The Science of Stress

It's 4 a.m., and you're wide awake...heart racing, palms sweaty. You're worried about your children. Your aging parents. Your investments. Your health. Your sex life. Breathing tranquilly beside you, your spouse is seemingly unaware. Don't they see the dangers that lurk around every corner? They must not. Otherwise, how could they, with all that's going on in the world, have talked so calmly at dinner last night about flying to Las Vegas for a vacation?

How is it that two people facing the same circumstances can react so differently? Why are some folks pummelled by the hardships of life while others glide through them with great calm and ease? Are some of us just born more nervous than others? And if you're one of them, is there anything that can be done about it?

The answer to these questions is the emotional response we call anxiety. Unlike hunger or thirst, which increase and vanish in the immediate present, anxiety is the sort of feeling that sneaks up on you from the day after tomorrow. It's supposed to keep you from feeling too safe and without it, few of us would survive.

All animals, especially the small, scurrying kind, appear to feel anxiety. Humans have felt it since the days they shared the planet with mammoths. One of the mysteries of anxiety is that while it is a normal response to physical danger...and can be a useful tool for focusing the mind when there's an imminent deadline...anxiety becomes a problem when it persists too long beyond the immediate threat. Sometimes there's an obvious cause, as with the shell-shocked soldiers of World War I or the terror-scarred civilians of the World Trade Center collapse. Other times, we don't know why we can't stop feeling anxious.

Anxiety disorder...which is what experts call any anxiety that persists to the point that it interferes with one's life...is the most common mental illness in the U.S. In its various forms, ranging from very specific phobias to generalized anxiety disorder, it afflicts nearly 20 million Americans. And yet, according to a survey published January, 2002 by researchers from UCLA, less than one fourth of Americans with anxiety disorders receive any kind of treatment for their condition.

In recent years researchers have made important progress in understanding the underlying science of anxiety. In the past decade, they have come to appreciate that whatever the factors that trigger anxiety, it grows out of a response that is hardwired in our brains. They have learned, among other things:

• There is a genetic component to anxiety; some people seem to be born worriers.

• Brain scans can reveal differences in the way patients who suffer from anxiety disorders respond to danger signals.

• Due to a shortcut in our brain's information-processing system, we can respond to threats before we become aware of them.

• The root of an anxiety disorder may not be the threat that triggers it but a breakdown in the mechanism that keeps the anxiety response from careering out of control.

Though we all have our own perception of what the words stress and fear mean, scientists use these words in very specific ways. For them, stress is an external stimulus that signals danger, often by causing pain. Fear is the short-term response such stresses produce in men and women. Anxiety has a lot of the same symptoms as fear, but it's a feeling that persists long after the stress has lifted and the threat has passed.

Try to take a positive outlook on your anxiety, taking one day at a time. Don't be too hard on yourself. Learning to deal with your anxiety can be extremely difficult and may take some time. If possible, try to face the things or situations that make you anxious, and feel confident about being able to cope with your anxiety.

It is important to find ways of motivating yourself, such as setting small and achievable goals. It is sometimes helpful to make a list of particular problems or difficult situations that you would like to overcome and attempt them step-by-step. The important thing is to address the problem.

Look for social and personal support from other people who have suffered from an anxiety condition, as well as from their friends and family. They can look for this support in the form of self-help groups and networks, through Internet communities and self help sites. This is becoming increasingly important, as feeling that you are not alone is a large part of the difficulties faced by those with anxiety conditions.