Linking A nxiety, Emotion, and Mindfulness 33
Dispositional anxiety, on the other hand, is a characteristic
way of responding to anxiety-inducing, stressful situations.
A person with dispositional anxiety might be prone to expe-
riencing anxiety in multiple areas of his or her life. For
example, a person with dispositional anxiety might often
feel restless or nervous, worry too much, and have difficulty
making decisions at work, at school, at home, and in social
interactions.
Anxiety can further be measured according to its inten-
sity and severity. Many mental health care professionals
consider anxiety to exist on a spectrum, with symptoms
ranging from mild to severe. Imagine that your good friend,
who has a fear of f lying, has an upcoming trip mandated by
work. Your friend’s anxiety reaction will be either enhanced
or diminished depending on his or her initial level of fear. If
your friend has only a slight fear of f lying, he or she may
experience slight tension, vague restlessness, and some
intermittent worries about landing safely. Severe anxiety, on
the other hand, might lead your friend to feel intense dis-
tress. Your friend may have a full- blown panic attack, attempt
to exit the plane before takeoff, drink heavily before board-
ing to try to cope with the trip, or even plan to avoid f lying
altogether. Essentially, your level of anxiety, which is
informed by how you think and feel about the situation (for
example, Airplanes are dangerous; therefore, I must avoid them
at all costs or I will feel too anxious or die!), affects the degree
to which you experience distressing symptoms. The amount
of distress you experience directly relates to both the inten-
sity and the severity of your symptoms.
The following exercise (available for download at the
website for this book) will help you track symptoms of