Fear is short-lived, present-focused, geared towards a specific threat, and facilitating escape from threat.
įear and anxiety can be differentiated into four domains: (1) duration of emotional experience, (2) temporal focus, (3) specificity of the threat, and (4) motivated direction. In positive psychology, anxiety is described as the mental state that results from a difficult challenge for which the subject has insufficient coping skills. Another description of anxiety is agony, dread, terror, or even apprehension. David Barlow defines anxiety as "a future-oriented mood state in which one is not ready or prepared to attempt to cope with upcoming negative events," and that it is a distinction between future and present dangers which divides anxiety and fear. There is a false presumption that often circulates that anxiety only occurs in situations perceived as uncontrollable or unavoidable, but this is not always so. Anxiety is related to the specific behaviors of fight-or-flight responses, defensive behavior or escape. 3.3 Stranger, social, and intergroup anxietyĪnxiety is distinguished from fear, which is an appropriate cognitive and emotional response to a perceived threat.Part of the definition of an anxiety disorder, which distinguishes it from every day anxiety, is that it is persistent, typically lasting 6 months or more, although the criterion for duration is intended as a general guide with allowance for some degree of flexibility and is sometimes of shorter duration in children. There are multiple forms of anxiety disorder (such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) with specific clinical definitions. Though anxiety is a normal human response, when excessive or persisting beyond developmentally appropriate periods it may be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. People facing anxiety may withdraw from situations which have provoked anxiety in the past. Anxiety is closely related to fear, which is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat anxiety involves the expectation of future threat including dread. It is often accompanied by muscular tension, restlessness, fatigue, inability to catch one's breath, tightness in the abdominal region, and problems in concentration. Īnxiety is a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only subjectively seen as menacing. It is often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination. OK here's your chance.Anxiety is an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes subjectively unpleasant feelings of dread over anticipated events. What is your most interesting hunting or fishing story? The government was in turmoil, which made the trip affordable for me. "If we increase the yuan by 20% or 40%, as some people are calling for, many of our factories will shut down and society will be in turmoil," he said. Global Voices in English » Kenya: Do bloggers hold the key to the future of investigative journalism? I've heard many people castigate Kibaki and Odinga, folks saying that our nation is in turmoil so Obama couldn't visit. X, due out in March), Minogue does admit the label turmoil has affected her world. The core issue is actually pretty simple: do we want to run the risk of enduring some short term turmoil today as a possible consequence of not raising the debt ceiling? SM: Describe in more depth what you called turmoil, chaos. Ohio, where the Republicans have been in turmoil, is considered particularly ripe. verb obsolete To be disquieted or confused to be in commotion.įrom WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University.noun A state of great disorder or uncertainty.intransitive verb obsolete To be disquieted or confused to be in commotion.įrom Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.noun Harassing labor trouble molestation by tumult disturbance worrying confusion.transitive verb obsolete To harass with commotion to disquiet to worry.To labor amid trouble, worriment, or vexation be disquieted or in trouble worry.įrom the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.noun Synonyms Confusion, bustle, uproar.noun Distracting stir, bustle, commotion, confusion, or din tumult disturbance agitation trouble disquiet.
noun A state of extreme confusion or agitation commotion or tumult.From The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.