Anxiety is a natural response to new and unusual experiences. These experiences can be anything from the birth of a child to riding a rollercoaster to fighting in combat. Anxiety
can be best described as a feeling of concern, fear, dread, or worry about an upcoming experience. Some physical Symptoms of anxiety are: racing or faster heart beat; tightness in stomach or chest; insomnia, difficulty falling and or staying asleep.
We began feeling and controlling anxiety as infants learning to take our first steps as we were encouraged by our parents. Very often anxiety is caused by the anticipation of some upcoming event or experience; driving in traffic to work, or a combat mission. However, anxiety can be about past experiences as well as in PTSD. Sometimes it is caused by memories of past events and experiences.
As with infants, not all anxiety is bad and to be avoided. It helps us remain aware of our surroundings and may save us in the long run. For instance in combat situations it provides service members with the tools to assess their surroundings, and proceed cautiously, while remaining alert to the success of the mission at hand.
As I have said anxiety itself is not a problem, but excessive anxiety can be debilitating. A little anxiety can help motivate us and focus our attention on completing the task(s) in front of us. Too much anxiety prevents us from taking any action at all.
Whether it’s a new job or you are just embarking on your first semester away from home, you may find your self doubting your decision and worrying and eventually feeling anxious about it. Maintaining a flexible attitude is a huge help in starting any new project or career path. You will eventually gain new friends, and some momentum in your new career path, and feel more secure in your decision.
Setting goals and mobilizing resources to control anxiety is key to your beginning to feeling back in control of your life again. Even if the goals seem ridiculously small at first, it is necessary to set them in order to begin to demonstrate to yourself that you can regain mastery over your anxiety and it’s causality. As needed you may also want to incorporate the assistance of psychologists, psychotherapists or other mental health providers to assist you along the way with various techniques to address your anxiety and any underlying issues you may have.
As always, I hope you found this helpful and informative.
Dr Kevin O'Brien
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