Because we'll be looking at a few Anxiety disorders, it might be a plan to name a few.
One that can be a little confusing is Agoraphobia.
Originally, this meant fear of open spaces, but the meaning has been extended to the fear and embarrassment of having a panic or anxiety attack in public, in places like shopping malls or supermarkets where you tend to be shut in among a lot of other people.
The fear of public speaking is associated with this.
Indeed, agoraphobia may not affect this type of person at all.
It's only when they have to actually stand up in front of a crowd and give a speech or lecture that they go to pieces.
The condition that covers a multitude of sins is G.
A.
D.
, or General Anxiety Disorder.
The word 'general' gives us a hint of what all this is about.
It covers anxiety both in the short and long term, real or imagined.
However, the highest type of anxiety is the panic attack.
It's a wonderful mechanism, otherwise known as 'fight or flight,' which isn't so important these days, although there are still times when it can come in very useful.
These days, certainly, the villain of the piece that's behind people's panic attacks, is stress.
A classic example of how this can work is shown by the following story.
This poor lady was having an awful time of it.
She travelled up to London, where her mother was dangerously ill.
This in itself was a severe stressor.
But on top of that, she visited her dentist for, of all things, a root canal.
Now, this alone would send me into a complete tailspin! But on her way back to catch her train, the underground train which was taking her to the stop she wanted, broke down.
The carriage was about three quarters full, and this was the final straw.
With all her other worries, being shut up in a confined space with a load of other people.
Most fortunately, there were a couple of people in the carriage who understood what she was going through and were able to help her.
So all was fine.
She caught her connection and made it home without any further problems.
A couple of weeks later, she was invited by friends to some afternoon get-together, and she found herself sitting on the sofa next to another husband and wife.
The panic attack struck again.
Now, why was that? After all, nothing was threatening her.
The point is that the unconscious mind's a quick learner.
It remembers situations.
It 'saw' a situation very similar to the one she'd experienced in the underground carriage, and since the unconscious always errs on the safe side, it brought on another panic attack.
No doubt the poor lady was still under stress because of her mother, too, which wouldn't have helped.
One thing that should be clarified.
This 'remembering' comes from the back of your mind, and is directly linked to the way we remember the smell of a lovely perfume, how good you felt when you won that award, the way a certain piece of music makes you feel happy.
It isn't the same as remembering phone numbers or people's names.
I do hope you enjoyed this article.
We'll go deeper into anxiety and related subjects shortly.