Essay On Anxiety Mood And Stress

Emotions are known to play a very important role in human life, both psychologically and mentally. The main two emotions that are analysed in this essay are fear and anxiety and the majorly focused emotion is fear. In answering the question for the essay, main approach taken in use is based on ideas of clinical psychology (Ankrom, 2020). Clinical  psychology is that branch of psychology which is based on assessment and treating mental illness and the behavioural problems that are associated with it. The method that is used to find relation between emotion and anxiety disorder is again based upon correlational theory. The anxiety disorder chosen for the task is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which is a stressful condition that is triggered by any terrifying or disturbing situation. The emotion that is featured over a wider part in essay is fear as it is associated with both anxiety and stress.

 

Researchers have studied emotions with huge interest from inception from psychology. There are many roles that are played by emotions in human life, for example, emotions play role in evolutionary relation, communicative and social function and also serve maladaptive functions in the fear and anxiety regulation. There are certain emotions that are individually associated with a specific type of situation, for instance, in case of a dangerous situation, the emotion that is experienced is fear and terror, while at time of stressed conditions, anxiety and stress are commonly experienced emotions. Emotions are multidimensional which are made up of experiential, behavioural and the psychological components (Hendel, 2021). It is then associated with the moods of  human and moods are further dependent on a particular type of situation. The emotion specific behaviours in individuals are different, for instance, there are many people that have low tolerance for anger and as a result to that, they subjectively report the high levels of experiences in anger. Another emotion is fear and anxiety that is again associated with tensed situations. In this essay, the mainly focused emotion is anxiety as it is more generally observed pattern of emotional behaviour and is also common with other forms of distressful emotions.

 

Emotion as described by the Theory of Emotion by James-Lange is based on human emotions that are generated with situations. The hypothesis explains the order of formation of fear and it also describes that the order of induction of mental state in human beings cannot occur right after another. This has to start with bodily manifestations that have to be interposed in between. Rationally the explanation for this is that humans cry, they are angry because they strike and are afraid because they tremble (Jones, 2021). The feeling of bodily objective emotions comes just before the appraisal feeling of emotion and for any dangerous situation, human shows fear.

 

 

According to this theory, emotion helps in setting the tone for the later theoretical understanding of the emotions. As the emotions rise in the situation of fear or anxiety, the bodily objective feeling of emotion induces the response to run away from the danger and in anxiety, the human mind makes the body restless and uneasy that sometimes might result in anger and rage which is again the response towards the situation. In understanding the concept of emotions behind fear and anxiety, it is important to first understand how the human body reacts towards the subject or object. The discrete emotion theory focuses on six emotions and there are complex emotions which are produced from these basic emotions. To gain better understanding of fear, the source of formation or initiation of fear must be studied. Fear is a naturally occurring powerful and primitive emotion which comprises of biochemical and emotional response (Steimer, 2022). This feeling alerts the human brain about the presence of danger or any type of harm that might potentially cause serious damage to human body and brain.

 

The primary reactions, biochemical and emotional are the structural formations of fear that perceives the threat. Biochemically, fear is a natural reaction that is a survival mechanism. When human body confronts any type of perceived threat, the bodies responds in some specific way. The physical reactions towards the situation of fear involves, sweating, high heart rates and increased adrenaline levels which induces extreme alert. The physical response towards fear is also called “flight or fight” response because of which the body prepares to either combat with the situation or run way. Either way the aim is to survive. This is an evolutionary development and also an automatic response important for human survival (Ouimet, Kane, & Tutino, 2016). The emotional response is personalised as it involves some chemical reactions going on in human brain that induces some happy or fearful emotions. The response is person-based as some may choose thrill to relieve the fear while some others might choose to completely ignore the situation.

 

The natural response of human body towards stress is called anxiety and it involves production of some negative emotions as a response. It can also be termed as a healthy emotion towards any stressful situation. The disorders develop when a person continuously and disproportionately feels levels of anxiety under negative situations. This results in PTSD (Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder) that is generally triggered by any terrifying event whose symptoms can be nightmares, flashbacks, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts that leads to sleeplessness (Buckley, 2016). The anxiety disorders are categorised under mental health diagnoses that results in excessive nervousness, fear, worry and apprehension. The disorders change the processing of emotions in an individual and also results in physical symptoms.

 

As the body processes stressful situations, it results in anxiety and when the situation is harmful or threatening, it makes the human fear. The emotions involved in processing of both types of situations are different. Anxiety results in uneasiness and a vague feeling of apprehension that might make the individual walk the dark street alone at night whilst in stressful situations, the body panics and reacts defensively against the situation (Holland, 2022). For instance, when some points a gun at your head, the feeling will be fearful and afraid while at the time of anxiety, body sweats excessively and also can result in dizziness and fainting of the individual. Although the emotional responses are different, the emotions involved in the process are almost same because ultimately body is reacting towards a stressful condition. The stress response in both situations is similar. Fear is related to any known or understood threat while stress occurs from undefined and unknown but expected threat. Major changes lies in the emotional responses in both the situations that are quite similar in case of fear and anxiety. The differences existing within responses account for human reaction to different stressors in environment.

 

Ankrom, S. (2020, July 8). The Difference Between Fear and Anxiety. Retrieved from Very Well Mind: https://www.verywellmind.com/fear-and-anxiety-differences-and-similarities-2584399

 

 

Buckley, R. C. (2016). Qualitative Analysis of Emotions: Fear and Thrill. Frontiers in Psychology. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01187

 

 

Hendel, H. J. (2021, May 10). Anxiety And Fear: What's The Difference? Retrieved from National Alliance on Mental Illness : https://www.nami.org/blogs/NAMI-Blog/May-2021/Anxiety-And-Fear-What-s-the-difference

 

 

Holland, K. (2022, June 28). Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety . Retrieved from Very Well Mind: https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety

 

 

Jones, E. (2021). What is a computational emotion? Studia Neophilologica, 173-189.

 

 

Ouimet, A. J., Kane, L., & Tutino, J. S. (2016). Fear of anxiety or fear of emotions? Anxiety sensitivity is indirectly related to anxiety and depressive symptoms via emotion regulation. Cogent Psychology. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2016.1249132

 

 

Steimer, T. (2022). The biology of fear-and anxiety-related behaviors. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience.