Anxiety

ANXIETY

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a word that most of us are familiar with. Other words that can be used to mean the same thing are worry, stress, or nervousness.

In psychology-speak, anxiety is seen as a feeling that a person has when they think there is some sort of threat or danger to them. We think this has an uncanny resemblence to the word fear.

In fact, the only thing that seems to single out the anxiety patient from the rest of the world is that most people would judge the feeling of anxiety to be too big, given what real danger there seems to be.

Anxiety is usually split into two different types; Panic Attacks, which are covered on a separate page, and Generalised Anxiety States which you can think of as people who worry too much about everything.

What are the Signs of Generalised Anxiety?

Some of the things people think when in this state are:

Concerns about what other people will think or do
Thinking that they will not achieve something that others may see as easy
Scary thoughts about their own health
Thinking that other people see them as not as good, and might laugh or make fun of them.

The physical signs of Generalised anxiety can include:

Shakiness
Tensed up muscles
Sweating
Palpitations
Dry mouth
Finding it hard to concentrate
Going to the toilet a lot

We think most of you will recognise these signs as ones that occur when you are feeling worried or anxious. What seems to separate those that need help from those that don't, is that these physical feelings, emotions and thoughts are around nearly all the time for the people that look for help.

How Many People Suffer from Generalised Anxiety?

Surveys conducted seem to think that something between about 1 in 30 and 1 in 17 people suffer from this condition in any one year period. That's between 3% and 6% of the entire population. We think you'll agree that is a lot. One further statistic that might interest you is that probably nearly 1 in 12 people (8%) who get psychiatric treatment have an anxiety state.

When does it Start?

Generalised Anxiety doesn't tend to have a sudden start, it tends to creep up on people slowly, beginning sometimes as early as teenagers aged 13 or 14. However, it does tend to first get noticed following some crisis or stressful time in a persons' life.

Anxiety can also be mixed with Depression. This may be triggered following the death of a friend, partner or someone close in the family.

How do you know if you've got it?

This sounds obvious if you have read what is written above, but things are not usually that clear cut. People sometimes first notice physical problems such as having difficulty swallowing, or some of those signs mentioned above. This usually means that they visit the Doctor, who will often refer them to a specialist Doctor. It is only once these investigations don't turn up something that people may get seen by someone in the mental health field, usually a psychiatrist.

Often people are not at all convinced that their problem(s) have something to do with their mind. All the extra worries that people having about what it means to see a psychiatrist usually surface here. Things like I must be mad, or feelings of shame and guilt and worrying about keeping it all secret from those people close to them. Until these doubts and extra worries are confronted, it is usually very difficult to get the person engaged in therapy.

What Treatments work?

There are a lot of therapies out there for anxiety and many of them have been scientifically shown to be pretty effective for a lot of people.

Some of the most effective forms of therapy for this problem include Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Behavioural Therapy, and various techniques such as Relaxation. Various drugs can also be used, and there are now specialist treatment packages available specifically designed to help manage anxiety.

However, as with all therapies, the exact method of treatment should be designed for the individual person rather that the person being fitted into the right therapy. In other words the therapy that will probably work best for you will be one that suits you.

Remember!!!

Feeling anxious is normal. We need to feel anxious in order to know when we are really in a difficult situation. It's just sometimes we get ourselves too worked up over things that aren't really that bad. Anxiety is also used as a valuable signpost in certain forms of therapy (e.g. Psychoanalysis or Psychodynamic Therapy), which can give the therapist clues about what is really going on in your head. This is sometimes stuff that even you are not fully aware of.

* RECOMMENDED BOOKS *

If you are interested in going into even more depth, the following book(s), sold by are recommended by us.

Each is followed by a rating for ease of reading (1-3).

1 = Simple and Easy to comprehend.
2 = More Complex, but still a good read.
3 = Very Complex, really for professionals/those studying to degree level.

"Clicking" on a Book will take you to Amazon where if you "Click" on the shopping basket you will be able to buy it.

Overcoming Anxiety (Kennerley)
Price £6.39 (Save 20%)
RATING = 2 A very good general book which includes a self-help plan for sufferers.

Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety (Adrian Wells)
Price £18.99
RATING = 3 A comprehensive overview of cognitive techniques for treating anxiety. Definitely one for academics or health professionals.

Overcoming Social Anxiety (Gillian Butler)
Price £6.39 (Save 20%)
RATING = 2 Another cognitive based book. This is comprehensive yet pretty easy to follow, a number of people with social anxiety have found this very helpful.

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