Anxiety

Anxiety: The body's internal alarm

Anxiety is a normal and healthy human emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worry, and physical changes such as an accelerated heartbeat. It is an built‑in evolutionary mechanism, our internal "alarm," which activates in response to a potential threat and prepares the body for a "fight or flight" reaction. However, when this system becomes overly sensitive and triggers too often, too intensely, or in the absence of real danger, anxiety ceases to be useful and turns into an anxiety disorder.

What happens in the brain and body during anxiety?

When the brain perceives a threat, the amygdala sends an anxiety signal. In response, the adrenal glands release stress hormones—adrenaline and cortisol—into the bloodstream. This triggers a cascade of physiological reactions:

• The heart starts beating faster to deliver more blood to the muscles.
• Breathing quickens to oxygenate the blood.
• Blood is shunted away from the digestive organs toward the limbs.
• The pupils dilate, and attention sharpens.

In anxiety disorders this system is hyperactive, and a person may experience these symptoms continuously.

Types of anxiety disorders

Anxiety can manifest in various ways:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Persistent, excessive worry about a variety of events.
• Panic Disorder: Characterized by sudden, intense episodes of fear (panic attacks).
• Social Anxiety: Strong fear of social situations and evaluation by others.
• Obsessive‑Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Intrusive thoughts and rituals. More details about postpartum OCD in mothers — post‑partum OCD.

Anxiety is a key component of many postpartum disorders, for example, post‑partum anxiety.