anxiety

Examples of anxiety in the following topics:

• Introduction to Anxiety Disorders

  • Anxiety disorders involve extreme reactions to anxiety-inducing situations, including excessive worry, uneasiness, apprehension, or fear.
  • Anxiety disorders, however, are dysfunctional responses to anxiety-inducing situations.
  • The difference between normal anxiety and an anxiety disorder is that anxiety disorders cause such severe distress as to interfere with someone's ability to lead a normal life.
  • "Anxiety disorder" refers to any of a number of specific disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, phobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social anxiety disorder.
  • Anxiety in and of itself is not a bad thing.

• Trait Anxiety

  • Trait anxiety is a form of neurosis; it is a long-term anxiety related to the very idea of public speaking.
  • When we talk about anxiety as it relates to public speaking, we like to think of it as two different types of anxiety.
  • The other is trait anxiety, which refers to a more long-term form of anxiety.
  • Trait anxiety reflects a stable tendency to respond with state anxiety in the anticipation of threatening situations.
  • Trait anxiety refers to a long-term form of anxiety, often stemming from neuroticism.

• Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)

  • As with specific phobias, social anxiety disorder is common in the United States; a little over 12% of all Americans experience social anxiety disorder during their lifetime (Kessler et al., 2005).
  • The heart of the anxiety in social anxiety disorder is the person’s concern that they may act in a humiliating or embarrassing way, such as appearing foolish, showing symptoms of anxiety (such as blushing), or doing or saying something that might lead to rejection (such as offending others).
  • Although many people become anxious in social situations like public speaking, the fear, anxiety, and avoidance experienced in social anxiety disorder are highly distressing and lead to serious impairments in life.
  • When people with social anxiety disorder are unable to avoid situations that provoke anxiety, they typically perform safety behaviors: mental or behavioral acts that reduce anxiety in social situations by reducing the chance of negative social outcomes.
  • This anxiety—or efforts to avoid the anxiety-inducing situation—must cause considerable distress and an impaired ability to function in at least some parts of social, occupational, academic, or daily life.

• Feeling Anxiety Is Normal

  • Sometimes referred to as "glossophobia," speech anxiety is a very real fear held by millions of people around the world.
  • Anxiety is characterized by an extreme shift in mood and behavior including feelings of dread, worry, doubt, or fear.
  • Both anxiety and fear can trigger the same response in the human brain and body.
  • Fear, however, is a response to an immediate, external threat; anxiety can occur without any kind of immediate threat.
  • Anxiety looms rather than pounces.

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder

  • Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by chronic anxiety that is excessive, uncontrollable, and often irrational.
  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by chronic anxiety that is excessive, uncontrollable, often irrational, and disproportionate to the actual object of concern.
  • Long-term use of benzodiazepines can worsen underlying anxiety, with evidence that reduction in benzodiazepine use can in turn lead to a lessening of anxiety symptoms.
  • Similarly, long-term alcohol use is associated with the development of anxiety disorders, with evidence that prolonged abstinence can in turn result in the remission of anxiety symptoms.
  • Summarize the diagnostic criteria, etiology, and treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

• Situational Anxiety

  • Also known as stage fright, situational anxiety is the short-term form of anxiety surrounding public speaking.
  • Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially (for example, when performing before a camera).
  • Many people with no other problems can experience stage fright (also called performance anxiety), but some people with chronic stage fright also have social anxiety or social phobias which are chronic feelings of high anxiety in any social situation.
  • When someone starts to feel the sensation of being scared or nervous they start to experience anxiety.
  • Situational anxiety, often referred to as stage fright with regard topublic speaking, is a temporary, short-term form of anxiety triggered bycertain situations or experiences.

• Tools for Managing Situational Anxiety

  • Situational anxiety can be managed with deep breathing and by getting your blood flowing before you set foot on stage.
  • You will want to analyze and make note of things that might be distracting or awkward, often the result of situational anxiety.
  • Use relaxation and warm-up techniques to mitigate the effects of anxiety

• Practicing through Anxiety

  • One way of reducing anxiety is by rehearsing.
  • Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia that may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially (for example, when performing before a camera).
  • Such anxiety may precede or accompany participation in any activity involving public self-presentation.
  • One possible solution to performance anxiety is to reduce the significance of the other people.
  • Another possible solution to performance anxiety is to eliminate the imagination of negative possibilities.

• Tools for Managing Trait Anxiety

  • Trait anxiety can be managed well in advance through positive imagery and guided meditation.
  • One of the biggest challenges for those dealing with trait anxiety is that their fear of public speaking may be a lifelong one.
  • In order to confront and combat this long-term anxiety, you may find it necessary to engage in coping techniques well before you are scheduled to speak in front of a group.
  • One of the keys to managing long-term anxieties about public speaking is to envision success.
  • So rather than get caught up in the anxiety, channel that nervous energy into giving the most powerful delivery of your speech that you can.

• Specific Phobia

  • Specific phobias involve excessive, distressing, and persistent fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation.
  • Even though people realize their level of fear and anxiety in relation to the phobic stimulus is irrational, some people with a specific phobia may go to great lengths to avoid the phobic stimulus (the object or situation that triggers the fear and anxiety).
  • Typically, the fear and anxiety a phobic stimulus elicits is disruptive to the person’s life.
  • At a low level, fear and anxiety are not bad things.
  • In fact, the hormonal response to anxiety has evolved as a benefit, since it helps humans react to dangers.