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This Web site is a component of the SAMHSA Health Information Network.

Mental Health Topics

Stress and Anxiety

Stress is the body's response to any demand or pressure. These demands are called stressors. Whatever the stressor is, it requires the body to make physical and chemical adjustments. If high levels of stress continue, energy to adapt runs out. Anxiety disorders are illnesses that fill people's lives with overwhelming anxiety and fear that are chronic, unremitting, and can grow progressively worse. Tormented by panic attacks, obsessive thoughts, flashbacks of traumatic events, nightmares, or countless frightening physical symptoms, some people with anxiety disorders even become housebound.

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