Anxiety

What it is

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, like worry or fear. It’s tied to the body’s “fight, flight or freeze” response: when your brain senses danger, it floods you with adrenaline to get you ready to act. That’s useful when the danger is real. When the alarm goes off too often, too strongly or when nothing is wrong, it becomes exhausting.

For some people anxiety is linked to a specific situation (like social events or health worries). For others it’s more general and constant. This is sometimes called generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in the UK, and it’s very treatable.

Common signs

Everyone’s experience is different. You might notice some of these:

• Worrying a lot, and finding it hard to stop
• Feeling restless, tense or “on edge”
• A fast or pounding heartbeat, sweating or shaking
• Tight chest, shallow breathing or feeling short of breath
• Stomach problems, feeling sick or dizzy
• Trouble sleeping or concentrating
• Avoiding places, people or situations that make you anxious
• Feeling irritable, or like something bad is about to happen

Things to try now

Different things help different people. Try one or two and see what works for you.

1. Slow your breathingBreathing out for longer than you breathe in helps calm the body’s alarm system. Try our guided breathing for a couple of minutes.
2. Ground yourself in the presentWhen worries race ahead, the 5-4-3-2-1 exercise brings your attention back to what’s around you right now.
3. Schedule “worry time”Write worries down as they come up, then give yourself 15 minutes later in the day to look at them. Many will feel smaller by then.
4. Question anxious thoughtsAnxiety tends to predict the worst. A thought record helps you weigh up the evidence and find a more balanced view.
5. Move your bodyA brisk walk, a dance around the kitchen or any exercise uses up some of that adrenaline and can ease tension.
6. Cut back on caffeine and alcoholBoth can make anxiety symptoms worse, especially palpitations and poor sleep.
7. Gently face what you avoidAvoidance brings short-term relief but tends to make anxiety grow. Small, gradual steps towards feared situations help it shrink over time.

Tools that can help

When to get support

It’s a good idea to talk to your GP or self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies (in England) if anxiety is affecting your daily life, has lasted several weeks, or you’re struggling to cope. Talking therapies like CBT work well for anxiety, and you don’t need a GP referral to ask for them.

You can get a sense of how much anxiety is affecting you with our GAD-7 self-check. It can be useful to take the result along to an appointment.

Who can help

Opening times can change. Check each service’s website for the latest details.

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