Is my anxiety normal?

Anxiety is a completely normal human reaction, everyone gets anxious sometimes. For many of us, there is shame and stigma attached to fearfulness.

Our parents often told us, in a situation that caused us to worry, that there is no need to be afraid, there is nothing wrong, just get over it.

Of course, these sentences were uttered with the intention of helping support emotion suppression. Anxious people are often stigmatized by society as weak (Reavley & Jorm, 2011) who could do something to reduce their fears and worries but do not want to. Another misconception is that anxiety disorder is not a real illness that can be cured.

Spoiler alert, stress and fear can be reduced 😊

Reduce stress in your life! Read this

Due to these socialization effects and stigmas, it is difficult for many of us to experience anxiety-provoking situations, since it is like a monster who we must escape. But escaping fear-inducing situations is not the answer.

What is the difference between normal anxiety and anxiety disorders?

Normal anxiousness does not cause functional impairment in several areas of life, so I am anxious, but I can carry on with my life. A normal level of fear is a fundamentally positive phenomenon that draws our attention to something or motivates us to perform better.

People who suffer from anxiety disorders experience more severe functional impairment. This severe impairment makes their work, school performance, and social relationships more difficult, and deterioration is experienced in these areas. So leading a life is very difficult when having constant worry. People begin to avoid situations that cause them worry because they don’t want to experience these symptoms again and again.

Read more on anxiety disorders

For instance, if an anxious person avoids situations because he or she can be judged or condemned. In the case of phobias, this avoidance means avoiding the object of the phobia.