All kinds of uncertainties are apparently growing not only in our daily life, but also all around us. Newspaper reports, environmental disasters and information overload assisted by technological advancements, are the main contributing factors as prime sources of our fears, worry and anxiety in life. We further add to this, our own unique and personal concerns – finances, well-being, education and life of our children, health of our parents as also ourselves – thereby making our life almost going out of control and balance on a frequent basis.
This directly leads to increasing discomfort, ill ease and loss of joy in routine living. Such kind of low-grade panic becomes our standard operating …show more content…
It is one of the most basic of all human emotion and can be felt.
This feeling becomes Anxiety when the alarm or fear is not clearly or directly associated with any danger or threat. The agitation and distress is felt deeply in our mind as well as body. We are unable to identify the danger, but feel the fear anyway.
Worry, however, is the mind’s expression of fear and can be seen as the combination of anxiety and similar thoughts.
Finally, when the feeling of fear is intense and sudden (though without any apparent cause) it is termed as panic or phobia, and it is usually so unpleasant that people even begin to modify and restrict their routine activities because of it.
The fear reaction is physically experienced throughout our body, mind and behaviour, because these are in a dynamic, continuously changing and interactive relationship all the time. Our heart pounds and pulse rate increases, our muscles tighten and a choking sensation is felt, we sweat or shake and numbness sets in, our breathing becomes difficult & abdominal discomfort is felt, and all kinds of body aches …show more content…
It can be useful and helpful at times, so as to increase our attention - as required in the moment. Mild anxiety, can actually enhance our performance and productivity. When the fear, worry or anxiety reactions arise repeatedly and persist for long intervals, it is termed as “chronic”.
This adversely affects our life towards relationships, work, social life and personal health. High levels of anxiety interfere with our daily life and normal functioning, and when it turns chronic it will need professional interference & treatment.
Towards a comprehensive treatment plan, some kind of self-help is a vital and supportive component, but not a substitute for the needed treatment. The self-help methods of mindfulness (present moment focus) have been recognised to play an important role in the treatment and recovery for individuals with anxiety disorders, and help them manage their fear, worry, anxiety and panic situations.
By practicing mindfulness, we learn to relax by cultivating “paying attention on purpose to this moment” in a non-judgmental way, so that so termed “problems” do not dominate our life, and we are in a position to offer more effective responses to them. Our inner strengths and virtues of compassion, kindness and gratitude help us transform ourselves to approach and accept the situation “as is”, and face it, instead of running away from