Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of worry that serves as a useful tool to keep us alert and safe in challenging situations. In moderation, it helps us assess risks, make decisions, and stay motivated. However, when anxiety becomes excessive and persistent, it can affect your mental health and wellbeing.

Information about Anxiety

A recent survey has found that just over 1 in 3 people in the UK have a high level of anxiety. From that a greater proportion of women reported high levels of anxiety than men, over a quarter (26.6%) of women, compared with one in five men (20.0%).

Everyone experiences anxiety, nervousness or worry. These are normal responses to certain situations, for example, before sitting an exam or meeting someone new, these responses can help us identify potential risks by making us more alert. Sometimes, when the risk has passed, perhaps that exam isn’t as bad as you thought it would be, your anxiety reduces and you start to relax.

Anxiety affects all of us differently, what makes one person nervous might have little to no affect on someone else. Counselling can help you to explore situations that are making you feel anxious and ways to understand and manage your feelings.

What causes Anxiety?

At it’s root, anxiety is part of our “fight or flight” response to uncertain situations or potential outcomes. There is a chemical reaction that happens within our bodies that we can’t control, hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released to help us stay alert in what our brains perceive to be a potentially “dangerous” situation. When the situation has passed or there is no perceived danger, your body usually returns to normal.

Anxiety is a problem when it becomes excessive and persistent. People who have an anxiety disorder might find that their body never leaves the “fight or flight” response and so they continue to sense “danger” all around them. They can start to feel that things are worse than they really are.

What can Anxiety feel like?

Just as people can react differently to the same situation, anxiety can present itself in a variety of different ways both mentally and physically.

Mentally, people might experience: uncontrollable overthinking, catastrophising, feelings of dread or panic, lack of concentration, avoidance, problems with sleep, changes in their eating patterns, feeling irritable.

Physical symptoms may include: increased heart rate, faster breathing, sweating, tightening of muscles, dry mouth, shaking, stomach aches, hair loss, dizziness.

Useful tips to help with Anxiety

Acknowledging your anxiety can be the first step in feeling better. When we start to notice that we are feeling anxious, both mentally and/or physically, it gives us a chance to step back and assess our situation from another perspective - is the danger that we feel a fact or something that we are imagining?

Breathing exercises, such as “box breathing” (breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds. Repeat until feeling more centred) can cognitively send your body signals to relax. Part of the “fight or flight” response is faster breathing, by consciously slowing down how you breathe, your brain can lower it’s sense of danger.

Avoidance doesn’t help. Sometimes we can avoid certain situations as they make us feel anxious, while there is temporary mental relief, in the long term, we never find out if we could manage those situations or if they are as bad as we think. The more you avoid, the more anxious you will probably feel as the “danger” never goes away.

How can counselling help?

Counselling gives you a space to explore why you might be feeling anxious and the reasons behind the feeling. Through an approach such as CBT, you can explore your fears and start to assess and reframe your thoughts.

Working with a counsellor, you can identify and challenge negative thought patterns and learn coping strategies to manage anxiety. Over time, you can explore triggers, and your counsellor can provide support, empathy, and practical tools to reduce anxiety's impact.

There is a bit of experimentation involved with trying out different techniques, such as breathing exercises, as what works for one person may not for another. You’re counsellor can work with you to find out what is best for you so that you can make a positive change in your life to understand and manage your anxiety.