There are three parts to anxiety (or worry as we often call it), physical feelings, thoughts and behaviours.

 

Physical Feelings:

At the time we are feeling worried, we may notice:

Dizziness

Sick feeling in the stomach

Tightness in the chest or shoulders

Sweating

Shaking

Fast heart beat

Short breath and difficulty breathing

Needing to go to the toilet

Feeling like crying

 

When a lot of these feelings happen all together it is called a "Panic Attack".

 

When someone feels anxious over a long period of time they can:

Feel restless

Feel easily tired

Have difficulties concentrating

Have difficulties sleeping

Feel tense

Feel irritable/grumpy

 

Thoughts:

Thoughts play an important role.

Some thoughts that come with worry are:

Thinking something really bad is going to happen

Fearing losing control or going crazy

Fear of dying or being really unwell

Lots of negative thoughts including "I can't do this".

 

Behaviours/Actions:

People respond in different ways to 'anxiety' including:

Freezing

Crying

Getting angry/grumpy

 

Avoiding the thing that makes you anxious (avoidance) is a common responce. AVOIDANCE - stops the worry at the time, but it can mean we end up missing out on things, and we never learn that we can be strong than the worry. Avoidance lets the worry win!

 

Some types of anxiety:

ALthough everyone gets worried at times it becomes a problem when the worry, won't go away. Worry that won't go away often leads to avoidance and a loss of pleasure in life.

 

Panic Disorder:

Worry that gets out of control (panic attacks) can lead people to avoid situations and places. When this happens people are said to have a phobia.

 

Phobias:

Take many forms and can be a fear of:

Certain animals

Injections and blood

School

Parties and social situations

Lifts

Buses

 

Worry can take other forms, examples are:

Separation Anxiety Disorder

Excessive worry about separation from home or main caregivers.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Excessive general worry that is difficult to control and doesn't go away.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Recurrent intrusive thoughts or impulses that lead to compulsive behaviours to decrease the worrying.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Excessive anxiety experienced following trauma of some kind.

 

Feeling anxious does not mean that we are going mad and worrying excessively is in the majority of cases, a learned behaviour. People can become very anxious after experiencing trauma of some kind, for example, being beaten up. Anxiety is a feeling everybody experiences at sometime in their life and it is only a problem when it gets out of control. The good news is that we can learn to control anxiety instead of letting it control us! Psychologists and counsellors who have been trained to help people deal with anxiety can help.

 

If you would like to download a copy of this information,   click here for a PDF copy