Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Sweaty palms, racing heart, butterflies in your stomach, the sudden urge to run away…whether it’s a job interview, a date, or waiting for important test results, feeling anxious in a stressful situation is a common human reaction. It’s our body’s way of getting ready to meet a threat, sometimes called the ‘fight or flight’ response, and it can be useful in making you feel more alert and ready to tackle a situation. But if these feelings of distress start to interfere with everyday life, it could be a sign that you’re suffering from a kind of anxiety, and can be very disabling.

Did you know?

It’s often reported that more women suffer from anxiety than men, but a recent survey showed that up to a fifth of men admit to suffering in silence and not seeking help, so it’s likely that many more men are affected by anxiety than you think.

What are the symptoms?

Anxiety affects people in lots of different ways, but the signs can be generally broken down into physical and emotional effects. You might notice physical symptoms such as: dry mouth, breathlessness, pounding heart, difficulty sleeping/exhaustion, an urgent need to visit the toilet, chest pains, feeling sick, dizziness and headaches. Emotional symptoms can include: feeling irritable, lack of concentration and constant worrying.

Men are much more likely to try using alcohol, or drugs to help manage these kinds of feelings. This might hide the anxious feelings for a time, but in the long term can make them worse, so it’s really important that you learn to recognise the signs and get help. Remember, it’s a sign of strength, not weakness.

How do you get it?

There can be lots of reasons and no reason at all for anxiety -it varies so much between individuals and isn’t always easy to pinpoint a cause. We might:

Feel out of control and have general worries about routine events, those around us and the future (often called ‘Generalised Anxiety Disorder’).
We might feel particularly anxious in social situations, and feel like we can’t cope (‘social anxiety disorder’).
Something might have happened in the past that makes us worry that something similar will happen in the future (‘post traumatic stress disorder’). It might seem to spring from nowhere, or stem from stress at work or home. But whatever the cause if it’s not managed it can have a massive effect on the way we live.

So what can you do about it?

Facing your anxiety can be scary – you might feel like it’ll make the feelings worse •but it’s important to remember how much of a difference it will make to the way you live once you learn how to manage it.

There are lots of people, like your GP, counsellors or psychologists that can help you cope with feelings of anxiety. Even talking to friends and family about can help, even if it’s just to make them aware of the kinds of things you think are making you feel anxious.

Sometimes anti-depressant drugs or tranquillisers are used to control feelings of anxiety, but they don’t tackle the root cause, so they’re often used alongside ‘talking treatments’ like counselling or psychotherapy to try and tackle the anxiety long-term.

More information

First Psychology Centre, Edinburgh can help you. Contact us on 0131-668-1440 to find out more or to arrange an initial session.
Alternatively you may wish to speak to your GP who should be able to refer you to someone suitable.
See our links at www.edinburghtherapy.co.uk/links.htm for details of organisations who may be able to provide assistance or information.

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