Anxiety is a normal emotion and a powerful motivator.
Mild to moderate levels of anxiety improve the ability to cope, reactions become faster, understanding is better and responses are more appropriate. High levels of anxiety reduce the capacity to plan, make accurate judgements, carry out skilled tasks, and comprehend useful information. Anxiolytic drugs can remove high anxiety, but at the risk of removing the moderate levels of anxiety that are an important aid to performance. Anxiety disorders are curable, given a skilful practitioner and a hard-working patient. On to section 5.3 . . .