Anxiety is a common emotion that we’ve likely all experienced at some point in our lives. People living with an anxiety disorder will feel intense levels of anxiety frequently, which can deeply impact their quality of life.

Anxiety disorders affect over 8 million people in the UK – that’s over 1 in 10 of us a
As with physical and mental health there is a spectrum of levels of anxiety in people from none up to severe. Anxiety can often lead to depression.

Managing Anxiety

Techniques to manage or improve anxiety range from simple things you can do yourself, with the support of others, prescribed medication or CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). Confronting a fear or phobia may also be useful.

People living with an anxiety disorder feel intense levels of anxiety frequently, which can deeply impact their quality of life.

Everyone’s experiences of anxiety disorders are different. Not everyone who has an anxiety disorder will experience the same symptoms (as with mental health)

Symptoms

Mental symptoms can include:

Racing thoughts
Uncontrollable over-thinking
rouble concentrating
Feelings of dread, panic or ‘impending doom’
Feeling irritable
Heightened alertness
Trouble sleeping
Changes in appetite
Wanting to escape from the situation you are in
Dissociation (feeling like you aren’t connected to your own body, watching things happen around you without feeling it.)

Physical symptoms can include:

Sweating
Heavy and fast breathing
Racing heartbeat
Hot flushes and blushing
Dry mouth
Shaking
Hair loss
Extreme tiredness or lack of energy
Headaches, dizziness and fainting
Stomach aches, nausea and sickness

Anxiety Types

Social Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety experienced when interacting with others and often involves panic attacks.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

is a long-term mental health condition that causes a person to experience regular and uncontrollable fear about a number of different aspects or situations in their lives.

This is most common in people aged between 35 and 59.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is similar to other anxiety disorders, but is primarily a condition that causes regular, recurring panic attacks, often without a clear reason, and fear of another panic attack recurring.

Phobias

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder of an excessive and overwhelming fear of an object or situation. Intense anxiety is often felt in the presence of the object or situation but also when thinking and talking about it.