Anxiety

Understanding anxiety

What is anxiety?

It’s normal to feel anxious sometimes. For example, you might feel worried or stressed if you have to speak in front of a large group, deal with a high-pressure situation at work or sit an exam.

Anxiety and stress are not always harmful. In fact, sometimes temporary worries or nerves about everyday situations can actually be helpful. These feelings can allow us to plan ahead, be prepared and react to a situation.

Anxiety can become an issue and can get worse over time if it’s not treated. This can look different for everyone. Some people can experience a lot of anxiety or worry for months. Others might experience panic attacks or intense fear, while other people might feel anxious about social situations such as parties, events or going out.

Anxiety could be more common than you think

According to recent statistics, one in eight Australians between the ages of 18 and 65 have experienced, or are currently experiencing, anxiety-related conditions in the past twelve months.

Anxiety can show as a range of conditions including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and specific phobias such as fear of heights or spiders.

Signs and symptoms

In general, some of the signs and symptoms of anxiety can include:

• feelings of dread, worry or uneasiness
• feeling that something bad might happen soon
• difficulty concentrating
• a racing mind or repeated thought patterns.

Physical symptoms can include:

• problems with sleeping
• increased sweating
• dizziness or feeling lightheaded
• panic attacks
• “butterflies” in the stomach
• shortness of breath
• feelings of a pounding heart.

If you feel that anxiety has become an issue for you or someone you care about, there are plenty of treatment options you might like to explore.

Your treatment options

If you’re looking for anxiety treatment options for yourself or someone you care about, it’s important to look for treatments which are evidence-based. It’s worth getting help from a qualified and trained professional who can match your situation – including your physical and mental health, work, family and spiritual needs – with a tailored treatment program.

With the right treatment, you could find ways to feel better and:

• explore what causes your anxiety
• develop different ways of thinking, behaving and responding to anxiety and fear, such as how to challenge and change your thought patterns
• learn new skills and techniques to help you control and manage anxiety
• try some new strategies such as lifestyle changes to help you in the long-term.

You can support your general wellbeing with strategies such as mindfulness, eating a healthy diet, good sleep habits and regular exercise. We recommend getting support from dieticians and exercise physiologists with these approaches.

Specific treatments for anxiety can include cognitive behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and schema-focussed therapy.

These are the programs which we offer through St John of God Health Care.