Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is apprehension or worry about a possible threat or difficulty. Feeling worried before an exam is a familiar example. Occasional anxiety is part of ordinary life.

Examples of anxiety

• Test anxiety concerns an exam or assessment.
• Social anxiety concerns situations where other people may judge us, such as giving a presentation or meeting someone new. The NIMH description of social anxiety disorder explains how this fear can become persistent and interfere with everyday activities.
• Separation anxiety concerns being apart from someone to whom a person is attached. Separation anxiety disorder can affect children or adults; diagnostic criteria consider whether the fear is excessive for the person's developmental stage, persists, and causes significant difficulty.

When is it a disorder?

The National Institute of Mental Health distinguishes ordinary worry from anxiety disorders, which involve more persistent fear or anxiety. Generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and phobia-related disorders have different features.

The important questions concern the pattern and its effect on daily life: how often the anxiety occurs, what situations it affects, and how much difficulty it causes. One worried moment does not establish a diagnosis. Nor can the feeling alone tell us how someone will perform on the exam.