When Fight or Flight Goes Out Of Sight

Do you have these symptoms?

1. A sudden racing of the heart, difficulty breathing, sweating, lightheartedness?
   
2. A sudden fear that something terrible will happen?
   
3. Avoidance of long car rides, travel on subways, or travel on airplanes?
   
4. Fear of leaving your home?
   
5. Avoidance of crowds or open spaces, such as shopping malls, parks, airports, train stations?
   
6. General tension and anxiety and an inability to relax most of the time?
   
7. Worry that something bad will happen most of the time?
   
8. Extreme anxiety when you're the center of attention?
   
9. Inability to cope with social situations except with alcohol or drugs?
   
10. An inability to stop repeated behaviors such as washing your hands or checking that you locked the front door?
11. Unwanted and irrational thoughts that keep running through your mind?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may suffer from some form of anxiety problem. But before you become too anxious about this, read further to allow for a more informed assessment.

Anxiety is a natural emotional reaction to a threatening situation. It is a learned response that alerts us to danger and prepares us for "fight or flight." We usually use the term "fear" to refer to a response to a clear danger where fight or flight is appropriate (e.g., when you're about to be rear-ended on the beltway). Anxiety, on the other hand, is most often used when the threat is intangible and fighting or fleeing is not appropriate (e.g., when you're taking an exam or worrying that someone doesn't like you).

It is generally accepted that a moderate amount of anxiety or arousal is essential for normal living and successful performance. Furthermore, we all experience periods of heightened anxiety from time to time. However, extreme levels of anxiety or anxiety that continues over long periods of time, such as the symptoms listed above, can be destructive physically (e.g., high blood pressure, heart-related ailments, ulcers) as well as behaviorally/psychologically (e.g., poor academic performance, fatigue and insomnia, interpersonal problems, sexual difficulties, self-defeating avoidance patterns).

Those suffering from any of the specific forms of anxiety problems (e.g., panic attacks, agoraphobia, specific phobias, social phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety) know how debilitating these conditions can be. However, what some suffers may not know is that there are a number of highly effective techniques and treatments available for coping with chronic and acute anxiety.

Examples of anxiety management treatments include:

1. Relaxation training that operates directly on the muscle tension that is always associated with anxiety.
2. Cognitive restructuring which helps individuals replace your negative, irrational thoughts that often cause or maintain anxiety with soothing, rational ways of thinking.
3. Lifestyle changes such as exercise and nutrition training which can directly reduce anxiety symptoms or make the body better able to handle arousal.
4. Assertiveness and other social skills training that can increase interpersonal effectiveness and thereby decrease anxiety associated with social situations.
5. Medication that operates directly on the biochemical underpinnings of anxiety.

If you recognize yourself in the above discussion, you might want to take some constructive action. There are a number of self-help books designed to help you get relief from anxiety including Peace from Nervous Suffering (Weekes), More Help for your Nerves (Weekes), and The Anxiety Disease (Sheehan). If self-help strategies don't work, or if your anxiety does not seem to be a passing thing, or if your anxious feelings are so acute that you have difficulty performing, you might consider consulting a professional. The Counseling Center and the Mental Health Clinic on campus have experienced staff members who can help you determine if you have an anxiety problem and can also help you find anxiety management techniques that work for you.

The author, Dr. Kathy Zamostny, is a staff psychologist at the Counseling Center.