Got anxiety?

If you do, you aren’t alone. Anxiety as an experience is universal. And pervasive or recurrent anxiety disorders are extremely common.

But did you know that your “anxiety" might be very different from your friend’s? The word itself has so many different meanings, from “I have been so anxious (excited) to meet you,” to “My anxiety (panic) is so debilitating I can’t leave the house,” to “ I am anxious (worried) about the weather for my party.”

So when the two of you talk about your anxious feelings, you could very well be speaking of extremely different experiences.

Let’s use this as an example. A plane has boarded. Six frightened fliers are seated in row 17, seats A through F. Each responds “yes” to the following.

In seat 17A, the passenger is thinking “I don’t know if I can stand it when the doors close. I am going to feel trapped, I am going to get that unbearable overwhelming rapid heart rate, I won’t be able to breathe right, and I don’t know if I can control my reaction."

This person has panic disorder. His fear of flying is a fear of experiencing a panic attack on the flight.

In seat 17B someone feels sensations........

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