

This can cause you more problems than whatever triggered the reaction in the first place. Instead of alerting you to a danger and preparing you to respond to it, your fear or anxiety can kick in for any perceived threat, which could be imaginary or minor. The physical feelings of fear can be scary in themselves – especially if you are experiencing them and you don’t know why, or if they seem out of proportion to the situation. But we can’t run away from or physically attack these problems! However, we no longer face the same threats in modern-day living.ĭespite this, our minds and bodies still work in the same way as our early ancestors, and we have the same reactions to our modern worries about paying the bills, work, and social situations. Why do I feel like this when I’m not in any real danger?Įarly humans needed the fast, powerful responses that fear causes, as they were often in situations of physical danger. You may get irritable, have trouble sleeping, develop headaches, or have trouble getting on with work and planning for the future you might have problems having sex, and might lose self-confidence. With anxiety, in the longer term, you may have some of the above symptoms as well as a more nagging sense of fear. It makes your blood flow to the muscles, increases blood sugar, and gives you the mental ability to focus on the thing that your body perceives as a threat.

These things occur because your body, sensing fear, is preparing you for an emergency. You find it hard to concentrate on anything else.Your stomach churns or your bowels feel loose.Your heart beats very fast – maybe it feels irregular.These are some of the things that might happen: When you feel frightened or seriously anxious, your mind and body work very quickly. The ways that you feel when you’re frightened and anxious are very similar, as the basic emotion is the same. Anxiety is when fear is about something in the future or something that might happen, rather than what is happening right now.Īnxiety is a word often used by health professionals when they’re describing persistent fear. The word ‘anxiety’ tends to be used to describe worry, or when fear persists over time, often without any one cause. What makes you anxious?īecause anxiety is a type of fear, the things we’ve described about fear above are also true for anxiety.
Please remember that when u feel scare or frighten free#
Manage and reduce stress: How can we manage and reduce stress? - our free downloadable pocket guide offers you 101 tips. Knowing what makes you afraid and why can be the first step to overcoming anxiety. What you’re afraid of and how you act when you’re afraid of something can be different for every person. What makes you afraid?īeing afraid of some things – like fires – can keep you safe. You can learn to feel less fearful and to cope with anxiety so that it doesn’t stop you from living. It can be hard to break this cycle, but there are lots of ways to do it. Some people become overwhelmed by fear and want to avoid situations that might make them frightened or anxious. When anxiety holds you back from doing the things you want or need to do, it can also affect your health. It can prevent you from enjoying life, travelling, or even leaving the house to go to work or school. Ongoing anxiety can affect your ability to eat, sleep, or concentrate. Anxiety is a word we use for fears about the threat of something going wrong in the future, rather than right now.Īnxiety can last for a short time and then pass when whatever was causing you worry is over, but it can also last much longer and disrupt your life.
