Regular anxiety versus problem anxiety.

We get lots of questions about anxiety and “what to do”. Most of questions have answers that the asker already knows. Most of the time, the way to deal with anxiety is to take care of whatever is making anxious. A small number of questions often seem to want PowerPapers staff to diagnose whether or not they have an anxiety disorder. We can’t possibly do that, but we can describe some features of normal and abnormal anxiety according to research findings.

It is normal to feel anxious about new classes, new experiences, and tests of your knowledge, especially those that are public and/ or will result in a grade. That you have anxiety is not a problem, in fact healthy anxiety helps you concentrate, recall, and even stay up an extra hour or so. Once again, that you have anxiety is not the problem.

If you think you have anxiety and skipping your second cup of coffee eliminates it, you probably don’t have anxiety, but a slight sensitivity to caffeine. Skipping caffeine doesn’t do anything to treat either normal or clinical levels of anxiety. If drinking coffee makes you feel worse, don’t do it. If it doesn’t make you feel worse to drink another cup, then enjoy.

If your anxiety is at a level that it interferes with your studying, test taking, etc., consistently, then you may need to see a counselor or physician. If you worry about something, take care of it, and then get on with your life, you are just living. If the anxiety is making things worse, you might have “too much” anxiety. Look for coping mechanisms and ways to address it (more rest, better nutrition, light exercise, outsourcing some of your personal or school responsibilities) and if those help, then you are all set. If they don’t, consider a counselor or physician.