Get help with

Anxiety

What is it?

Anxiety is a normal and helpful feeling that we all experience. It is our body’s way of keeping us safe. A little bit of anxiety can also be helpful for us at times.

For example:

If we are completing an exam.
To run faster in a race.

Whilst we all feel anxious for short periods of time or in certain situations for some people anxiety can begin to take over and impact other parts of their lives.

Anxiety can become an issue when it:

is persistent — you may feel anxious a lot and always seem to be worrying
is severe — you may experience significant and distressing anxiety symptoms
interferes with your everyday life – you may avoid going to places or doing things that make you feel anxious.

(Adapted from LIAM)

Symptoms of anxiety in your mind	Symptoms of anxiety on your body
Feeling tense, nervous or unable to relax	A churning feeling in your stomach or feeling sick
Having a sense of dread	Feeling light-headed or dizzy
Feeling like other people can see you’re anxious and are looking at you	Fidgeting or unable to sit still
Feeling like you can’t stop worrying, or that bad things will happen if you stop worrying	Headaches, backache or other aches and pains
Wanting lots of reassurance from other people or worrying that people are angry or upset with you	Faster breathing or feeling like your heart is pounding
Worrying that you’re losing touch with reality	Sweating or hot flushes
Thinking a lot about bad experiences, or thinking over a situation again and again	Sleep problems or grinding your teeth, especially at night
Low mood	Needing the toilet more or less often
Thinking a lot about bad experiences, or thinking over a situation again and again
Feeling disconnected from your body
Derealisation – another type of dissociation 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.