{"id":1130,"date":"2023-03-05T10:40:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T09:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therapyforanxiety.org\/?p=1130"},"modified":"2023-03-05T10:40:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T09:40:10","slug":"definitions-of-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapyforanxiety.org\/?p=1130","title":{"rendered":"Definitions of anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Definitions of anxiety<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Bearing in mind that there is still no single definition of anxiety, let\u2019s now look at a couple of helpful attempts. The first comes from the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), a standard resource for mental health professionals compiled by the American Psychiatric Association.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the DSM, anxiety is: The apprehensive anticipation of future danger or misfortune
accompanied by a feeling of dysphoria or somatic feelings of tension.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus of anticipated danger may be internal or external.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s a slightly less technical definition of anxiety from the US
psychologist David Barlow:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anxiety is a future-oriented mood state in which one is ready or prepared to attempt to cope with upcoming negative events\u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If one were to put anxiety into words, one might say, \u2018That terrible event could happen again and I might not be able to deal with it, but I\u2019ve got to be ready to try.\u2019
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both definitions make the point that anxiety is an emotion (though the DSM uses the term \u2018feeling\u2019 and Barlow refers to it as a \u2018mood state\u2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we all know, anxiety is no fun; this is what the DSM means by \u2018dysphoria\u2019 (the psychological
term for an unpleasant feeling). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our body may behave in unusual ways (stomach churning, eyes widening, heart racing) \u2013 hence the DSM\u2019s reference to \u2018somatic\u2019 feelings. And at the root of it all is the perception that we may be facing serious trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/therapyforanxiety.org\/history-of-anxiety\/\n<\/div>
History of anxiety<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A closely related but slightly different concept is stress. Stress is defined as what we feel when we believe we can\u2019t cope with the demands facing us. It comprises two elements: a problem and a self-perception (specifically, that we\u2019re not able to deal with the problem in question).<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like anxiety, stress is rooted in the fight or flight system. It can trigger a range of emotional responses including, very often, anxiety.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may also be wondering how anxiety differs from fear. In fact, the two terms are often used interchangeably, and we do so in this book. That said, some researchers do make a differentiation, and typically it revolves around the object of our emotion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear usually has a clear object \u2013 seeing a shark\u2019s fin while we\u2019re swimming, perhaps, or a dangerous piece of driving from the car alongside us on the motorway \u2013 and it often functions as a sort of emergency reaction (being mildly frightened is almost a contradiction in terms). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But things are generally much less clear-cut when it comes to anxiety. Instead of situations in which we
know exactly what it is that\u2019s scaring us \u2013 and when our fear will soon disappear once the threat has passed \u2013 we may not have a clue why we feel anxious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Holly Golightly put it in Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s: \u2018something bad is going to happen, only you don\u2019t know what it is.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Anxiety can often be a less intense feeling than fear. It can seem vague and amorphous \u2013 and for that very reason difficult to rid ourselves of. After all, if we don\u2019t know what is making us anxious, it\u2019s difficult to know how to deal with the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some experts have suggested that anxiety is the emotion we feel when we can\u2019t, or don\u2019t know how to, take action to deal with a threat. So a large dog charging towards us with its teeth bared is likely to prompt us to a fearful sprint; worries about dying are more likely to take the form of nagging
anxiety than straightforward fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


If anxiety is normal, how can we tell whether it\u2019s getting out of hand? At what point does ordinary, run-of-the-mill anxiety become a clinical problem that needs attention? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every case must be judged in its own context, but a mental health professional will consider:
\u2022 whether the individual is becoming anxious inappropriately (their
anxiety is like an overly sensitive car alarm);
\u2022 whether the anxiety is based on an unrealistic or excessive perception
of danger;
\u2022 how long anxiety has been affecting the person;
\u2022 how distressing it is for the individual;
\u2022 and the degree to which anxiety is interfering with the person\u2019s dayto-day life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Definitions of anxiety Bearing in mind that there is still no single definition of anxiety, let\u2019s now look at a couple of helpful attempts. The first comes from the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), a standard resource for mental health professionals compiled by the American Psychiatric Association. According to the DSM, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44,47],"class_list":["post-1130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-anxiety","tag-anxiety","tag-depression"],"yoast_head":"\nDefinitions of anxiety - Therapy for anxiety<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/therapyforanxiety.org\/?p=1130\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Definitions of anxiety\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Definitions of anxiety Bearing in mind that there is still no single definition of anxiety, let\u2019s now look at a couple of helpful attempts. 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