2. A cause of anxiety: "For some people, air travel is a real anxiety."
3. In psychiatry, a state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a realistic or fantasized threatening event or situation, often impairing physical and psychological functioning.
4. Eager, often an agitated desire: "My anxiety was to make a good impression."
The following nouns refer to troubled states of the mind: anxiety, worry, care, concern, solicitude
- Anxiety suggests feelings of fear and apprehension.
- Worry implies persistent doubt or fear.
- Concern stresses serious thought combined with emotion.
- Solicitude is active and sometimes excessive concern for another's well-being.
Life is stressful for most people. There are day-to-day problems on top of dealing with work and taking care of the family. Fortunately, most of us can "blow off some steam", finding the time to relax and have fun.
We know that anxiety motivates us to get things done; yet for some people, stress and anxiety make it difficult to function on a daily basis. In these cases, anxiety doesn't help motivate; it interferes.
Chances are good that many people quietly suffer from disruptive anxiety without seeking mental health treatment. Instead, they often complain of physical problems and go to their family doctors, internists, or cardiac specialists for medical treatment.
Often both the doctor and the patient fail to recognize that anxiety is causing these symptoms. The failure to seek mental health treatment is particularly unfortunate, as anxiety disorders are some of the issues most effectively treated by psychosocial interventions.