Anxiety: The Facts! Test your knowledge QUIZ

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TRUE. When faced with danger, your body goes through lots of changes in order to get you ready to protect yourself. Your body revs up (e.g., muscles tense up) and you are ready to strike out at danger, make a safe getaway or hold still until the danger passes.

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FALSE: Your body is designed to react to danger. The changes you feel in your body are adaptive, which means they are meant to keep you safe. For example, your heart makes sure that blood and oxygen is being pumped to major muscles like your biceps or thighs. This gives you the energy and power to strike out at danger or to run away as fast as you can. These changes might feel uncomfortable or annoying, but they’re not dangerous.

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TRUE: Sometimes anxiety feels like it could go on forever. However, eventually it always goes away or lessens. Just like your body is designed to rev up to protect you from danger, your body is also designed to dial down at some point. It may take a little time, but it will come down.

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FALSE: Everyone feels anxiety at times. For example, most people feel anxious on the first day of school, before a final exam, or at a job interview. The only difference between people is how often, how easily, and how much anxiety they experience.

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FALSE: Anxiety can feel really loud to you. It’s like listening to music on your phone full blast with your earphones. But, most other people don’t really notice (except maybe those closest to you like your parents or best friend). Having anxiety is like someone walking by you on the sidewalk while you’re listening to your music with earphones, they only hear a quiet muffled sound, if anything.

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FALSE: Although sometimes we can feel really overwhelmed or panicky when we’re anxious, we’re not going to lose control or go crazy. That’s just not what happens when we’re anxious.

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TRUE: Anxiety problems are quite common. In fact, 1 in 4 teens will experience some type of problem with anxiety at some point. If you struggle with anxiety – you are not alone!

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FALSE: Having anxiety problems does not mean there is anything wrong with you. It has nothing to do with strength. In fact, there are lots of famous and successful people with anxiety problems. For example, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Zayn Malik, Lady Gaga, Adele, Selena Gomez, David Beckham, and John Mayer, just to name a few! However, it does take strength to acknowledge that anxiety is a problem for you and to take steps to deal with it.

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FALSE: If anxiety is a problem for you, there is a lot you can do! You can learn strategies to relax, challenge worrisome thinking, and face your fears. You can take control of managing your anxiety, so it doesn’t hold you back! You have taken the first step already by visiting this site.

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FALSE: When you struggle with anxiety, it’s not as simple as just telling yourself to “relax.” Most people have to learn some new coping strategies that will help them better deal with anxiety. The good news is that there is help available. And this website and the MindShift CBT app are great places to start.