Give it to me plain and simple…

Anxiety is a feeling that creates both an emotional reaction and a physical reaction. Perhaps you have felt anxiety when you were about to take a test, try out for a sport or go out on a first date. Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling of fear or apprehension over a perceived (meaning what you think you see) or actual threat to the self. It can also make your body feel agitated and make you sweat, shake, or give you a headache or stomachache.

Anxiety is considered to be either normal or pathological (caused by or involving a mentally disturbed condition – or, more simply, unhealthy and could require treatment). Above, Skye shows thoughts of a pathological condition known as an Anxiety Disorder.

Normal anxiety is a typical response to a perceived threat, and may include any of the feelings mentioned above. Anything new can make you feel anxious – that’s normal.

Whereas a pathological response to anxiety is an inappropriate response to a situation and often includes feelings such as extreme fear or dread.

An Adorable Example…

Let’s say your parents brought home a new kitten. This is a new situation, not necessarily a threatening one, but an adjustment that may make you feel a little anxiety (now you have to feed and care for a new animal). If you ran to your room in a panic and you screamed and swore never to come out again because the idea of having a new pet terrifies you, then one would say you are over-reacting to the situation.

Two indicators to the pathological response are the degree of the intense reaction and the length of time it persists.

For example, continuing to throw a tantrum for several weeks over the kitten’s arrival is a long time to be upset over the new pet. The reaction is considered pathological because it lasted for so long and it was certainly above and beyond a typical reaction to a cute kitty.