Anxiety can be characterized as emotions which are typically negative in nature. It usually consists of fear and worry, and some people may even feel physical manifestations such as nausea or chest pains. Anxiety is a complex emotion and is made up of a number of different features. Some of these features are physical or mental, and the body will ready itself to cope with an external danger. The heart rate gets faster, and the blood pressure is increased. The various muscles in the body will also receive increased amounts of blood. Simultaneously, the activity of the digestive system will slow down.

People who have anxiety will generally have a sense of dread. Several voluntary and involuntary processes will occur in the body, and the goal of these processes is to get the person away from the origin of the anxiety. Anxiety is an important emotion and is intended to increase the survival rate of human beings. It does this by triggering the "fight or flight" response, a built-in mechanism to shelter us from danger.

While anxiety is natural, someone who has disproportionate amounts of it may experience what is called an anxiety disorder. In acute cases, people with anxiety disorders may have strong cases where they are terror-stricken. Anxiety disorders can include phobias, panic disorders, generalized anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders.

Someone who is suffering from a phobia will have an abnormal amount of fear of a certain object or event. Individuals who have phobias tend to have extensive imaginations and realize that their fear is often irrational.

When someone has a panic disorder, they will have severe panic attacks and may have dizziness or breathing problems. These attacks will customarily reach their peak in about 10 minutes.

Generalized anxiety disorders are common and affect a much larger segment of the population. They are widespread in both men and women and are characterized by prolonged periods of anxiety that are not linked to any particular thing or event.

In the case of an obsessive compulsive disorder, the person will have an obsession or compulsion when it comes to certain types of conduct. People who suffer from this disorder will imagine the need to do something obsessively in order to lower their anxiety, such as washing their hands numerous times a day.

There are several methods that are used to help those who suffer from anxiety, some of which include medication, psychotherapy and natural techniques.