Anxiety

Anxiety

University of New South Wales

Anxiety

        Anxiety along with fear entails various aspects that are different. For instance, studies relating to symptomatology which are factor analytic in nature among the youths vividly highlighted two independent factors (Chorpita, Albano, & Barlow, 1998). One of the factors which is related to fear is typified by the autonomic arousal as well as the fight-flight reaction levels of behavior. The other factor which is anxiety related typically comprises of tension, worry, and apprehension.

        Fear arises when there is an imminent and prominent threat. There is clarity in the functioning of fear in the sense that the respondent to fear should be alert, leading to an immediate action in the form of fight or flight in case a fearful situation arises. For such a response to occur from an organism, the so-called sympathetic nervous system has to be activated, and this depicts itself in the dilatation of the pupil, along with an increase in the muscle tension, heart rates, and also respiration rate. Since fear is regarded as a fast and innate response that is purposely for survival, theorists hold the assumption that a larger proportion of the sub-cortical system of the brain is actively engaged in giving this response (LeDoux, 1996). Other studies support this notion and have singled out that Amygdala specifically plays a significant role in forming fear. In brief, the subcortical structure of the brain which is relatively small in size detects and also organizes the responses towards natural dangers (such as predators). Besides that, the subcortical structure of the brain also learns about the stimuli as well as the novel threats that provides a prediction before their occurrence (LeDoux, 1998).Amygdala plays the role of instantly scanning the inward information that is in regard to the stimuli that are potentially threatening, and after a threat is identified, the activation of the defense responses of various types such as the sympathetic nervous system then takes place. Even though fear occurs when threat is either certain or detected, anxiety may arise without experiencing the actual danger. A prototypical example relating to fear is worry, whereby a worried person thinks about the negative things that can probably occur. In some way, worry tends to have some features that can enable one to adapt to the preparation for the unexpected events that may be aversive. However, it should be noted that there are multiple evidence which demonstrates that worry operates as a strategy for cognitive avoidance, inhibiting emotional processing (Borkovec, Ray, & Stöber, 1998). Worry is majorly an activity that is cognitive-verbal in nature, and primarily entails the activation of left cortical, along with the continuous inhibition of the autonomic activation, with the aim of facilitating cognitive processing, along with planning on how the impending danger will be dealt with.