Anxiety

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal human emotion we all experience from time to time. Some feelings of anxiety can be motivating for us in the sense it may drive us to work harder to do a better job!

However, if your feelings of anxiety are extreme and are interfering with your everyday life then anxiety may be an issue for you and you may need professional help to treat your anxiety problems.

Common symptoms of anxiety are thoughts that there will be a negative outcome with a situation or that something bad is going to happen which can lead to feelings of fear, anxiety. This can contribute to anxiety symptoms of heart beating faster, breathing disregulated, feeling hot/sweaty, thoughts racing which can lead to behaviours of avoidance or leaving situations because of these intense anxiety symptoms!

Anxiety may cause you to stop doing things you enjoy and can interfere with your performance at work, home, school/college, friendships/ family relationships and with your daily routine.

What are the main types of anxiety disorders?

Anxiety is an umbrella term for all different types of anxiety disorders and are the most common form of emotional disorder and can affect anyone at any age.

These include:

• Panic: experiencing recurring panic attacks at unexpected times. A person with panic disorder may live in fear of the next panic attack.
• Phobias: excessive fear of a specific object, situation, or activity
• Social Anxiety: extreme fear of being judged by others in social situations
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): recurring intrusive/unwanted thoughts that lead you to perform specific, repeated behaviours
• Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is where a person spends a lot of time worrying and checking repeatedly about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others.
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Excessive and uncontrollable worry which interferes with your daily functioning
• Health Anxiety: anxiety about your health (formerly called hypochondria)

Professional support is often required to determine the correct treatment in order to make a full recovery. CBT is one of the most an evidence based psychological intervention for the treatment for anxiety.