The fact that the term anxiety is used so often has led to it becoming a generic term of sorts. People casually refer to a variety of emotional states...
The fact that the term anxiety is used so often has led to it becoming a generic term of sorts. People casually refer to a variety of emotional states as anxiety, or being anxious: fear, nervousness, upset, etc. The reality is that anxiety is a specific psychological condition, and losing track of this by broadly defining anxiety as common emotional states can possibly diminish a response to genuine anxiety, potentially a very serious disorder.
Being anxious is not in itself a bad thing. In fact, all people at some point or other feel anxiety, and the anxiety a person feels can have beneficial effects. Anxiety improves one's mental and physical readiness as a means of coping with some form of problem. In the most dramatic possible scenario, enhanced mental and physical focus from anxiety would enable someone to try and escape physical danger. Anxiety then can be an asset.
Where anxiety becomes problematic is when it becomes chronic, or the anxious response is an overreaction to the circumstances. The chronically anxious condition can be characterized as a person being almost incessantly on edge, expecting the worst and constantly prepared for flight. The damage this sort of chronic state can cause can be quite extreme. The person who is chronically anxious is placing a heavy physical strain on themselves, essentially putting their bodies on constant high alert for a flight response. When the body is put under these sorts of physical demands, the body fatigues and wears out. Blood pressure also rises when one is feeling anxious, so a chronic anxious state can lead to development of medical problems related to high blood pressure: stroke, coronary problems, compromised kidney function, and other physical problems besides.
Having an overreactive anxious response can also be damaging. The person who feels anxiety when there's no real threat at hand is overreacting to life's circumstances. People who tend to react in this way are prone to withdrawing as a way of averting their upset, or self-medicating themselves through alcohol and drugs, or both. Withdrawal often, if not always, leads to mood problems such as depression, and even anger and hostility. The use of alcohol and drugs in a coping pattern is, obviously, an open door to addiction.
Chronic anxiety is a serious state, and can lead to further emotional and physical disorder. Any chronic dysfunction is unlikely to just go away on its own: something being chronic in nature indicates fixed patterns have set in. So being chronically anxious is always a call for treatment intervention. The positive news is that the anxious condition typically responds well to treatment, and the person who gets effective treatment for an anxiety problem can improve considerably.
