If you say that you have never experienced anxiety, you are fooling yourself since anxiety affects everyone. It is a natural reaction to unpleasant situations that create danger, uncertainty, trouble or the feeling of being unprepared. So when exactly does “normal” anxiety become a disorder?

Basically, when anxiety starts to interfere with the flow of your everyday life, then it has become a disorder. It is normal to experience worry from time to time or to worry about events that occur, such as an exam or presentation. However, when that worry takes over your life and causes you to not complete the exam or not show up to your presentation prepared because you were too worried about it to pull it together, you may have an anxiety disorder.

Some things that are a part of everyday life are sleeping, eating, brushing our teeth, going to work or school, doing the laundry and watching TV. All of these activities are pretty mundane and you probably do not even give them a second thought anymore because they have become a part of you. Anxiety is a feeling that is present during all of these activities but it becomes more noticeable in different situations.

Even when we are feeling safe and totally relaxed, anxious feelings are still hanging around, but we do not notice them because we are completely relaxed and at ease. However, the moment our brain tells us to be aware and alert, anxiety wakes up and begins to run rampant through our brains and bodies. This is because anxiety is a mind and body reaction. Panic is similar to anxiety and presents itself in almost the same manner.

Have you ever been accused of having pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) even when it was not your time of the month? Have you felt depressed without being sure exactly why? Do you appear to have it “together” but constantly feel like you are falling apart inside? If you have ever been told that you are a psycho, head case or control freak, you might be affected with an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders affect twice as many women as men. Women have different chemicals in their bodies that play a part in their increased anxiety. The female body has hormones that contribute to reproduction that men do not have and these hormones fluctuate, leading to increased or decreased anxiety.

The symptoms of an anxiety disorder are often confused with the symptoms of a heart condition or heart attack. It is interesting that men are more often diagnosed with a heart condition rather than anxiety. Anxiety is usually more related to women because women are the sex that are more “emotional.”

Men who are affected with anxiety are more likely to attempt to self-diagnose and self-treat than their female counterparts. This also leads experts to suspect that this may be the reason that women are twice as likely to be affected by anxiety than men. Women simply seek out help naturally while men naturally seek to “fix” the problem on their own rather than seem “weak” by seeking out help from others – including medical professionals.

An adult cannot fully understand why there is any reason for a child to be anxious. They do not have bills to pay, deadlines to meet or jobs to complete. Children do experience anxiety, however, and it can evolve into a disorder similar to the anxiety disorders that adults sometimes experience.

Children may experience feelings of low self-esteem and feel as though they are not smart. This can lead to anxiety about any type of academic task that is put in front of them. Other children remain aloof or unsocial because they have a social fear or anxiety. School often proves to cause some severe anxiety in many children because of the social and intellectual skills required to make it through the school day.

Have you noticed the pressures that are put on teens these days just to get into college? A good grade point average and a few extra curricular activities are not enough anymore. Teens need to have a great grade point average, have a job, show they have volunteered for numerous activities or groups, participated in sports, and organized school clubs as well as belong to various professional organizations in the area where they are hoping to major. Sound a little stressful?

Now, throw in the maintenance of friendships, boyfriends or girlfriends, parents, and self-esteem. Teens clearly have a lot to be anxious about. Even though some degree of anxiety is normal, severe anxiety can cause a teen’s world to turn upside down.