BAZA ZNANJA

Kurs: -- English - Upper-Intermediate

Modul: Conditionals

Autor: prof. Gordana Matorkić

Naziv jedinice: Are You Worried a Lot

Ana is 33, she is happily married and a mother of two beautiful children. However, she often goes through crisis periods of her life when she feels inexplicable fear that something horrible will happen to her children.

"Sometimes I can't sleep for days because I worry so much. I wake up in the middle of the night, all sweaty, worried because my 4-year-old daughter has to cross the street all by herself, on her way to the kindergarten. Even though I try to drive away these black thoughts, I don't seem to succeed at all. If it isn't the children I am worried about, then it is a thought that someone will get seriously ill. There's no way I can relax, I'm always tense and I can't sleep. The next day I'm absolutely exhausted, nervous and irritated. I'm afraid I'll go mad if this still continues.", Ana says.

A lot of women can recognise their own problems in Ana's story. As the speed of life in the 21st century has grown enormously, it's normal that some negative facts like stress, anxiety, increased nervousness, fears and consistent trepidation have also followed. According to some research, more than 5.5 million people in the UK suffer from some form of mental disorder and every fourth from depression.

The opportunity for earning a lot of money and living comfortably can easily cause stress. As our everyday life is richer with some "details", it gets harder for us to keep it under control. 100 years ago it was normal for a woman to die while delivering a child, to lose at least one child during her life or to experience any kind of similar personal tragedy. Today, with a high level of medical services, the quality of life has improved drastically and people have started worrying about things which could happen. The percentage of people suffering from phobias or panic attacks is steeply rising from one decade to another. In 1977 it was 12%, in 1985 31% and last year it climbed an incredible number of 57%. In the last three years more than 13 million working hours have been lost because people didn't come to work due to fears or depression. A great number of them declared that they are mostly terrified by terrorist's attacks and earthquakes and they were forced to take sedatives.

The good thing is that people are gradually becoming more and more open to admit their problems. Today people ashamed of the fact that their nervous system is "overloaded" are quite rare. The worst choice is to sit and do nothing, instead of realizing that panic, heart palpitation, difficulties with breathing and disorientation are undoubtedly leading to anxiety and depression. Doctors and supportive environment can help these people feel more secure and ready to face reality. 

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