Fear differs from fear in that it is about something specific. We can be afraid of a storm, an exam, narrow rooms or a fall from a height. The threat may not necessarily be real, but there is an answer to the question: what are you afraid of? Fear, on the other hand, is general and amorphous. We feel that “something bad is going to happen”, but we are unable to determine exactly what it would be.
Psychological factors play a major role here, while symptoms may also appear in physical form (sweating, abdominal pain, insomnia).
Symptoms of anxiety and fear disorders:
- panic attacks
- overly stressful reaction to non-threatening situations
- phobias, i.e. overly anxious reactions to threats
- nervousness that prevents you from taking simple actions
- frequent reporting of unhealthy physical conditions
- compulsion to repeat certain activities – these are called compulsions, they are intended
- to remove the source of anxiety
The person with anxiety and fear disorders usually realizes that their fears are exaggerated or even unfounded. However, this does not change the fact that he feels very strong emotions that he cannot get rid of except by removing their sources.