Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear that can be mild or severe.
Everyone has feelings of anxiety sometimes for example, when you have an upcoming job interview, an exam or about to pop the question WILL YOU MARRY ME? During times like these, feeling anxious is perfectly normal.
The problem is when your anxiety is more constant, and you find it hard to control your worries so they start affecting your daily life.
Symptoms of anxiety:
Anxiety can cause many different symptoms. It might affect how you feel physically, mentally and how you behave.
1. Physical symptoms
- Faster, irregular or more noticeable heartbeat
- Feeling lightheaded and dizzy
- Headaches
- Chest pains
- Loss of appetite
2. Mental symptoms
- Feeling tense or nervous
- Being unable to relax
- Worrying about the past or future
- Feeling tearful
- Not being able to sleep
3. Changes in behaviour
- Not being able to enjoy your leisure time
- Difficulty looking after yourself
- Problems concentrating at work
- Struggling to form or maintain relationships
- Worried about trying new things
- Avoiding places and situations that create anxiety
Not sure how you feel take NHS Mood self-assessment
Symptoms of a panic attack
If you experience sudden, intense anxiety and fear, it might be the symptoms of a panic attack. Other symptoms may include:
- a racing heartbeat
- feeling faint, dizzy or light-headed
- feeling that you're losing control
- sweating, trembling or shaking
- shortness of breath or breathing very quickly
- a tingling in your fingers or lips
- feeling sick (nausea)
A panic attack usually lasts 5 to 30 minutes. They can be very frightening, but they're not dangerous and should not harm you.
Things to help with anxiety, fear and panic
DO
- Try talking about your feelings to a friend, family member, health professional or counsellor
- Exercise – activities such as running, walking, weight lifting, swimming and yoga can help you relax
- Use calming breathing exercises
- Find out how to get to sleep if you're struggling to sleep
- Live a healthy lifestyle see our diet tab
- Consider peer support, where people use their experiences to help each other
- Listen to free mental wellbeing audio guides
- search and download relaxation and mindfulness apps
DON’T
- Don’t try to do everything at once – set small targets that you can easily achieve
- Don’t focus on the things you cannot change – focus your time and energy into helping yourself feel better
- Don’t avoid situations that make you anxious – try slowly building up time spent in worrying situations to gradually reduce anxiety
- Try not to tell yourself that you're alone; most people experience anxiety or fear at some point in their life
- Try not to use alcohol, cigarettes, gambling or drugs to relieve anxiety as these can all contribute to poor mental health
EXTERNAL HELP:
