Firstly, here’s what anxiety is not: it’s not worrying that your train has been cancelled or that your card won’t be accepted in a restaurant. It’s not being scared before a medical test.
Anxiety is an inappropriate response to a real or perceived threat. It is a REAL illness that is unpleasant to live with and warrants professional help. As a cognitive behaviour therapist, here are the key things I think we all need to know about anxiety:
1. Anxiety is extremely common
Leading psychiatrist Dr Jeremy Pfeffer says that whatever psychiatric problems his patients have, in many cases anxiety is also present, and according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, anxiety disorders affect one in 10 of us. Some of us are born with a tendency to be more anxious than others, which may suggest that there is a genetic component.
2. Anxiety often causes physical symptoms
I often see clients who have been to cardiologists, neurologists, gastroenterologists – every expert you can imagine in the search for the cause of their physical symptoms.
With a clean bill of health from all these specialists they arrive in my office having been diagnosed with anxiety. Common physical symptoms include:
Rapid heartbeat
Chest pains
Excessive sweating
Dry mouth
Dizziness
Difficulty in swallowing
Urge to need the loo at the peak of anxiety
Shallow or heavy breathing
Shakiness
Sense of not really ‘being here’
3. Anxiety can present itself as psychological symptoms… or ‘scrambled egg head’ as I call it
When you’re anxious you’ll tend to inflate the level of threat. You will tend to see threats where they don’t exist. You will have a tendency to seek reassurance that everything is ok.
You will ruminate unremittingly on the threat materialising. You will be dominated by thoughts of how to avoid the event that you’re scared of. You will have an unquiet mind. You won’t be able to think very clearly. You will be aware of thinking in ways that make no sense yet still be unable to think logically.
4. Anxiety is treatable
If you have a number of the symptoms above, I recommend seeing your GP or heading to a cognitive behavioural therapist. A GP may prescribe medication such as an anti-depressant that will serve to tackle anxiety, a short-term use of tranquiliser for the acute stage and/or a beta-blocker which will reduce a rapid heart rate. Dr Jeremy Pfeffer says: ‘Tablets can make it better, but therapy will deliver more long-term benefits.’
5. Women are more likely to suffer from anxiety
Statistics show that the lifetime incidence of anxiety disorders in women is 33% as compared to 22% in men. It has been suggested that differences in brain chemistry as well as hormonal changes may be part of the explanation.
It may also be that women tend to take too much responsibility for the well-being of others, in part due to biology and upbringing.
6. Anxiety is often worse in the morning
It is common for those with anxiety to wake with a jolt as if they’ve just stuck their finger in a plug socket. Why this jolt of fear? The jury is out – it could be because of soaring cortisol levels first thing (the stress hormone) or the sudden realisation on waking that you have to face the day. I tell my clients to get up straight away and not to lie in bed dwelling.
There is some evidence that you are more likely to think negatively when lying down. Here are some ways to start the day feeling less anxious:
Always eat breakfast. Slow-release carbs, such as porridge, are best.
Eat bananas. Those with anxiety often find it difficult to swallow but bananas are perfect.
Minimise stimulants such as caffeine and cigarettes.
7. Anxiety may be uncomfortable, but it won’t kill you
Your body is not doing anything it’s not designed to do – it’s just doing something that doesn’t warrant this size and type of response.
I always let clients know that anxiety is self-limiting. It will climb, will reach a peak and whether you like it or not, will come down over time down. You will not remain anxious forever.
8. Don’t feel guilty about your anxiety
‘But I have nothing to be anxious about’ is what so many of my clients say – they are looking for reasons as to why they feel anxious and may feel guilty and ashamed about feeling anxious. They site it is a ‘first world problem’. After all they often have a family, a home, and food on the table.
What they don’t realise is that anxiety is a psychological disorder. You cannot get rid of it by telling yourself it should not be there and that it makes no sense for you to have it. The best way to tackle it is to understand it and to understand what you are getting anxious about. Read around the subject and you will demystify it for yourself.
