Stress and anxiety Health Article

Definition

Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another.

Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear. The source of this uneasiness is not always known or recognized, which can add to the distress you feel.

Alternative Names

Anxiety; Feeling uptight; Stress; Tension; Jitters; Apprehension

Considerations

Stress is a normal part of life. In small quantities, stress is good -- it can motivate you and help you be more productive. However, too much stress, or a strong response to stress, is harmful. It can set you up for general poor health as well as specific physical or psychological illnesses like infection, heart disease, or depression. Persistent and unrelenting stress often leads to anxiety and unhealthy behaviors like overeating and abuse of alcohol or drugs.

Emotional states like grief or depression and health conditions like an overactive thyroid, low blood sugar, or heart attack can also cause stress.

Anxiety is often accompanied by physical symptoms, including:

• Twitching or trembling
• Muscle tension, headaches
• Sweating
• Dry mouth, difficulty swallowing
• Abdominal pain (may be the only symptom of stress, especially in a child)

Sometimes other symptoms accompany anxiety:

• Dizziness
• Rapid or irregular heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Diarrhea or frequent need to urinate
• Fatigue
• Irritability, including loss of your temper
• Sleeping difficulties and nightmares
• Decreased concentration
• Sexual problems

Anxiety disorders are a group of psychiatric conditions that involve excessive anxiety. They include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social phobia.