Human Psychology and Anxiety

By: Abhishek Lodha

At the end of a whole day of hectic work, Mr. Rajiv Mathur, the project manager of a reputed company, steeped out of his office with a face, the expression of which cannot be actually mentioned! When asked by his colleagues, he replied that he is very anxious for the partially completed project which, by any means, has to be completed by the next day i.e. as it is the deadline date!

Now what is Anxiety? Is it tension? No. Is it fear? Well, not either. It is something which is invisible, intangible. It is a sort of sickness sometimes irresolute, sometimes violent and again at times it is unendurable! It is not real fear, yet it belongs to the fear syndrome. So what actually is it? Well, it is a kind of fear. But a fear which is inexplicable.

It is best describes as the fear of a danger which does not in reality exist. A fear for the unknown! Anxiety, during a period of crisis, sometimes bring about severe physical disturbances such as quickening or slowing down of the pulse rates, paleness, drooping mouth, sweat, haggard eyes and respiratory and cardiac troubles.

Effects of Anxiety

Anxiety is an exaggerated tension, with several common side effects. The very common effects of anxiousness or anxiety are:

1. A feeling of having a lump in the throat.
2. An obstruction in the throat.
3. A feeling of having an iron band across the chest or in front of the heart.
4. A choked throat causing dumbness.
5. Tightness of the bladder with frequent urine discharges.
6. Difficulty in digesting.
7. Bloated by wind.
8. Stammering.
9. Palpitations in the stomach or intestines, etc.
10. Agitation.
11. All kinds of twitches.
12. Fits of hysteria.
13. Over salivating.
14. Tears and flushes.
15. Convulsions.
16. Vomiting, and
17. Trembling and palpitations of the heart with heavy heartbeats.
18. Anxiety - physical or psychological?

Anxiety is basically a psychological effect, although certain physical illnesses such as epilepsy
or cardiac troubles do cause anxiety. Psychologically, anxiety appears when some element within becomes menacing to an individual. For instance, take the case of a timid chef. Because of his job profile he is forced to appear timid. Yet the thought of being discovered as a timid person presents to him a permanent threat. It is very logical to assume that in the face of permanent menace, anxiety will appear. Now this anxiety may be a conscious or an unconscious one.

In any case, anxiety arising from a psychological cause is just as intense as a fear which is provoked by a visible danger. Too often, there is a tendency to diagnose such sickness as being 'imaginary illness' because the victims are unable to define their anxieties. They are not imaginary but very real illness. Whether the illness is objective or subjective dies not really bother!