Anxiety has always been part of the human condition. Although the things we worry about may change over time and as our life styles alter, anxiety continues.  We may worry about our health, our children, redundancy, difficulties in relationships, or the environment or state of the world.... Anxiety is normal and affects almost everyone.  It can be triggered by a number of things such as our daily routines or by unexpected events. The triggers may vary from one person to the next.

What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety describes the emotion we feel when we find ourselves in a difficult situation.  It is related to feelings of fear and similar emotions.  We can feel threatened and often the real source of threat  may not always be obvious to us.  When the cause of the worry is apparent, we feel fear.  Most adults and children have minor fears: children may be afraid of animals or strangers and adults may be frightened of lifts, spiders, examinations or heights. The experience of fear causes bodily changes and can cause us to change our behavior. The bodily change may be experienced as; a pounding heart, a racing pulse and sweaty skin. Behavior changes include a tendency to become aggressive, to freeze or to run away.

Symptoms Of Anxiety
Strong feelings of anxiety may cause:

Unpleasant feelings of terror
Sweating
Hair standing on end
Pounding heart
Rise in blood pressure
Muscle tension
Dry mouth
Constriction of the chest and rapid or difficult breathing
Nausea
Urgency to urinate or defecate
Irritability
Tingling hands or feet
A desire to run, hide, cry
Weak limbs and sensations of falling or faintness

In a sudden crisis, we may feel the anxiety only after the danger has passed, but when we experience feelings of anxiety over long periods of time we can become tired, depressed, slowed down, restless, suffer from insomnia, have bad dreams, lose or increase our appetite, and begin to avoid frightening situations.
In states of anxiety, it is possible to experience episodes of panic which seem to come out of the blue, last for a time and then disappear. It is easy to see how we mistakenly associate these panics to whatever we may be doing at the time they occur and avoid those situations in the belief that it helps the anxiety.

Phobic Anxiety
A phobia is a special kind of fear of things such as spiders, snakes, of illness or of leaving a place of safety, such as home.  Although fears, anxieties, panics and phobias have many common symptoms they usually describe different things; anxiety is the emotion associated with a feeling of impending danger; fear is a very similar feeling arising as a normal response to a realistic danger or threat; and panic describes a sudden surge of acute terror.  Phobic anxiety occurs only in contact with a particular situation or object.

Anxiety And Body Changes
Bodily changes associated with response to anxiety and fear are activated by a nerve centre in the brain called the hypothalamus. A complex chain of processes alters the functioning of almost every part of the body in preparation for a ' fight or flight' response to an anxiety provoking situation or feared object.
The heart steps up its activity, providing more blood for the brain and muscles, breathing is deeper and faster, providing more oxygen, saliva dries up increasing the size of the air passages to the lungs, and increased perspiration cools the body.  Many muscles may tighten and the digestion of food is suspended to conserve energy. The body is mobilized to attack or to escape to safety.

How Are Anxiety Related Problems Helped?
Anxiety is common and normal and although we all get tense and frightened at times, we usually can deal with our own troubles successfully, perhaps with the help from our families and friends. However, when commonsense ways of dealing with worries do not work, and daily life begins to get restricted by fear and plagued by anxiety and self doubt, it can be useful to seek help from a health professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist, counselling- psychologist or G.P. who may:

Discuss your troubles with you, help put them in a new light and work on possible solutions.
Help to identify the circumstances which cause severe anxiety reactions and help consider ways of eliminating or minimizing their impact.
Demonstrate relaxation skills and or recommend physcal exercise to help alleviate physical symptoms of anxiety such as muscle tension.
Develop effective habits for responding to anxiety provoking situations.
Teach special techniques to help with specific problems such as sleeplessness, panic, or phobias.
G.P. may suggest medication to help temporarily with severe symptoms.

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Further Reading:
Fletcher,E. and Langley,M. (2009) Free Yourself From Anxiety: A self help guide to overcoming anxiety disorders.Oxford. How To Books Ltd.
Jeffers, S. (2007) Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. London. Vermilion an imprint of Ebury Press.
Bourne, E.J. (2005) The Anxiety And Phobia Workbook. CA. New Harbinger Publications. Inc.