First off, prior to we start to explain what the signs of anxiety are, let’s very first develop what anxiety is and its function. Anxiety is a survival system.
It exists to get rid of any viewed threat from our environment by either combating it or fleing from it.
A few thousand years ago, when man was a hunter-gatherer searching for food in the great outdoors, stress and anxiety played an extremely essential role in avoiding our forefather from becoming some animal’s next meal.
If and when faced by some ferocious beast, stress and anxiety would enter play and give our excellent, fantastic, great etc. grandparent the wherewithal to either stand and combat the danger or to flee to some safe house.
In order for this fight or flight mechanism to be effective, certain physiological and psychological modifications are temporarily made. These are as follows:
1. Body hair stands on end to offer an overall look of being larger.
2. Sweating starts to happen in the hands and feet to enable a much better grip whilst running and/or climbing up.
3. Adrenalin is launched into the bloodstream to provide a necessary boost of energy.
4. The body’s typical functions of digestion and cell repair work are postponed and the resources are re-directed to the muscles to enhance strength.
5. Under severe conditions, the body will excrete in order to minimize weight.
6. Normal breathing is changed by much shallower breathing and the heart rate increases.
7. Both sight and hearing are heightened.
8. Emotionally, there will be a feeling of pain and agitation. This will increase as essential in order to initialise some sort of action.
Looking at the above example of our stone-age hunter, we can clearly see that stress and anxiety was undoubtedly a very needed part of their daily life and no doubt it was crucial in conserving rather a couple of lives at that stage in our development.
How on earth can such a mechanism be helpful to us in our existing society? In particular scenarios, such as when the job that you’re working on is rapidly running out of time, anxiety will help you to focus better by increasing your sight and hearing understandings and the adrenalin will offer you more energy to complete the task.
I seriously doubt, though, that such a low level of anxiety would cause involuntary excretion.
There are other circumstances where anxiety raises its head and it isn’t appropriate. Imagine that you’re late for work and that you’re stuck in traffic.
No matter how anxious you feel the traffic won’t flow any quicker and when it comes to fleing from or fighting the viewed threat that would be impossible.
It’s circumstances comparable to the latter that can cause anxiety conditions in specific people.
I understand, I utilized to suffer from a stress and anxiety disorder together with panic disorder and agoraphobia for several years.
Until, after many years of browsing, I discovered the remedy.