What is Anxiety?
Anxiety refers to feelings of worry, nervousness, or a sense of apprehension. Feeling anxious is a normal part of life and a common reaction to a stressful situation or when we feel under pressure. The feelings associated with anxiety reflect the changes our bodies undergo during the flight or fight response, which is designed to protect us from danger. However, these feelings of anxiety and worry usually pass once the stressful situation has passed.
When anxious thoughts, feelings, or physical symptoms escalate to a point where they occur without any reason and interfere with one’s daily life and functioning, it is often a sign of an anxiety condition.
Anxiety disorders come in many shapes and sizes, yet there’s one common belief amongst them… “Something bad is going to happen and I won’t be able to cope when it does”.
Anxiety manifests itself through four separate bodily areas; any one of these can be more noticeable in a particular individual.
Physiological: rapid heart-beat, sweaty hands, dizziness, tight chest, breathlessness
Emotions: feeling overwhelmed, on edge, uptight, out of control
Thoughts: excessive worrying, catastrophizing, obsessive thinking, e.g., overestimating the likelihood of a negative outcome AND narrowing your focus on the source of threat (losing a sense of perspective)
Behavioural: escaping from or avoiding a situation, confrontational, pacing, foot tapping
Common Anxiety Disorders
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Generalised anxiety disorder is characterised by persistent and excessive worry that interferes with daily life. The worries are typically about everyday things such as work responsibilities, family issues, health matters, chores, or appointments.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is characterised by significant anxiety and discomfort about being criticised, negatively judged, embarrassed, or rejected by others. This leads to avoidance of social and public situations.
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is characterised by persistent panic attacks which is an overwhelming experience of physical and psychological distress.
Specific Phobia
A specific phobia is characterised by an excessive and recurrent fear of a specific object, situation, or activity, which can significantly interfere with a person’s life. Common phobias include fear of flying, fear of needles, and fear of spiders.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive compulsive disorder is characterised by recurring, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts and images (obsessions) that makes a person feel compelled to perform certain behaviours, rituals, or mental acts (compulsions). A common obsession is fear of germs, which is accompanied by the compulsion of frequent hand-washing.