3. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
More than 40-million Americans experience some form of general anxiety disorder. While it’s common to feel a touch of anxiety during stressful situations, it becomes a problem when you can’t control your emotions and biological response to stress. Anxiety is very different from stress. Stress is a physiological response to an external stimulus, whereas anxiety is a nervous system disorder that affects behavior.
People living with symptoms of high anxiety typically produce too much cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. Cortisol governs the “fight-or-flight” response we receive during exposure to a threat. However, when the body produces too much cortisol, it leads to anxiety and an increase in heart rate, as well as respiration.
In this heightened state of “fear,” the body begins to sweat as a means to control body temperature while you’re dealing with the challenge in front of you that’s peaking your anxiety. It’s possible to treat anxiety through the use of medications and changes to lifestyle.