What does “anxiety” mean?

anxiety


Oh, this is a really important word to know!

Anxiety is that uncomfortable, worried feeling you get when you're nervous about something — like something bad might happen, even if it probably won't.

So imagine you have a big test tomorrow. Your heart beats fast, your stomach feels tight, you can't stop thinking "what if I fail?" That feeling? That's anxiety. Or maybe you're about to meet new people and you just feel really uneasy and scared — yep, anxiety again.

You might hear someone say "I have a lot of anxiety about my job interview" or "Flying gives me anxiety." It can be a small nervous feeling, or for some people it's a bigger, ongoing thing that's hard to control.

Basically, anxiety is worry and fear about what might happen — even when everything is actually okay.

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