Anxiety can haunt a person anytime and anywhere.
This fear of the unknown does not choose any age as the experience of being anxious can occur throughout lifespan.
More difficult to deal with is when anxiety strikes even at the time when you are supposed to be resting.
Thus, it can prevent one from having a good night sleep.
It actually falls under the psychological causes of insomnia.
All the feelings of increased tension, apprehension, and feelings of helplessness, fear, and worry may affect sleep.
In contrast to fear, when one fears something, the source of the negative or ill reactions can be pinpointed.
Thus, the stimulus initiating that unpleasant situation can be easily avoided.
Both are actually a part of normal everyday occurrences of life.
No one can confidently claim that he or she has nothing to fear about life at all.
Unavoidably, all of us will feel it from time to time.
What is said to be abnormal are those anxieties which are prolonged and intense, serious enough to affect one's overall functioning.
Symptoms of anxiety disorders vary depending on the level of anxiety a person has.
It is categorized into mild, moderate, severe and panic-attack levels.
Those who have mild anxiety are still talkative.
While they sit restlessly, there is still widened perceptual field and enhanced learning experience.
At this mild stage, there is no significant change yet in the vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, etc.
) Those with moderate anxiety on the other hand are pacing with selective inattention and they are noticeably stuttering.
At this time, there is already slight increase in vital signs.
With severe anxiety, there is now remarkable increase in vital signs.
Heart rate goes up and breathing becomes faster.
At this time, the patient is no longer capable of arriving at sound decisions.
Lastly, those with panic attacks (highest level of anxiety) are already silent and there's critical increase in vital signs.
The highest priority at this time is safety because the person is capable of inflicting harm even to self.
In introspecting where all these feelings come form, experts say that it all originates from an interplay of environmental, psychological, and biological factors, with stress and life events requiring adaptation or change and early familial and school experiences, being the most critical.
One source of anxiety is stress.
Stress is said to be a highly aroused state, characterized by aversive emotional experience.
Anxiety is builds up as part of the emotional experience such that when one experiences something that is negative, naturally, the body will build up tension that is aversive of the negative stress experience.
Similarly, uncertainty is another trigger of anxiety.
Life in itself is full of uncertainties since no one can accurately predict what will happen in the future.
Uncertainties all build up more during life transitions and major changes.
There are also some people who unfortunately had to go through tough life experiences which are said to be traumatic and this made them develop post traumatic stress disorders.
It is characterized by recurring intrusive thoughts and reliving of the trauma, psychic numbing, hyperarousal, and sleep disturbances.
Also crucial are the growing years where developmental factors, child rearing, and school experiences come in.
  Lack of clear family rules, a strong concern for a family's reputation, a poor relationship with the father, and frequent criticism and disagreement can be a source of anxiety.
It can also develop from academic doubts and fears and separation from parents.
While some grown ups use certain concepts / figures to intentionally scare or in a way discipline the children, it should always be noted that parental support, child-rearing style, authoritarian personality of the mother, and even teachers' authoritarian attitudes, are all linked to childhood anxiety.
Finally, it may build up along with the events that are associated with aging.
Bodily symptoms and changes in health may produce these symptoms.
Along with this is the fear of death or dying.