Anxiety and Bipolar Disorder: What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety can be difficult to define. Sometimes, when people talk about anxiety, they use words like stressed, distressed, overwhelmed, worried, nervous, or fearful. Obviously, there are differences between these emotions. In other ways, they can be slight variations of a single emotion.
There are several components to anxiety, depending on how you look at this emotion. For example, psychological studies have found that anxiety and excitement are similar in the way the body responds. While the physical sensations are similar, the labels (anxiety or excitement) are different. To some extent, labeling or re-labeling physical responses may help those who feel unnecessary anxiety. In order to illustrate this, think about (or remember) what it was like to date a new person. Some of us were anxious and some of us were excited. It depended on how one was predicting (see the future orientation) how the date would go. If we were confident or a risk taker, we may have been excited about how well a date may go. If we were worried, lacked confidence, or were unsure how a date may go, we may have been anxious. We were getting ready, making sure our clothes looked appropriate, our hair looked a certain way, and that we were buffed and shined (showered, shaved, brushed our teeth, etc.), but we were hoping that the date would go well. Who knows, we may not like this person after we got to know him or her. Worse yet, he or she may not like us.
It is important to realize that anxiety is an important emotion. Certain amounts of it help us to prepare for certain events, like a date with a new person, a job interview, a presentation, a speech, or an examination. If we didn’t have enough of this emotion, we may not care very much, we may feel unmotivated. We won’t prepare. I once had a roommate who was so “laid back”, it seemed that he had little motivation. As I recall, he had some trouble with his supervisor because it seemed like he didn’t care about doing a good job.
If we have too much anxiety, we may feel immobilized, want to run away, or even feel edgy or belligerent. In this case, we may be in a fight-flight-freeze response, which is usually related to a perceived threat. A perceived threat is not necessarily a real threat. If someone is angry or disappointed with us, we may think this is a threat. Even if someone yells at us, we may not truly be threatened. Being yelled at is uncomfortable, unpleasant, and we may feel insulted or disrespected. Yelling is more aggressive than calmly expressing feelings while it is less aggressive than making a fist. (Of course, this assumes that the person yelling is not saying things like “I’ll hurt you” or “I’m going to kill you” and intends, which can be difficult to determine, on following through on those comments.)
We can see where anxiety can lead to problems, like fighting and arguing. It can also lead us to “run away” or avoid are problems. Some people actually leave by divorcing, running away from their parents, partner, or job. Many others turn to drugs or alcohol to manage this emotion.
In order to make progress, it is important to note how often we run into actual threats. How often does this really occur? It can occur in car accidents or near misses. It can occur in war settings, like those in Iraq. It can occur in the woods if we are faced with a mountain lion. It can happen if we are involved with the wrong crowd, with those who carry weapons and brandish them. However, how often do we actually face real threats? For most of us, on a day-to-day basis, we don’t face life threatening situations, situations that “threaten” our life or well-being.
There is more to say about anxiety, what it is, what it looks like, how it impacts us, but those ideas will have to wait for another day.
Others may be asking about how anxiety relates to bipolar, which is the current theme. While anxiety is broader than bipolar disorder, which means many people struggle with varying degrees of anxiety, many of those with bipolar disorder have large amounts of anxiety. But for now, those questions will have to wait.
There are several components to anxiety, depending on how you look at this emotion. For example, psychological studies have found that anxiety and excitement are similar in the way the body responds. While the physical sensations are similar, the labels (anxiety or excitement) are different. To some extent, labeling or re-labeling physical responses may help those who feel unnecessary anxiety. In order to illustrate this, think about (or remember) what it was like to date a new person. Some of us were anxious and some of us were excited. It depended on how one was predicting (see the future orientation) how the date would go. If we were confident or a risk taker, we may have been excited about how well a date may go. If we were worried, lacked confidence, or were unsure how a date may go, we may have been anxious. We were getting ready, making sure our clothes looked appropriate, our hair looked a certain way, and that we were buffed and shined (showered, shaved, brushed our teeth, etc.), but we were hoping that the date would go well. Who knows, we may not like this person after we got to know him or her. Worse yet, he or she may not like us.
It is important to realize that anxiety is an important emotion. Certain amounts of it help us to prepare for certain events, like a date with a new person, a job interview, a presentation, a speech, or an examination. If we didn’t have enough of this emotion, we may not care very much, we may feel unmotivated. We won’t prepare. I once had a roommate who was so “laid back”, it seemed that he had little motivation. As I recall, he had some trouble with his supervisor because it seemed like he didn’t care about doing a good job.
If we have too much anxiety, we may feel immobilized, want to run away, or even feel edgy or belligerent. In this case, we may be in a fight-flight-freeze response, which is usually related to a perceived threat. A perceived threat is not necessarily a real threat. If someone is angry or disappointed with us, we may think this is a threat. Even if someone yells at us, we may not truly be threatened. Being yelled at is uncomfortable, unpleasant, and we may feel insulted or disrespected. Yelling is more aggressive than calmly expressing feelings while it is less aggressive than making a fist. (Of course, this assumes that the person yelling is not saying things like “I’ll hurt you” or “I’m going to kill you” and intends, which can be difficult to determine, on following through on those comments.)
We can see where anxiety can lead to problems, like fighting and arguing. It can also lead us to “run away” or avoid are problems. Some people actually leave by divorcing, running away from their parents, partner, or job. Many others turn to drugs or alcohol to manage this emotion.
In order to make progress, it is important to note how often we run into actual threats. How often does this really occur? It can occur in car accidents or near misses. It can occur in war settings, like those in Iraq. It can occur in the woods if we are faced with a mountain lion. It can happen if we are involved with the wrong crowd, with those who carry weapons and brandish them. However, how often do we actually face real threats? For most of us, on a day-to-day basis, we don’t face life threatening situations, situations that “threaten” our life or well-being.
There is more to say about anxiety, what it is, what it looks like, how it impacts us, but those ideas will have to wait for another day.
Others may be asking about how anxiety relates to bipolar, which is the current theme. While anxiety is broader than bipolar disorder, which means many people struggle with varying degrees of anxiety, many of those with bipolar disorder have large amounts of anxiety. But for now, those questions will have to wait.
posted by Max Stager, MA, LPC, NCC @ 10:39 PM
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