Anxiety

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a natural human response to stress, danger, or pressure. It is a normal reaction to stressful situations, such as exams, financial troubles, or new challenges and situations. We need a level of anxiety to stay safe and to feel motivated.

Anxiety becomes a problem when our thoughts, feelings or behaviours become overwhelming, leading to fear, avoidance and distress. When anxiety is constant, uncontrollable, or out of proportion to the situation, it may be an anxiety disorder, such as Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, or Social Anxiety.

It is a bio-psycho-social phenomenon with combined physical, mental and social factors.

Physical symptoms of anxiety can include a fast or irregular heartbeat, breathlessness, dizziness, sweating, shaking, upset stomach and difficulty sleeping.

Psychological and behavioural symptoms include feelings of fear, panic, dread, difficulty concentrating or avoidance of triggering situations.

Anxiety can be caused by genetic factors, traumatic events, our upbringing, or high-stress environments.  For more information on understanding anxiety see our blog here* *link to Understanding Anxiety blog.  

How Can Therapy Help?

If anxiety is overwhelming, persistent, or interfering with daily life, you may need professional support to resolve it. Thank fully, many evidence based psychological approaches have now been developed to reduce anxiety.

Our Network therapists are trained to help you to:

• Understand what anxiety is and how it works physiologically and psychologically
• Identify triggers and patterns so you can change them
• Break cycles of avoidance that maintain symptoms
• Reframe negative thoughts to find new meanings
• Develop pragmatic resources and skills to overcome anxiety
• Develop self-esteem and confidence to manage life with less worry