What is anxiety? 

Fear and anxiety play an important role in our lives.  

Fear helps us avoid encountering danger in our immediate environment. Have you ever jumped off the road to avoid a car that was unexpectedly rushing towards you, or ran away from an animal with a menacing growl? If you have, you might remember the sudden burst of fear that you experienced, causing you to react immediately to that situation. 

Anxiety helps us to anticipate and prepare for important events in the future. Again, if you can think back to the first time you called someone, spoke up in class or gave a performance, you might remember that your heart was pounding, mouth was dry and that you were breathing faster or shaking. These are some physical symptoms of anxiety. Feeling anxious may be unpleasant, but it’s usually adaptive. We’d have trouble organising our lives if it didn’t exist. 

Unfortunately, anxiety can be disruptive, causing us to worry too much and feeling afraid at inconvenient times. 

Common symptoms of anxiety 

Some of the most common symptoms people experience with anxiety include: 

• Being preoccupied with thoughts or situations that provoke fear or anxiety 
• Constantly avoiding situations that might trigger anxiety 
• Feeling a sense of being out of control 
• Focusing on negative emotions and self-evaluation 
• Sleeping difficulties and trouble falling asleep 
• Inability to relax 
• Excessive shyness 
• Trouble with concentrating and paying attention 
• Problems with work, social or family life. 

Anxiety disorders 

If you frequently experience high levels of anxiety that affects your ability to function, you may have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental disorder. Some types of anxiety disorders include: 

• Panic attacks: A short period of time where you experience intense fear or terror and a feeling of impending doom. Symptoms include shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort. Other symptoms include feelings of choking, inability to breathe, fear of ‘going crazy’ or losing control.
• Agoraphobia: Anxiety about places where escape might be difficult or embarrassing. Fear of being in places where help might not be available if you have a panic attack. Avoidance of these places. 
• Specific phobia: Intense fear of a specific object or situation. Other people may think this fear is out of proportion. It often leads to avoidance of the object or situation. 
• Social phobia: Severe anxiety provoked by certain types of social or performance situations which are then frequently avoided. 
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Experiencing obsessions (unwanted/uncontrollable thoughts) which cause anxiety or distress. Also experiencing compulsions, or behaviours which are aimed at getting rid of anxiety. 
• Post-traumatic stress disorder: Re-experiencing a traumatic event, which then causes symptoms of fear and anxiety. Strong urge to avoid things which remind you of the trauma. 
• Generalized anxiety disorder: Persistent and excessive fear or worry which lasts for longer than six months. 

Other issues 

Symptoms from various anxiety disorders can overlap, and they can also overlap with other mood disorders like depression. This means that people who experience anxiety can also experience depression.  

Substance use is a common issue for many people who experience an anxiety disorder. The problem with using alcohol or other drugs as an attempt to reduce anxiety is that it can cause further long-term complications for the user. 

What causes it? 

As previously explained, anxiety is a survival mechanism. It becomes an issue when it fails to serve a purpose for people and presents itself in dysfunctional ways.  

When fear is triggered at inappropriate times, or we feel it more strongly than necessary, it can become harmful and unhelpful. Some factors are thought to contribute to anxiety turning from a helpful response to an exaggerated and harmful one, like:

• Stressful life events: When something happens to you, or around you, that has a severe and negative impact. 
• Childhood adversity: Past experiences involving danger or conflict can form the basis for the development of an anxiety disorder. Such as neglectful parenting or physical abuse. 
• Learning processes: Specific fears can be learned through various processes (i.e. classical conditioning). This is when we start to associate danger with a particular event or situation. We can also pick up anxiety, fear or nervousness by watching someone else become nervous, which is called vicarious learning. Operant conditioning is another example where certain behaviours (like avoiding a trigger) are rewarded (by not experiencing it). Thus, the behaviour increases. 
• The way you think: Certain thought processes can contribute to it. For example, how much control you perceive you have over a situation, or when you misinterpret events and symptoms. The amount of attention you pay to potential threats can have an impact on your anxiety. So can trying to suppress your thoughts about it. 
• Genetic factors: There’s been a lot of research into whether it’s genetic and most research points to it playing a role. People who have a family member with an anxiety disorder are more likely to develop certain anxiety disorders. 
• Brain structure: There are parts of the brain that have important roles in the development of anxiety. Encoding threatening events (the hippocampus) and emotional memories (the amygdala) both play a part. 
• Brain chemistry: Chemicals in the brain are also a major factor. You may have heard the phrase ‘chemical imbalance.’ This can play a role in anxiety disorders. Serotonin deficiency, low thyroid function, and over-stressed adrenal glands are common culprits of these disorders. 

Many factors can contribute to it

There are a range of factors that can contribute to the development of anxiety, rather than it being caused by a single factor. 

Getting help 

If it’s severely impacting your life in a negative way, or causing concern to those around you, you might need to seek treatment. Anxiety disorders can be treated differently. For instance: 

• Psychological interventions: Going to see a psychologist or counsellor to talk about your experiences can help you to develop new relationships with your thoughts and feelings. There are lots of different types of psychotherapy, but the most common ones for anxiety are: 
• Systematic desensitization: Most often used for phobias, this involves being taught strategies that will help you relax. With this type of therapy, you’ll be exposed to thoughts or situations that first provoke tiny amounts of anxiety. Then, gradually this exposure will increase until anxiety begins to decrease. There’s lots of research proving this therapy to be very effective. 
• Relaxation and breathing retraining: Your counsellor teaches you different active coping skills to use when you begin to feel anxious. These skills include tensing and relaxing specific muscle groups, and breathing techniques. 
• Cognitive therapy: Your counsellor helps you to identify thoughts and beliefs about your problem. You then explore the relationship between your thoughts and your emotional responses. You learn strategies for changing this relationship and more useful ways of interpreting your environment. 
• Medications: Many different types of medications have been found to help decrease anxiety symptoms. Your GP will know which one is best for you to try, however sometimes it’s difficult to get it right at first. Finding the right medication depends on your situation, symptoms and brain chemistry. 

To figure out which treatment is right for you, it’s recommended that you visit your local GP and have a chat about your situation. Your GP can then make some recommendations, which may involve both medication and counselling. 

What can I do myself? 

If your anxiety is not severe, you may be able to make improvements on your own. Some general things you can do include: 

• Tell your family and friends about your difficulties so they can support you. Good social support is a protective factor. Surround yourself with people who care about you. 
• Make self care a priority, to increase your resilience and coping. Try to eat healthy, get enough sleep, and get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. 
• Find ways to decrease your general stress levels. Do things you find relaxing and enjoyable, such as listening to music, reading, going for walks, etc. 
• Avoid alcohol and other drugs, as they often make it worse by covering it up rather than dealing with it. They can also compound the problem by leading to dependence. 
• Learn some strategies you can use on your own, such as breathing techniques, mindfulness meditation or progressive muscle relaxation. 

Still need help? 

No matter what your situation looks like, Anglicare Southern Queensland may be able to assist you to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Our counselling and wellbeing services are designed to improve your general and emotional wellbeing. Our team assist clients in a client-focussed, non-judgemental manner. Click here for information on our counselling services.