Anxiety Symptoms and Support
What Is Anxiety?
There are different types of anxiety disorders, and although they do vary, some symptoms are similar: usually feelings of overwhelming anxiety disproportionate to the situation we find ourselves in that interferes with day to day life.
According to MQ Mental Health Research, a perceived threat can cause our bodies to go on alert. Our amygdala (a part of the brain) sends signals of potential danger to our nervous system and in turn to our vital organs (heart, lungs, digestive system and others). That perceived danger could be emotional, physical, present or even in the past. It is a natural evolutionary response. This is “feeling anxious”.
Feeling anxious may include a range of physical symptoms such as these presented by Mind UK:
- a churning feeling in your stomach
- feeling light-headed or dizzy
- pins and needles
- feeling restless or unable to sit still
- headaches, backache or other aches and pains
- faster breathing
- a fast, thumping or irregular heartbeat
- sweating or hot flushes
- sleep problems
- grinding your teeth, especially at night
- nausea (feeling sick)
- needing the toilet more or less often
- changes in your sex drive
- having panic attacks.
My Story by Claire Eastham
From Your Mental Health
"I’ve always known there was something off-kilter about me. At family parties, I’d hide in the wardrobe, and I hated being asked to talk about my week or do something that drew attention to myself. At secondary school, I found the combination of hormones, new social circles and new learning styles a lot to deal with and I began blushing. Even if somebody said my name, which is still a trigger now, I would start blushing. It got so bad that I would use colour-correcting make-up to pre-empt it. I wasn’t actually diagnosed with anxiety until I was 24, when I had my first panic attack. I ran out of a meeting and down the street. I was diagnosed in under two minutes, but it was a long journey to get to that point.
Panic often gets lumped together with anxiety, but it really is its own condition. There are many differences. Anxiety is like a death by a thousand paper cuts – constant small, painful wounds to your personality. In the case of social anxiety it’s like a bully, whispering in your ear how inadequate you are. You’re never completely present, because you’re analysing people’s faces, body language and tone of their voice, trying to work out if they think you’re an idiot.
Panic, in comparison, is violent. It’s like having liquid terror injected into your veins. You get this overwhelming sensation that something is very, very wrong and you have to act immediately, so you no longer care about making a fool out of yourself. You think you’re going to die or go crazy. Your heart is pounding like it’s trying to get out of your ribcage, you’re sweating, you have blurry vision, and it feels like you’re going to faint. The worst thing is you feel like you can’t catch your breath."
“It really boils down to difficulties with appropriately regulating fear. Fear itself is normal. If we didn’t have fear we would not be able to survive, because we would have no system in place to tell us to avoid danger or threat. Anxiety is an example of adaptive processes gone awry, but when we treat anxiety we’re not focused on causes, but what keeps it going.” - Dr Bronwyn Graham, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales
When is anxiety a mental health problem?
According to Mind, Anxiety can become a mental health problem if it impacts your ability to live your life as fully as you want to. For example, it may be a problem if:
- your feelings of anxiety are very strong or last for a long time
- your fears or worries are out of proportion to the situation
- you avoid situations that might cause you to feel anxious
- your worries feel very distressing or are hard to control
- you regularly experience symptoms of anxiety, which could include panic attacks
- you find it hard to go about your everyday life or do things you enjoy.
As with all mental health conditions, anxiety disorders are treatable with a combination of therapy, medication, and lifestyle choices. And new research by MQ Mental Health Research, for example, is being done all the time to improve understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders. Getting the right support and a proper diagnosis is key, so if you’re concerned about your levels of anxiety do make an appointment to see a trained medical professional.
Support Resources
If you are concerned about anxiety, the first step is to talk to your GP.
The mental health charity Mind have a number of resources to guide and support on talking to your GP here.
Mind provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. If you need non-urgent information about mental health support and services, call Mind’s Infoline on 0300 123 3393 or email: info@mind.org.uk
Or visit their website here.
Anxiety UK are a charity with an extensive range of support services designed to help control anxiety rather than letting it control you. Visit their website here.
Here are their support channel details:
Helpline: 03444 775 774
Text: 07537 416905
(open Mon-Fri 10:30-16:30)
To better understand Anxiety and to read Claire Eastham’s complete My Story, get your copy of Your Mental Health here.
