Anxiety & Panic
What is an anxiety? Anxiety is a general term used to describe an emotional and physiological experience that ranges from general nervousness to intense worry to debilitating panic attack symptoms.
The feeling of anxiety varies greatly from person to person and situation to situation. When anxious, a person’s thinking can be fraught with chronic worry, preoccupation with a particular thing going wrong, fear of a specific experience or situation (e.g., fear of flying; fear of public speaking, etc.), obsessive thoughts that endlessly loop or fears of having a panic attack. This thinking is usually accompanied by physiological symptoms that can range from the simple discomfort of butterflies in the tummy or pressure in the chest all the way to the uncomfortable experience of multiple intense panic attack symptoms. In all of the ways that anxiety manifests, it tends to feel intensely physical and very uncomfortable for the person.
Research shows that CBT Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness Therapy and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) are all effective ways to help people struggling with anxiety to recover and heal.
Common Signs of Anxiety
What is anxiety? The following signs of anxiety are key indicators:
Nervousness & tension
Excessive worry
Panic attacks
Increased heart rate
Agitation & restlessness
Difficulty concentrating
Nausea & dizziness
Shortness of breath
Increased sweating
Trembling
Irrational fears
Irritability
Trouble falling or staying asleep
Avoiding social situations
An anxiety attack manifests for many different reasons
Generalised Anxiety
In GAD, a person experiences chronic worry about things going wrong. It’s usually triggered by stressful situations, general changes, big life events or when things simply aren't going to plan. A person might intensely worry about potential difficulties, personal conflicts, last minute plans, work conflicts, unexpected changes, etc. Often times, these worrying thoughts feel intrusive and relentless.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
OCD is a condition where a person experiences intrusive and disturbing thoughts or images that cause them to feel anxious, disgusted or uneasy. To quell the anxiety attack symptoms brought on by these thoughts, a person with OCD engages in compulsive behaviours, rituals, or 'thought checking' which provides short-term relief but ultimately makes matters worse. OCD tends to manifest around certain anxiety provoking themes… Read More
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety occurs when a person is overwhelmed by nervousness, worry, self-doubt and/or panic in response to social situations. These feelings make it difficult to spend time with groups of people, meet strangers, enter unfamiliar social situations, network, speak in public or express oneself. Often times, a person copes by avoiding social situations altogether or by staying quiet when socialising.
Phobias
A phobia is an intense & debilitating fear of a specific object, situation, place, feeling or animal. Phobias tend to be extreme in nature and a person will go to great lengths to avoid coming into contact with the object of their fears. Common simple phobias include fear of animals, heights, blood, injections, visiting the dentist, deep water & flying. More complex phobias include Social Phobia (a.k.a. social anxiety) and Agoraphobia.
Panic Attacks
A panic attack occurs when a person experiences the sudden & intense onset of fear. Panic feels frightening and tends to come in a rush of intense physical symptoms including increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, pins and needles, dizziness, choking sensations, chest pain, etc. Panic attack symptoms can occur in response to a stressor or out of blue & typically last 5-20 minutes long.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
A person can develop PTSD after enduring one or many events that either cause or threaten to cause physical injury, emotional terror or death. During or around the event a person generally responds with extreme fear and anxiety attack or by shutting down. Trauma tends to have long lasting effects on a person's psychological wellbeing because it disrupts their sense of safety in the world and around others on a physiological and chemical level… Read More
“Fear is the vigilance and the need to escape from something real. Anxiety is about dread and foreboding and your imagination running away with you. Much as with depression, anxiety is rooted in a cognitive distortion. In this case, people prone toward anxiety overestimate risks and the likelihood of a bad outcome.”
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Email. admin@harrisonpsychologygroup.com
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