What is anxiety

Anxiety is a common but serious condition that makes it hard to cope with daily life. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but for someone experiencing anxiety, these feelings can’t be easily controlled. Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried. While stress and anxious feelings are a common response to a situation where we feel under pressure, they usually pass once the stressful situation has passed or the “stressor” is removed. Anxiety is when these anxious feelings don’t subside. Anxiety can be either “generalised” (without a particular reason for the cause) or specific to a situation, as is the case with phobias or social anxiety.

What does it include

The symptoms of anxiety conditions are sometimes not obvious, as they often develop slowly over time, and, given that we all experience some anxiety at various points in our lives, it can be hard to know how much is too much. Normal anxiety tends to be limited in duration and connected with some stressful situation or event, such as a job interview. The type of anxiety experienced by people with an anxiety condition is more frequent or persistent, not always connected to an obvious challenge, and impacts their quality of life and day-to-day functioning.

While each anxiety condition has its own unique features, there are some common symptoms, including:

• Physical: panic attacks, hot and cold flushes, racing heart, tightening of the chest, quick breathing, restlessness, or feeling tense, wound up, and edgy
• Psychological: excessive fear, worry, catastrophizing, or obsessive thinking
• Behavioural: avoidance of situations that make you feel anxious, which can impact your study, work, or social life.

If you notice you suffer from some or most of the symptoms outlined above, you may benefit from talking with a Psychologist.

How a psychologist can help with managing and treating anxiety

Therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Psychologists who are trained in CBT look at addressing thought and behaviour patterns that are either making you more likely to become anxious; exposure therapy looks at addressing your avoidance of people and places where you may feel more anxious; and mindfulness Psychologists assist you in learning relaxation skills and techniques to cope with heightened anxiety.

If you require additional information, please call our office at 07 3256 6320. Our mental health-focused reception staff will be only too happy to assist you with your enquiry about our service and can suggest the most suitable Psychologist for your concern.