Anxiety: Friend or Enemy?
Certainly, in some cases, feeling anxious can help us become productive and under certain circumstances it can help us to perform better. For example, feeling a bit of anxiety for an assignment can energize us, help us gather the information we need and then push us to work on the assignment.
Also, by feeling a little anxious we may demonstrate our genuine interest for the job we do. For example, being anxious about something that went wrong at work can be perceived as interest for the job our employer offered to us.
Some people, however, experience excessive anxiety and they experience it too often.
This not only makes them feel bad, but also makes them perform far worse than they could actually perform.
Surely, some of you might have forgotten something that you have memorized because of anxiety. Some others might have realized that when you have to present something in front of an audience, you do not perform as well as you can because you are feeling anxious.
There are, therefore, two forms of anxiety: state anxiety and trait anxiety.
State anxiety is the form of anxiety we experience because of a situation, for a limited time, and it subsides when the “threat” disappears. In other words, it is temporary.
On the other hand, trait anxiety has to do with our character and has an impact on the way we see the world.
Some people are high in trait anxiety, while others who are more relaxed/calm are low in trait anxiety. People with high trait anxiety assess various situations as more threatening than they are in reality.
At the same time, they tend to pay attention to anything “threatening” in the environment and ignore more positive or neutral information.
Thus, these individuals experience anxiety more often and more easily.
The frequent experience of negative emotions (such as anxiety) can result in various anxiety disorders.
Then these disorders (very frequent or constant anxiety) can lead to various health problems. Moreover, people experiencing anxiety disorders can get to the point of avoiding anything they think will cause them anxiety.
If you are experiencing anxiety it is important to learn to control it / deal with it.
This is the only way to live a tranquil life and reduce the risk of developing an anxiety disorder.
Book your free strategic Life Coaching session with Dr. Anna Pavlina Charalambous, ACC