Let’s understand anxiety
A blog by Dr Mark Winwood, Principal Psychologist, #TBH Psychological Support Service
This year the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week is anxiety. Despite anxiety being a very normal human experience there may be times when it starts to impact your everyday life and it may overwhelm us. With this in mind lets understand anxiety, how it differs from stress and worry and explore a few techniques that might help us manage uncomfortable feelings associated with anxiety.
What is anxiety?
Worrying and stress is a completely natural and normal part of life. In fact, there are times when they can be helpful, making us feel more alert and prepared for the challenge ahead – and can be used as a springboard for success. Anxiety has actually kept humans alive for millions of years. It’s our brains response to threat and to protect ourselves gives us the skills necessary to fight or flight potentially dangerous situations (you may know this as the fight or flight response).
However, worrying about lots of different things a lot of the time can leave you stuck in a vicious cycle where your worries may start to feel uncontrollable, impact your behaviours and interfere with your relationships and everyday life. This may indicate an anxiety problem.
What’s the difference between anxiety and worry?
You’ll often see the words anxiety and worry being used interchangeably, but it’s important to recognise that they are different and have different implications for health and wellbeing.
When someone is worried or stressed they can usually pinpoint why, for example worrying about an exam or a work deadline. Worries reside in the mind, are grounded in reality, are usually temporary and don’t tend to impact our ability to function. On the other hand, anxiety tends to be long-standing, ever-present and affects both the mind and the body. If you have anxiety, you may feel unsettled but can’t understand exactly why. It’s also worth noting that anxiety is marked by catastrophic thinking which can make problem-solving really tricky and often impacts someone’s ability to cope with a negative outcome or deal with the uncertainty associated with change.
What causes (and maintains) anxiety?
Everyone's experience of anxiety is different, so it's hard to know exactly what causes anxiety problems. There are probably lots of factors involved. Such as:
- Past Experiences – trauma, childhood neglect, abuse, bullying, experiencing discrimination
- Current Life Challenges – exhaustion, financial difficulties, workload, loss, uncertainty
- Health Problems – medical issues and other mental health difficulties
- Drugs & Medication – alcohol, recreational drugs, prescribed medications for health conditions
How common are anxiety disorders?
We are all vulnerable to anxiety. It is one of the most commonly reported mental health problems. In a survey carried out by the Mental Health Foundation, a quarter of adults said they felt so anxious that it stopped them from doing the things they want to do some or all of the time and six in ten adults feel this way at least some of the time.
It is very likely that you, or someone you know, deals with the symptoms of anxiety. It’s important to remember that although many people live with anxiety, everyone’s experience will be unique to them. What does anxiety feel like to you?
What might help?
- Talk to a trusted colleague or friend - about what's making your anxious thoughts could be a relief. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care can help in itself. If you aren't able to open up to someone close to try CiC, Samaritans or Anxiety UK both run helplines where you can call to talk to someone.
- Prioritise sleep – sleep can give you more energy so you feel more able to deal with difficult feelings and experiences
- Physical Exercise – regular movement has been proven to support mental wellbeing and manage anxiety
- Shift your focus – by focusing on the present moment using breathing exercises or mindfulness meditation many find this calms feelings of anxiety. However, this doesn’t help everyone.
- Keep a diary – writing down your concerns and how they make you feel at different times of the day can give you greater insight into any patterns associated with your anxiety and may uncover ways of helping.
- Make time for worry - as it can take over your day. Try setting a a daily time or ‘worry time’ to go through your concerns. This can help your focus on other things and prevent negative thoughts from sabotaging you.
Colleagues, friends or family members maybe experiencing anxiety or any other mental concern. This Mental Health Awareness Week lets check in with each other and remember ask more than once #asktwice – you could save someone from suffering in silence.