The term anxiety can be experienced at different levels to certain people. Several factors
affect the level or degree of severity of anxiety felt by a person. These factors include: the
personality of the person, coping mechanisms and the stimulus for the anxiety.
There are four recognized levels of anxiety, each level becoming more severe and less
helpful to the body.
- Mild - This is the first level of anxiety which is considered beneficial during stress situations. In mild anxiety, the person has a vague awareness that there is something out of the extraordinary and the body copes up with heightening the sensing and preparing the body for the stress ahead. Slight restlessness and increased focus is often characteristic of mild anxiety. Most people contend that mild anxiety is beneficial in the sense that it increases learning, focus, goal orientation and body response. For example, a student taking a test with mild anxiety can create ways to be more focused during the test and do well due to the mild anxiety response.
- Moderate - This level of anxiety has more profound symptoms than the mild stage. In moderate anxiety situations, the person has a little difficulty with concentrating at the task at hand and can get distracted fairly easily. There are more negative effects on the body such as excessive sweating, headache, frequent urination and other uncomfortable symptoms. Breathing exercises and other relaxation techniques can be done to help bring the person back to the beneficial level of mild anxiety.
- Severe - When the stress provoking situation is too strong, a person can go into the severe stage of anxiety. In this level, all the beneficial effects of anxiety cannot be seen anymore because the body is responding too strongly to the stress stimulus. It is very hard for a person to focus and mannerisms and other ritualistic behavior is commonly observed. The person suffering from severe anxiety experiences profound physiologic or bodily symptoms that can possibly bring harm such as a very fast heart beat, trembling or shaking, paleness, chest pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and other uncomfortable symptoms.
- Panic - In panic, the worst level of anxiety, the body responses to stress become too strong and the person reverts to fairly primitive ways of defending oneself. The person may have irrational thoughts and have an overwhelming desire to flee from the stressful situation. Perception is often distorted and a person can even become paralyzed or immobile from the overwhelming stress response. The person can become violent in this stage and it is important to protect the person in panic from danger from himself and the environment.