Anxiety Self Help
Most people feel anxious at times and it’s particularly common for someone to feel some level of anxiety when coping with stressful events or changes, especially if they could have a big impact on your life.
For me, anxiety feels as if everyone in the world is waiting for me to trip up, so that they can laugh at me. It makes me feel nervous and unsure whether the next step I take is the best way forward.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we think could happen in the future.
Anxiety is a natural human response when we feel that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.
Is anxiety a mental health problem?
Anxiety can become a mental health problem if it impacts your ability to live your life as fully as you want to. For example, it may be a problem if:
- your fears or worries are out of proportion to the situation
- you avoid situations that might cause you to feel anxious
- you regularly experience symptoms of anxiety, which could include panic attacks
- you find it hard to go about your everyday life or do things you enjoy.
If your symptoms fit a particular set of medical criteria then you might be diagnosed with a particular anxiety disorder. But it’s also possible to experience problems with anxiety without having a specific diagnosis.
What is the 'fight, flight or freeze' response?
Like all animals, human beings have evolved ways to help us protect ourselves from danger. When we feel under threat our bodies react by releasing certain hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can be helpful. These hormones:
- make us feel more alert, so we can act faster
- make our hearts beat faster, quickly sending blood to where it’s needed most.
After we feel the threat has passed, our bodies release other hormones to help our muscles relax. This can sometimes cause us to shake.
This is commonly called the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response – it’s something that happens automatically in our bodies, and we have no control over it.
What causes anxiety?
Difficult experiences in childhood, adolescence or adulthood are a common trigger for anxiety problems. Going through stress and trauma when you’re very young is likely to have a particularly big impact. Experiences which can trigger anxiety problems include things like:
- physical or emotional abuse
- neglect
- losing a parent
- being bullied or being socially excluded
- experiencing racism
Current problems in your life can also trigger anxiety. For example:
- exhaustion or a build-up of stress
- lots of change or uncertainty
- feeling under pressure while studying
- long working hours
- being out of work
- money problems
- housing problems
- worrying about the environment or natural disasters
- losing someone close to you
- feeling lonely or isolated
- being abused, bullied or harassed, including experiencing racism
Other health problems can sometimes cause anxiety or might make it worse. For example:
- physical health problems – living with a serious, ongoing or life-threatening physical health condition can sometimes trigger anxiety
- other mental health problems – it’s also common to develop anxiety while living with other mental health problems such as depression
Anxiety can sometimes be a side effect of taking:
- some psychiatric medications
- some medications for physical health problems
- recreational drugs and alcohol
What does anxiety feel like?
These can include:
- a churning feeling in your stomach
- feeling light-headed or dizzy
- pins and needles
- feeling restless or unable to sit still
- headaches, backache or other aches and pains
- faster breathing
- a fast, thumping or irregular heartbeat
- sweating or hot flushes
- sleep problems
- grinding your teeth, especially at night
- nausea
- needing the toilet more or less often
- changes in your sex drive
- having panic attacks
- physical or emotional abuse
- neglect
- losing a parent
- being bullied or being socially excluded
- experiencing racism
These can include:
- feeling tense, nervous or unable to relax
- having a sense of dread, or fearing the worst
- feeling like the world is speeding up or slowing down
- feeling like other people can see you’re anxious and are looking at you
- feeling like you can’t stop worrying, or that bad things will happen if you stop worrying
- worrying about anxiety itself, for example worrying about when panic attacks might happen
- wanting lots of reassurance from other people or worrying that people are angry or upset with you
- worrying that you’re losing touch with reality
- low mood and depression
- thinking a lot about bad experiences, or thinking over a situation again and again
- depersonalisation, where you feel disconnected from your mind or body, or like you are a character that you are watching in a film
- derealisation, where you feel disconnected from the world around you, or like the world isn’t real
- worrying a lot about things that might happen in the future
Anxiety symptoms can last for a long time, or they can come and go. You might find you have difficulty with day to day parts of your life, including
- looking after yourself
- holding down a job
- forming or maintaining relationships
- trying new things
- simply enjoying your leisure time
How can I help myself?
Talking to someone you trust about what’s making you anxious could be a relief. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care can help in itself. If you aren’t able to open up to someone close to you, the Samaritans and Anxiety UK both run helplines that you can call to talk to someone.
Anxiety can make it really hard to stop worrying. You might have worries you can’t control. Or you might feel like you need to keep worrying because it feels useful – or that bad things might happen if you stop.
It can be helpful to try different ways of addressing these worries.
For example, you could
- Set aside a specific time to focus on your worries – so you can reassure yourself you haven’t forgotten to think about them. Some people find it helps to set a timer.
- Write down your worries and keep them in a particular place – for example, you could write them in a notebook, or on pieces of paper you put in an envelope or jar.
Breathing exercises can help you cope and feel more in control. You can find some suggestions on our page on relaxation and mindfulness.
- Try to get enough sleep. Sleep can give you the energy to cope with difficult feelings and experiences.
- Think about your diet. Eating regularly and keeping your blood sugar stable can make a difference to your mood and energy levels. See our page on food and mood for more information.
- Try to do some physical activity. Exercise can be really helpful for your mental wellbeing. See our pages on physical wellbeing for more information.
It might help to make a note of what happens when you get anxious or have a panic attack. This could help you spot patterns in what triggers these experiences for you, or notice early signs that they are beginning to happen.
You could also make a note of what’s going well. Living with anxiety can mean you think a lot about things that worry you or are hard to do. It’s important to be kind to yourself and notice the good things too.
Peer support brings together people who’ve had similar experiences to support each other.
Many people find it helps them to share ideas about how to stay well, connect with others and feel less alone.
You could
contact a specialist organisation such as Anxiety Care UK, Anxiety UK, No More Panic, No Panic and Triumph Over Phobia UK to find support
Visit our pages on peer support for more information about what it involves and how to find a peer support group to suit you