Understanding Anxiety: Symptoms, Causes, and Practical Anxiety Management
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges, affecting millions worldwide. Although anxiety is a natural response to stress, or dangerous environments/scenarios, persistent or overwhelming anxiety can disrupt daily life.
This article aims to explore the symptoms of anxiety, its causes, the various types of anxiety disorders, alongside proven strategies, or practical management techniques, for managing and treating anxiety effectively.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about an uncertain outcome or future event. Although occasional anxiety is a normal reaction to stress, such as before a job interview, persistent, or chronic, anxiety can lead to severe physical and emotional distress.
Chronic anxiety may thus result in avoidance behaviours, reduced productivity, and thereby the possible outcomes of continuous anxiety can include a diminished quality of life, including physical and mental health problems.
Effectively handling anxiety, thus, requires an understanding of what it is and an awareness of its symptoms.
Typical Signs of Anxiety
Although each person experiences anxiety in a different way, some typical symptoms can include:
- Breathlessness or a suffocating sensation
- Constant anxiety or fear that seems unmanageable
- Feeling tense or restless
- Low energy or fatigue
- Inability to focus or concentrate
- Physical signs including perspiration, shaking, or an accelerated heartbeat
- Problems with the stomach, such as diarrhoea or nausea
- Sleep disorders, such as excessive sleeping or insomnia
It’s crucial to remember that anxiety can also result in panic episodes, which are characterised by sudden, extreme dread and physical symptoms like lightheadedness and chest pain.
Anxiety Disorder Types
Anxiety disorders come in a variety of forms, each with distinctive characteristics:
1. GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder)
GAD is characterised by excessive concern about a variety of everyday issues, including finances, employment, and health. Frequently, this concern is disproportionate relative to the reality of the issue at hand.
2. Social anxiety
An extreme fear, or dread, of social embarrassment, humiliation or rejection is known as social anxiety.
Social anxiety can make everyday social experiences and situations extremely difficult for individuals experiencing it, such as meeting new people, or speaking in front of an audience.
3. Panic disorder
Panic disorder is distinguished by recurring panic episodes, which are typically accompanied by anxiety over the timing of the next attack. This could lead to avoidance behaviours that interfere with daily tasks, hobbies and thus reduce quality of life.
4. Phobias (specific fears)
An extreme fear of particular things or circumstances, for example crowded spaces, heights, or spiders, is known as a phobia.
These anxieties have the potential to cause significant distress and avoidance in one’s life (for example, planning daily activities as not to trigger a pre-existing phobia).
5. OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
OCD is characterised by persistent, intrusive thoughts (or obsessions), which can lead individuals with OCD to engage in repetitive behaviours (compulsions) to reduce the distress and anxiety they face as a result of their obsessions.
These rituals can provide temporary relief to individuals with OCD, but can cause significant distress, lowering the quality of life for individuals if left untreated.
6. PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
PTSD is closely related to anxiety, although it differs from other anxiety disorders. It occurs after going through or witnessing a stressful experience, and it frequently includes hypervigilance, nightmares, and flashbacks.
Why Do We Get Anxious?
Anxiety can be caused by a number of factors, many of which work in tandem:
1. Biological factors
Anxiety may be exacerbated by imbalances in brain neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin.
Anxiety disorders are also influenced by family history, in that people who have a family history of anxiety, or related issues, are more prone to develop anxiety themselves.
2. Aspects of Psychology
Anxiety can be brought on by stressful or painful life events, such as the death of a loved one or a significant life event, or transition from one environment to another (for example, changing jobs, schools/universities or places of residence e.g. moving home).
Low self-esteem and negative thought habits can also make people more vulnerable to developing anxiety issues.
3. Environmental and Social Aspects
Living in a high-stress environment, being socially pressured, or being alone can all make anxiety symptoms worse.
For instance, tense relationships or stress at work can act as powerful triggers for inducing anxiety in some individuals.
Anxiety Management
With the correct approach, including anxiety management techniques (as part of overall anxiety treatment) anxiety can be managed, even if it can feel overpowering at times.
The following anxiety-managing techniques are commonly used by individuals to manage their symptoms of anxiety:
1. Anxiety Therapy
In anxiety therapy, or counselling for anxiety, a therapist offers a secure setting for discussing stressors and creating coping mechanisms.
Anxiety therapy can include counselling, or psychotherapeutic, modalities such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) which can support individuals to recognise and manage harmful, or self-limiting, thought patterns.
- Exposure Therapy
Through controlled exposure to circumstances that cause anxiety, exposure therapy gradually lessens dread, or fear, of the stimulus which originally caused the individual anxiety, via the principle of desensitisation, in which previous exposure to a fear-inducing stimulus lessens its subsequent impact in inducing fear. - Medicines
Some people may need to take medicines, such as antidepressants and/or anxiolytics, to control their anxiety symptoms.
When prescribed and supervised by a qualified medical professional, taking antidepressants and anxiolytics as prescribed can aid in re-establishing more healthy neurochemistry and thus lessening the symptoms and intensity of anxiety experienced.
However, it is important to note that some medicines prescribed for anxiety may cause dizziness, drowsiness and/or impaired coordination; if you experience these side effects, avoid driving, operating machinery or performing other tasks which require full concentration until you understand how the medication affects you.
Always consult with your doctor about potential side effects of these medicines and potential lifestyle adjustments necessary.
3. Adapting Your Lifestyle and Prioritising Self-Care:
Mental health can be considerably enhanced by engaging in self-care and prioritising it as a part of your lifestyle, in addition to adjusting your lifestyle to lessen anxiety and promote mental wellbeing:
- Balanced Diet: A diet balanced between the three major macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) promotes both physical and mental well-being. Nuts and fish are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for brain function.
- Being Mindful to Reduce Anxiety: Mindfulness-based therapy promotes living in the present, lessening fear and overthinking. Thus, mindfulness-based practices such as yoga, meditation, and grounding exercises can help people focus on the here and now, lessening worry.
- Breathing Techniques: Deep, slow breathing can assist soothe the body when anxiety levels are high.
- Regular Exercise: Exercise, such as lifting weights or moderate cardio e.g. using a treadmill, can promote not only physical health but also psychological wellbeing; exercise can lead to the release of endorphins, elevating mood and lowering anxiety.
- Limit alcohol and caffeine: Alcohol and caffeine can worsen anxiety symptoms, and it is recommended to limit alcohol and/or caffeine consumption to lessen the incidence of anxiety episodes.
- In addition, alcohol can interact negatively with prescribed anti-anxiety medications, such as antidepressants and/or anxiolytics; it is recommended to avoid drinking alcohol when taking prescribed anti-anxiety medicines.
- Sleep Hygiene: Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, as well as limiting distractions which can disturb sleep (e.g. not using electronic devices/media 1-2 hours prior to sleep) can support restful sleep, lowering sleep and helping regulate emotions.
- Establish a Support Network
Feelings of loneliness might be reduced by speaking with dependable family members or friends. Joining support groups might also help you meet people who have been through similar things.
Anxiety is a difficult, but treatable, psychological condition.
By taking proactive measures after learning about the symptoms and causes of anxiety, alongside learning about the therapies you can access, you can retake control of your life.
Helping you create change and uncover inner happiness
All Rights Reserved.