Anxiety

• What is anxiety and what is the difference between anxiety and fear?
  Anxiety is a dull, steady feeling of fear, worry and tension. In contrast to ordinary fear, which is a feeling of being threatened by something defined, anxiety is prolonged and encompasses many areas of life. In the course of our daily lives, we all feel anxiety to some extent. We feel anxiety about terrorist attacks and accidents, about speaking in public, or even about insects. This is perfectly natural and it enables us to maintain the requisite amount of caution and responsibility. However, when these worries interfere with our routine functioning, cause us problems or consume hours of our time, the situation can be defined as anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder is a condition in which anxiety prevents us from living our lives the way we would like.
• What is the connection between anxiety and trauma?
  Trauma is a difficult and uncontrolled event, such as a car accident, an assault or a disease, which causes a strong response of fear. After trauma, most people experience strong feelings of anxiety and tension. That is a natural reaction to a situation of tangible danger. For most people, anxiety decreases gradually and fades after several weeks or months. Cases in which anxiety does not disappear and even increases can be defined as a state of post-traumatic anxiety disorder. Professional help should be sought in such cases, in order to treat the condition effectively.
• How do I know if I have anxiety disorder?
  Anxiety disorders can also develop without any connection to trauma, so it is important to recognize the symptoms. If one of the following conditions persists over a prolonged period of time, the problem can be defined as anxiety disorder:
  1. The anxiety causes significant emotional distress.
  2. The anxiety interferes with routine functioning at work, in school or in the family. 
  3. Preoccupation with the anxiety consumes many hours each day.
  In such cases, it is best to seek professional help.

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