Anxiety (also called angst or worry) is a nervous or afraid feeling which almost people used to experience (Grouch n.d.). Anxiety also is considered as uncomfortable sensation happening because of stress’s long period (Smeltzer and Bare 2000). According to a study performed in Britain, over 800,000 Britons have to “live in fear” and suffer from anxiety now in comparison with that of in 1993 and make the total of suffer numbers increase to over 7,000,000 (Gammell and Devlin 2009). The economic burden of anxiety disorder, 1999 also shows that about $42 million is spent on anxiety annually. In fact, anxiety occurs as a “normal part” of life affecting on almost aspects of our life such as daily activities, relationships and entertainment and it may cause to healthy issues (Mayo Clinic 2012). Besides, anxiety affects on not only mind but also the body and all of us want to release and escape from it. But in some case, a certain amount of anxiety is useful, even indispensable (Eisold 2011). Apparently, anxiety is becoming one of the most common mental illnesses influencing on many different generations around the world with both good and bad points. Therefore, this paper mentions three main parts of what causes anxiety, the influences of anxiety and some useful treatments to overcome anxiety in today’s society.
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Discussion of findings
2.1. Causes of anxiety
It seems that “what causes anxiety?” is a difficult question to answer because there are multiple factors contributing to anxiety. Through lots of studies of experts, it is agreed that anxiety is formed and developed due to the combination of internal and external factors which play a vital function in making up the spread of this problem (’causes of anxiety’ n.d.).
Internal factors
According to Diane Peters, one of the obvious factors making people feel anxious is personality. Personality is thought as a characteristic including sensation, attitude as well as belief and psychology. Besides, he also confirms that the combination and interaction of various components such as rigid thoughts, perfectionism or high creative and imagined abilities leading to “high anxiety personality types”. To be specific, people containing these qualities may get higher risk in the development of anxiety (Peters n.d.). In some cases, when people are aware that anxiety feelings can generate successful results or help people get more experience, anxiety is considered as a personality style (Meek 2009). Therefore, it is believed that personality plays an important part in the development of anxiety.
In addition, it is admitted that genetics also lead to anxiety. Normally, the genetic components of anxiety or genetic heritability account for approximately 30% to 40% of the total causes of anxiety (Cuncic 2012). A typical for this issue revealed by Ilyne Sandas and Christine Siegel is that if genetics of anxiety exist in parents or siblings of family, the percentage of anxious risk child may get is 4 to 6 times as high as that of another child. Another incredible figure, in 19 billion people are coping with anxiety, about 20% to 28% of those have close relative who also have to suffer anxiety (Sandas and Siegel n.d.). Through many options and studies of experts, it is confirmed that anxiety is inherited from generation to generation. If people have a relative who has anxious feelings, they are more likely to develop the same one.
External factors
There are many components in our daily life contributing to anxiety such as stress at work, financial problems, worried from a serious disease or drug abuse (Doleh 2009). He also argues that if people struggle this status for a long time to until when stress reaches a peak, it can turn into anxiety (Doleh 2009). According to Sandas and Siegel opinion, that when one of events in people’s life including situations, ambitions or demands are disrupted creates an internal change and makes anxiety (Sandas and Siegel n.d.).
To sum up, in today’s modern society, people are easy to suffer anxiety which lurks in every aspects of our environment.
The influences of anxiety
It is said that there are two sides of the same coin. Similarly, anxiety also affects on people in different way: positive and negative ways.
Good anxiety
Sometimes, anxiety is a good point. Because of anxiety, people are motivated to plan and focus better (Miller 2010). Agreeing with this opinion, Eisold also adds more that in some certain cases, amount of anxiety is completely useful and indispensable. If people are on the alert about dangerous signals, they can give a control. For instance, to overcome and gain high mark in exam, almost students are extremely nervous. This motivates them to concentrate on essential actions to pass the exam easily.
Anxiety not only influences on people’s thoughts, but it also helps them avoid high-risk situations. Moreover, when people have enough worries, they can absolutely accomplish assigned tasks. Physical reactions released from anxiety are one of the most useful components. They allow people to face with challenges in the lives. Sweating, heavy breathing or rapid heartbeats contribute people to be more confident and stronger in order to perform difficult things (Shaw 2010). As a result, it is convinced that anxiety have some certain benefits no one can deny.
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Bad anxiety
Beside good effects that anxiety brings to people, there are a lot of tough issue arose from another side of anxiety. Paradoxically, while a little anxiety is good for some people, anxiety is considered as a foe for others. Each of us experienced and underwent anxiety at different period of time and anxiety happens as a normal part through our life. Unfortunately, instead of trying to deal with anxiety, some people are dominated by anxiety. Obviously, when suffering too much anxiety, people may lack concentration. Almost students can not concentrate on their school work due to anxiety. This causes to getting low grades, poor creating and performance. For many other patients, insomnia is one of the first symptoms of anxiety. People do not spend enough hours on sleeping. Consequently, this affects on all of activities throughout the day. In addition, some experts discovered that anxiety has serious impact on people’s awareness and memory. Too much anxiety makes people’s health worse and the most worrying aspect of anxiety is damaging people’s brain. (Ten negative effects of anxiety on your brain 2012)
Treatments for anxiety
Self treatment
In some certain cases, anxiety can be treated without medication. If the level of anxiety is low, people can be self-treated basing on some useful exercises and actions such as learning to control and manage anxiety in their life, learning a range of relaxation techniques and practicing deep abdominal breathing. Furthermore, a supportive tip people should take is learning to replace “negative self talk” with “coping self talk” (‘What is anxiety? What causes anxiety? What to do about it.’ 2009). It means that people need to make a list of both negative and positive thoughts. Instead of thinking negatively like ‘I can not do this, it is just too hard”, people can try to make a difference by saying like “This is hard but I can get through it”. With this simple measure, people have more encourages to overcome anxiety without doctor’s supervision.
Counseling
For someone, it is usual to feel worried or nervous and anxiety can be treated themselves whereas for others, it becomes a long-term problem affecting on not only their life but also their relatives. It is time for them to meet a psychotherapist or counselor who can find methods and teach you essential skills to cope with anxiety.
Basing on people’s situations and circumstances, a counselor can help people understand better about their symptoms and determine the core issues and causes. It is reliable due to the experienced and professional insight of therapist (Townsend 2010).
Medicine
Beside self-treatment and consulting psychologist to relieve the development of anxiety, people tend to pay lots of attention to medication. Sometimes, anti-anxiety drugs are helpful in managing symptoms of anxiety. One method to reduce the level of anxiety is to use benzodiazepine-one of the most common brand consisting Alprazolam (Xanax), Lorazepam (Ativan), Clonazepam (Klinopin) and Diazepam (Valium) that people usually utilized. Surprisingly, although these anti-anxiety drugs have quick effect, they still have several disadvantages people should consider carefully before using. The Health Central Editorial Team 2012 shares that medication is metabolized differently in different people. It is due the confused kinds of medication and dosage. Moreover, there are several side effects preventing people from taking part in some activities. During acting process of drugs, people are easy to become sleepy, distracted or groggy. Apparently, anxiety drugs should not be the first choice.
Conclusion
Throughout the findings above, it is apparent that anxiety in today’s society is becoming a tough problem requiring people have to pay a lot of attention to. In fact, with the pace of modern life, there are more and more people reigned by anxiety. Beside a range of internal and external causes, understanding the symptoms as well as the influences of anxiety also make people can be more active in preventing and dealing with this issue.
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