CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Overview of Anxiety

Anxiety disorders involve a state of distressing chronic but fluctuating nervousness that

is inappropriately severe for the person's circumstances. Anxiety is a normal response to a threat

or to psychologic stress and is experienced occasionally by everyone. Normal anxiety has its root

in fear and serves an important survival function. When someone is faced with a dangerous

situation, anxiety triggers the fight-or-flight response. With this response, a variety of physical

changes, such as increased blood flow to the heart and muscles, provide the body with the

necessary energy and strength to deal with life-threatening situations, such as running from an

aggressive animal or fighting off an attacker. However, when anxiety occurs at inappropriate

times, occurs frequently, or is so intense and long-lasting that it interferes with a person's normal

activities, it is considered a disorder.(Greist,n.d.)

External Factors and Reasons of Anxiety

These common external factors can cause anxiety,stress at work and school,stress in a

personal relationship such as marriage,financial stress,stress from an emotional trauma such as the

death of a loved one,stress from a serious medical illness,side effect of medication,use of an illicit

drug, such as cocaine,symptom of a medical illness (such as heart attack, heat

stroke, hypoglycemia),and lack of oxygen in circumstances as diverse as high altitude

sickness, emphysema, or pulmonary embolism(Goldberg 2016).

Students with high level anxiety show significantly less motivation in classrooms

perceived as highly evaluative compared to students with low level anxiety (Hancock, 2001).

Researchers have looking at the correlation of anxiety sources and the effect of students’

academic performance, in term, students’ high level of anxiety achieved low academic

[Link] level of anxiety also interferes with concentration and memory, which are

critical for academic success. However, most of students would lack the concentration of study

because of exam anxiety, social anxiety, mathematic anxiety, and many anxiety sources. Feeling

discomfort and anxious in the classroom does not enhance learning of any kind. The anxiety’s

psychological symptoms among students include feeling nervous before a study class, panicking,

going blank during a test, feeling helpless while doing assignments, or lack of interest of subjects

difficult whereas the physiological symptoms include sweaty palms, racing heartbeat, or an upset
 17

stomach. Anxiety is a psychological and physical response to treat a self-concept characterized

by subjective, consciously perceived feelings of tension (Spielberger, 1983).

Anxious students have experience of cognitive deficits like misapprehension of

information or blocking of memory and recall. Speilberger reported two forms of anxiety: state

anxiety – a response to a particular stimulation or set of circumstances, and trait anxiety – an

intrinsic characteristic of the person. Previous anxiety research suggests that there are roughly

two types that can be experienced at different psychological levels(Spielberger, 1966).

Struggles of Having Anxiety

Anxiety and panic are real and a person cannot simply relax or snap out of it on
command. The fears encompass the person completely. They need compassion,
patience, reassurance, and true care from family, friends, teachers, therapists, or staff
people who are in their lives. Because someone has ASD does not make the anxiety or
panic any less real to them. For them, due to the impact of their ASD (difficulty
understanding abstract ideas or feelings), the anxiety and panic might become
greater. Support people must begin to pay closer attention to the words anxiety,
anxious, panic, etc. when they appear in reports or IEPs. They are not just
words. They indicate real emotions that impact a person completely and can inhibit
them from performing even simple tasks. In fact, the anxiety or panic may be more
debilitating than their ASD. It is up to those who support individuals with ASD to be
aware of anxiety and panic struggles and more important learn the best ways to provide
the type of support that is truly helpful and allows the person to move through the fears
and trust that they are safe and in good hands(Bellini,2004)

Anxiety is contrast to the big and bold personalities of those people who
have [Link] would never guess [Link] never know when to fight
and their self-angst is maxed [Link] are often the life of the party but can
also be mind-numbingly introspective, questioning [Link] are kind of
a conundrum because they love people and need to be surrounded by people to
be happy,but over-thinking and apprehension to immediately trust someone is, in fact,
what makes them very selective about who should surround [Link] might mean
that they have lots of friends or acquaintances but very few close friends who we
share their world with. But then when they wake up in the morning and of
course,they are over-thinking everything.
 18

.
 19

Differences in background, appearance, language, social and emotional development, all

can affect whether a student fits in or not. Not fitting in can lead to being isolated, rejected, and

even bullied and coming to school each day fearful and anxious. Relationships with peers are

always on a student’s mind. Concerns arise from such matters as not having enough friends, not

having the right friends, not being in the same class as friends, experiencing peer pressure and

interpersonal conflicts. And, there is the problem of bullying, which now has gone high tech

(e.g., using the internet, cell phones) making the behaviour easier, anonymous, and more

prevalent. While personal factors can affect relationships with teachers, classroom demands are

more frequent sources of stress and anxiety (e.g., assignments, schedules, tasks). With test scores

so heavily weighted and publicized, teachers are under great pressure to produce high test scores

and that pressure is passed on to their students. The emphasis on enhancing school readiness and

performance has filtered down to pre-school and kindergarten. A decade ago, kindergarten was a

much more leisurely transition to first grade. And, of course, anxiety about being evaluated (e.g.,

tested and graded) is commonplace among students and can hinder performance. Pressures in

meeting academic demands also can be exacerbated by too many extracurricular activities. And

for high school students, there is the added stress of college and career preparation. The overload

of activities and demands can cut students off from essential supports, hamper sleep, interfere

with learning and development, and affect physical and mental health. Schools that do too little

to address interpersonal and academic related stress-ors can expect a great many anxiety-related

learning, behaviour, and emotional problems.