About Anxiety

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a natural reaction when we feel fear or worry. We all have times when we feel anxious.

When does anxiety become a problem?

If you are feeling anxious most of the time and it is impacting your daily life it might help to get some support.

What does anxiety feel like?

We can feel anxiety in different ways.

Emotional symptoms may include:

A sense of being on edge all the time
Having an imposing sense of doom
Constantly waiting for something to go wrong
Feeling overwhelmed
No clear direction, like being in a whirlwind.
You may feel tearful and restless.
Lack of concentration
Heightened sense of irritability
Disconnection with yourself, where you feel you are watching things happen but are not a part of it.

Physical symptoms may include:

Tightness in the chest
A racing heart
A knot in the stomach
Sweating
Shortness of breath
Headaches
Dry mouth

What happens in an anxiety attack?

An anxiety attack can feel like you are losing control, there may be an overwhelming sense of fear. You may feel physical symptoms such as tightness in the chest, racing heartbeat and a sense that you are going to pass out.

How can therapy help with anxiety?

Therapy can help with anxiety by giving you a space to talk openly about your experience of anxiety. Maybe you struggle with accepting that you have anxiety, or maybe you can accept that it's part of you but you would like to manage it differently.

Therapy can also help you to work through the cause of your anxiety and help you to identify if there are any triggers which make it more problematic for you.