What is Anxiety?
Written by, Mak Estill
Anxiety, Panic & Life Coach + founder and owner of Actionable Anxiety®
First published 12/04/2025 ~ Last updated 12/05/2025
Anxiety, in one sentence or less 👉 is the body’s fear response cycle to the body’s fear response cycle.
That may not first sound like a “simple” and “easy to understand” explanation of anxiety, but I got a few examples to share that will help clear things up for you - FAST!
But before I break this down further …
Let’s first get clear on why you aren’t yet clear about what the heck anxiety really is — AND 🤪 — why the continued confusion is definitely not your fault.
Secondly, I’ll share with you why, as an Anxiety, Panic & Life Coach 🙋🏼♀️, I choose this definition of anxiety amidst all the noise, chatter, opinions and variations of definitions (including from other anxiety specialists).
And then we’ll end it with a quick note about what adopting this understanding of anxiety can mean for you moving forward (*spoiler alert* → you’ve got some great news coming! 🎉).
So let’s dive in 🐬💦👇.
Why you’re still asking, “What’s anxiety?”
And why you keep craving a simple, easy to understand definition.
Well first off …
I’m going to guess you’ve been busying yourself typing in “What is anxiety?” into Google, YouTube, Chat GPT, etc.
And if so … I’m going to guess a lot of content popped up for you 👍.
But I would bet money …
That 95% of what was presented to you …
Was info about common anxiety symptoms and associated disorders – things like General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, etc – while 5% of what was presented to you only sorta-kinda-somewhat began to address the question you’re asking → “What is anxiety?”.
But the drama doesn’t end there …
Because I would also bet money that out of that whopping 5% …99% of that 5% were overly generic one liners that likely left you just as confused (maybe even more so 🤷♀️) as you were when you first started your online search.
One liners, such as …
Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, worry, apprehension, and uneasiness.
Anxiety is a natural human response to stress or perceived danger.
And if you feel like you’ve yet to walk away with a new, shiny, totally worthwhile, totally empowering, and totally actionable understanding of anxiety … then it’s likely because you’re a smart cookie … and you’ve been contemplating very reasonable and logical questions, such as:
🤔 - If anxiety is a feeling of fear, then how is anxiety different from fear?
🤔 - And if anxiety is a feeling of worry, then how is anxiety different from just plain old worrying?
🤔 - And if anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness, then how is anxiety different from the day-to-day discomforts of being a human?
If you’re asking these (or similar) questions, then you get an A+++++ in my book.
Because most people (including many professional practitioners) aren’t thoroughly asking these questions, and therefore don’t have crystal clear answers to gift you when you come knocking on their door asking them the magic question → “What exactly is anxiety?”.
This experience leaves you … the precious reader … YouTube viewer … social media peruser … ChatGPT goer … and late night Google-er …
TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY BEFUDDLED.
Just as you were before 🫠 🤷🏼♀️.
And wouldn’t it be oh-so-freaking-game-changing for you to ACTUALLY know what the heck anxiety really is?
And especially before you start spending any time or money trying to “reduce”, “heal”, or “regulate” the damn thing?
As an Anxiety, Panic & Life Coach 🙋🏼♀️, I believe the answer is a big whopping HECK YES!
It’s actually my #1 tippy-top tip for anxiety sufferers, and why I start most of my new clients off with a highly focused, potent conversation about this oh-so-elusive question → “What is anxiety?”
An anxiety coach’s simple definition of anxiety
Anxiety, in one sentence or less 👉 is the body’s fear response cycle to the body’s fear response cycle.
I explain this in various ways to various people, depending on how I best guess it’s going to “stick” for them and influence empowered action for their life moving forward …
But overall, here’s …
How anxiety works (explained simply)
When we fear something … ANYTHING … ANYTHING AT ALL …
👉 Like failing out of school …
👉 Or not looking attractive on a date …
👉 Or being judged by others on social media …
👉 Or saying something unprofessional during an interview …
Our body will move into some version of the “fight-flight-or-freeze” response, even if it’s at the smallest, almost inconceivable level.
YES 🎯 - this is true.
And I bet you’ve heard the term “fight-flight-or-freeze” response a million times in your research on anxiety.
But the “fight-flight-or-freeze” response is, in and of itself, not anxiety.
That’s why if you were to interview a survivor who just successfully outran a robber chasing her down the street - WITH A WEAPON IN HAND 😮 🔫 - if she felt “anxious”, she would look at you a bit oddly … responding, “Ummm no? Not really? I was too busy running? I had to go! My life depended on it.”
That is fear.
Now let’s take a different, but similar example …
Let’s say you were to stop a woman who you saw running down the street frantically.
You say to her … “My gosh?! Miss! Are you alright? Is someone after you?!”
And she responds … “NO! Nobody is after me. I can’t breathe though. Help me. I think something’s wrong. I feel my world is closing in.”
That is anxiety.
The woman running down the street (in this second example) had been experiencing fear (likely a lot of fear … about a lot of different things in her life) …
And her body started producing symptoms associated with the fight-flight-or-freeze response, things like:
📈 🫀 an increased heart rate + …
📉 🧠 slower executive functioning + …
👀 hyper environmental awareness + …
😵💫 strange vision
AND THEN …
A facet of her mind started to fear the sensory experience she was having from that party bag of symptoms.
This fear, about the way she was feeling, then ignited a new and different fear response cycle (i.e. 👉 the body produced a fear response cycle to the body’s first initial fear response cycle).
That is anxiety.
And when unchecked … 🔄 😵💫 🔄 😵💫 🔄 😵💫 🔄
We eventually get to “panic”.
Which is the woman running down the street saying it feels like her world is closing in on itself and - LITERALLY - running from herself (yes, her own literal body).
That was me in my 20s 🙋🏼♀️. I was leading the panic parade.
If there was an award given 🫴 🥇, I would have won “Miss Professional Panicker”.
And the reason it’s much easier to explain what anxiety is using an example of “panic”, is because panic is the crème de la crème of anxiety.
It’s ANXIETY spelled with all caps.
It’s the tippy-top, peak pinnacle, highest expression of anxiety that the human body can experience ⬆️ 🏔️.
But there are millions of people riddled with “anxiety” that never actually experience panic, and who aren’t necessarily sitting there in their home thinking that they’re “feeling fearful about their body’s own fear response cycle.”
Instead, most people think they are feeling anxious about all the things unfolding in their life (their husband’s affair, their upcoming school exam, being able to pay the next electricity bill on time, feeling lost and without purpose, wondering if they will ever be able to truly become sober, etc).
But what’s actually going on (in an ultra watered-down, rapid fire, simplistic explanation) is that someone is sitting there worried about their school exam that’s taking place tomorrow morning … and starts to feel bodily sensations associated with fear … and then either consciously (or more likely, subconsciously) starts to hate the way they feel, and begin to create meaning and suboptimal interpretation around that feeling.
This leads to further feelings of yuckiness in their mind and body, which can start a sensory-spiraling-shit-show that can so easily end up never really shutting off 🫠 🔄.
Which is why you can hear people say “I’ve been anxious for as long as I can remember.”
Your next steps, whether you’re experiencing ‘‘anxiety” or not
As an Anxiety, Panic & Life Coach 🙋🏼♀️, I would say 75% of people that come to me for help with their “anxiety” are – by my definition – NOT experiencing any anxiety at all.
WHAT?! 😮 🫨😮 🫨😮 🫨😮 🫨
I know 🤭.
It’s a bit risky to say.
But it doesn’t matter either way 🤷🏼♀️.
And if anything … that should really be considered great news! 🎉
Because why have one more thing to “work on”, “heal”, “regulate”, etc?
Instead …
I find that the mass majority of people that come my way, are experiencing any arrangement and amalgamation of discomforts that come from fear – in and of itself!
We’re talking …
🫠 – hidden, undefined or difficult to understand fears
🫠 – prolonged fears
🫠 – and/or fears stacked on fears
Creating a mass amount of consistent discomfort in the body.
A slow drip of the fight-flight-or-freeze response (let’s call it … the “fear faucet💧”) that doesn’t really ever shut off.
So the fear faucet has been left on, and there is a slow drip of discomfort that is consistently leaking into your system, eventually leading to always feeling shitty and weird, and/or a flooding sensation of spiraling, losing control, etc.
Many people choose to call that sensory experience as “anxiety”.
I choose to call that phenomenon the “fear faucet being left on” 💧, which - in my world - is NOT the same as anxiety.
As an Anxiety, Panic & Life Coach 🙋🏼♀️, I do not choose to define anxiety the way that many others do, because I’ve seen a million times over and over again, how common definitions and explanations of anxiety do not help folks differentiate fear vs. worry vs. apprehension vs. uneasiness, etc.
Let alone …
Help us move forward with crystal clarity about …
1️⃣ - what it is we’re experiencing in our body?
2️⃣ - why we are experiencing it?
3️⃣ - and what there is to do about it?
For example …
👉 I have met MANY people that are worrying about something but are not anxious.
👉 And I have met MANY people that are fearful about something and not anxious.
👉 And I have met MANY people that are completely flooded and paralyzed by fear, but have never hyperventilated, or ran down the street, or landed themselves in the ER because they thought there was something wrong with their heart (a very common anxiety-sufferer experience).
So what does all this come down to? And for → YOU ← specifically.
Regardless of whether you want to accept my definition of anxiety or not …
And regardless of whether you actually are experiencing “anxiety”, or you’re experiencing the slow drip “fear faucet” …
IT’S ALL A GAME OF FEAR! It’s all one big freaking fear party 🎉 🤪.
And I’ve got a sneaky suspicion you are craving to learn how to master turning down the fear faucet, and stop feeling so freaking uncomfortable all the time.
Am I right? 🤔
This is why most of what I do is, in actuality, is fear coaching.
Whether my client is coming to me for “anxiety coaching”, “life coaching”, or both!
And if you too are looking to get crystal clear on:
💎 what anxiety is
💎 what there is to do about it
💎 and why all your dabblings and doings thus far haven’t gotten you diddly squat in terms of reducing your anxiety
Or …
If you are feeling so freaking ready to master turning down the fear faucet in your life🚰💧🫠💧🫠💧🫠💧…
Then I invite you to book us a time to chat and connect so we can explore what teaming up together will accomplish for you.
Often, folks benefit greatly from completing a single, potent session aimed at getting them a crystal clear understanding of anxiety (finally!), before crafting and pursuing their next action step - whatever that may be!
It’s a fair guess, that you’re also curious about …
👉 👀 📝 - How to Heal Your Anxiety?
👉 👀 📝 - #1 Tip for Reducing Anxiety
👉 👀 📝 - Therapy Not Helping Your Anxiety?
👉 👀 📝 - Anxiety vs Fear Explained
