Question

Many of the symptoms in anxiety and related disorders overlap with experiences most people have. For example, anxiety is a normal experience in many situations, such as giving a speech. What features differentiate someone with a disorder versus someone without?

Answer 1

(Answer) The feeling of anxiety at the time of a pressure situation is normal. At the time of a speech, during a flight, before an exam and other such situations are normally when a person might feel anxious. However, someone with an anxiety disorder is one who compulsively feels anxious.

Such individuals perceive most normal situations as nerve-racking. These are individuals who cannot distinguish between actual threats and perceived threats. This simply means that they associate most elements with pressure and danger. Conversely, a normal individual would only associate actual dangerous or pressure elements with an actual threat.

Therefore, a person who is simply anxious only feels that way when the situation warrants the emotion but, when someone with an anxiety disorder feels anxious, it might just be because they perceive something to be threatening and it might not actually be so.

This might be similar to someone who is eating because they are hungry and someone who is constantly snacking because they just “feel” that they are hungry even though their nutrition needs are met.