Anxiety. Most of us will have experienced it at some point, whether it’s our heart beating faster when our name is called out in class, or the fear we feel when we think about that upcoming test.

Although it doesn’t often feel nice anxiety can actually be a really useful emotion – it’s there to keep us safe, by warning us about danger, and preparing us to face it.

Sometimes, however, our brains can get a bit confused, and we might continue to feel anxious after the danger has passed, or even feel anxious when there is no danger.

This can be quite upsetting, but it can help to understand what is happening in your brain, so in this article, that’s exactly what we’re going to be looking at!

But what exactly is ‘Anxiety’?

Anxiety is the name we give to a particular emotion, very often (but not always) associated with an increased heart rate, thinking fast, feeling sick, and feeling hot/ sweaty.

You may have heard people share experiences of living with General Anxiety Disorder, which is a mental illness where a person experiences anxiety most or a lot of the time, or their anxiety stops them from living a normal life.

However, anxiety is a normal emotion that we all experience from time to time, and experiencing anxiety does not mean we have a mental illness.

If you’re worried about anxiety, you can always chat to a member of our lovely team, by clicking on the speech bubbles at the top of the page, from 12-10pm Monday to Friday, or 6-10pm at weekends. (You’ll need to sign up or log in for free first).

But why do I feel anxious?

Anxiety is actually a really useful emotion that goes all the way back to our earliest ape ancestors (and probably before them, too!)

We can see anxiety to some extent in most animals, because it helps to keep them safe!

For example, imagine that you’re a zebra, drinking at the watering hole, when suddenly you spot some movement out of the corner of your eye.

Your anxiety will say “sure, that might be the wind… or it might be a lion!”

By alerting you to a possible danger, and then preparing you for the worst case scenario, your anxiety is helping to stop you getting eaten by hungry lions!

Of course, most of the time, when we feel anxious, it isn’t because there’s a danger of lions, but the idea is the same.

When you feel anxious about a test that’s coming up, your anxiety is saying “if we fail that test, we might not be able to do the job that we want, so better prepare for it!”

Or, to put it another way: anxiety is like the captain of a spaceship, and it just detected an unidentified new object on the scanners.

Instead of waiting to find out what the new object is, the captain declares “action stations”, and all the crew members rush to their positions, and are prepared just in case there is a threat.

If it turns out that the object was friendly, then the captain can tell everyone to stand down, but if not, then everyone will be ready straight away, and they all stand the best chance of getting away safely.

What is my anxiety doing?

When it detects something that it thinks might be a threat, your brain will let anxiety take control for a little while, until the danger has passed, because it knows that anxiety is good at keeping you safe.

One of the first things that anxiety does is release a chemical called adrenaline.

Adrenaline helps us think more clearly, and move faster.

It makes our heart beat faster, so that it can pump oxygen to all of our muscles, in case we have to run away.

We may also feel a bit sick, because our bodies stop digesting food, and instead send that energy to our muscles and our brains.

It can also make us need the toilet, because our bodies want to get rid of anything that they can’t use.

This is what we call the “fight, flight, or freeze” reaction. Our brain has to decide whether we should try and fight the danger, run away from it, or stay still until it passes.

When the danger is gone, the brain slowly begins to release dopamine, which soothes the brain, and counters a lot of the effects of adrenaline.

It slows the heart rate down, and gradually allows the brain to stop fixating on the danger, and return to things like learning and playing.

But how do I know if my anxiety is ‘normal’?

Of course, anxiety isn’t always healthy, and sometimes you may need help and support to manage it.

When we continue to experience anxiety after the danger has passed, or when there doesn’t appear to be a source of danger, this can be a sign of an anxiety disorder.

Additionally, sometimes if we experience something really upsetting, it can have a long term effect on how our brains handle situations in the future. This is what we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is often a result of the brain trying to protect us from ever having to experience anything as upsetting as the original event again, by letting anxiety take control.

It might be that there’s something that reminds you of the original event, or it might be general feelings of discomfort that triggers you, but either way, if you experience these symptoms, it’s really important to ask for help.