ANXIETY AND FEARS

WHAT WE KNOW

Anxiety and fears can control a person's life.

• Your body's response to fear is the "fight or flight" instinct. When confronted with fear, your body releases adrenaline. When your fight or flight reaction goes into overdrive, the excess of adrenaline causes your brain to send out panic signals when it shouldn't.
• People with anxiety or panic disorders constantly worry and often think about things they cannot control.
• For some people, their brains are wired to panic - it's biochemistry. For others, it's genetic - anxiety disorders can be hereditary.

Approximately 19 million Americans suffer from some type of anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

• Panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias are categorized under anxiety disorders.
• Fears about war and terrorism have increased, especially since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

 

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