ddisorders are indiscriminate; they can be experienced by anyone of any age or sex.

• They affect approx. 1 in 4 people worldwide at some point in their lives.

• Anxiety affects twice as many women as men.

• Approximately 40 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 18.1 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have an Anxiety Disorder.

• Anxiety Disorders frequently co-occur with depressive disorders or substance abuse.

• Most people with one Anxiety Disorder also have another Anxiety Disorder. Nearly three-quarters of those with an anxiety disorder will have their first episode by age 21.5

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