What is Anxiety

Hello, my name is Ebony Kimario, a licensed master social worker with the Oasis Treatment Center. This video covers what anxiety is.

Anxiety is a normal part of life and is simply the body’s response to stressors. It can include feelings of worry, nervousness, or fear, and can range from slight discomfort to debilitating and overwhelming experiences. The difference between normal day-to-day anxiety and an anxiety disorder or diagnosis is that the latter doesn’t go away. If you’re feeling anxious about a particular subject, that’s different from feeling anxiety overall or about several different things at the same time. Anxiety tends to increase, and for it to be a full diagnosis, it must hinder life—such as making it difficult to work your job or do the things you need to do because you’re caught up in your thoughts.

Anxiety can feel like being trapped on a hamster wheel, with thoughts cycling and stuck in one area no matter how much you try to focus on something else. It’s different from regular worry because anxiety persists even if you’ve made a plan or tried to distract yourself, whereas worry usually lessens when you do something else. Depending on the symptoms, there are many different disorders related to anxiety, including phobias like fear of flying, heights, or spiders, social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Panic attacks can feel like a heart attack or like you can’t catch your breath, and they can be debilitating, stopping you in your tracks because your body is physically overwhelmed.

Risk factors for anxiety include childhood shyness or behavioral inhibition, family history of anxiety, exposure to stress (such as exams, financial crises, or the death of a loved one), and other health conditions like thyroid disorders or substance addiction. Even something as simple as missing your daily cup of coffee can produce feelings of anxiety. Anxiety is treatable, and depending on the type, it can be a problem of the past or something a person may always deal with. The three main paths for treatment are therapy (speaking with a professional), medication (prescribed by a medical professional), and lifestyle changes (such as changes to diet, exercise, meditation, journaling, or using an organizer to manage stressors). These can be done independently or combined to create an individualized treatment plan.

It’s important to note that anxiety looks different in each person, and one person’s symptoms or treatment may not apply to another. Treatment should be individualized so that all of a person’s strengths and resources can be utilized in their treatment planning.

Thanks for watching.