| Anxiety |
|
 |
Introduction
|
|
Symptoms of Anxiety |
|
Identifying the Trigger
for the Anxiety |
|
Responding to Anxiety
|
|
Coping with Anxiety |
|
Books |
| |
| Select any section that interests you or
else read on through the page. |
| |
| Introduction |
|
Anxiety
and worry are very fundamental human emotions that we
will all feel at times. Some people suggest that we only
notice them when they occur in excess. Many people adapt
to very high levels of anxiety and do not consider it
a problem until they meet people who are less worried.
Anxiety has very healthy purpose. If we did not feel anxious
about certain situations then we would risk falling over
cliffs, stepping into fires and so on. Similarly, if we
had no anxiety about ourselves in relation to others we
might well behave with great insensitivity.
Sometimes anxiety can become excessive and unhealthy.
In what follows we shall endeavour to identify levels
of anxiety and worry which are suitable for remedy and
to give some ideas about responding to them. However we
do this bearing in mind that anxiety is a necessary feature
of living. |
| |
|
| |
| Symptoms
of anxiety |
|
Here is a diagnostic chart of symptoms of
anxiety. You may experience only one of these or you may
have several:
Physical Signs
Racing heart, dry mouth, increased rates of breathing,
increased sweating, disturbances of bladder and bowel
functions, trembling, disturbed sleep.
Sensations
Tense muscles lead to increased fidgeting, prickling sensations
in the skin and stiffness in the joints. There may be
unpleasant sensations in the solar plexus region, headaches
and aching elsewhere in the body.
Imagery
When we are anxious our mind often produces sharp flashes
of imagination (e.g. of us in a feared situation such
as an exam) with pessimistic overtones. These can be very
vivid and disturbing.
Thoughts
Anxiety tends to increase the amount of thinking we do
in the area of concern. Usually the thoughts are selective
- isolating and magnifying the worst aspects of the feared
situation.
Relations with Others
Two opposing tendencies may be experienced here. The anxious
person can isolate themselves and withdraw from people.
Alternatively there can be increased dependence upon other
- such as asking repetitive questions, looking for reassurance,
or just needing to be in the presence of others to bring
about calm.
Activities
We either become more frenetic and over-active or else
more commonly, we avoid the source of the worry entirely
- sometimes even to the extent of not even allowing ourselves
to think or imagine the worry. For example a person who
is worried about speaking in a tutorial may decide not
only to not do this, but also avoid imagining doing it
and may even hide all the lecture notes associated with
the subject of the tutorial.
Feelings
Hard to capture in words but usually described as uncomfortable,
pressured feelings with a keen edge to them. Such feelings
interfere with everyday activity and take away the fun
in life.
|
| |
|
| |
| Identifying
the trigger for the anxiety |
|
Identifying symptoms of anxiety is one step,
but another feature of higher levels of anxiety is that
it doesn't always affect us uniformly. Quite often there
are just one or two situations which bring it out. The
anxiety can be experienced by just imagining the situation.
There is often nothing so powerful in triggering anxiety
as picturing yourself in some feared situation or state
even if in reality you are unlikely to be within a million
miles of it actually happening. Finally, anxiety takes
different forms and expressions.
These forms include:
|
General Anxiety (being anxious about
many aspects of your life) |
|
Worry (continually thinking over a problem beyond
what is needed to produce a solution) |
|
Specific Anxiety (anxiety over a certain situation
- e.g. exams; social situations etc.) |
|
Phobia (an excessive fear of a particular situation
or item leading to avoidance) |
|
Hypochondria (an anxiety about suffering illness)
|
|
Panic attacks (a sudden uncontrollable triggering
of physical anxiety symptoms) |
|
| |
These forms can be chronic (ie. be in the
background and have a long history) or can be acute (i.e.
be sharp and in the present). They could combine elements
of both.
So here are four steps classifying any anxiety you may
have: |
| |
|
Decide if time duration makes it a
chronic concern, an acute one or both |
|
Place it in a general group |
|
Locate triggers or situations which lead to anxiety
|
|
Identify how it is experienced and expressed |
|
| |
| Therefore someone who gets severe butterflies
just before presenting a paper but is otherwise socially
at ease might say:- |
| |
| "I have an acute
(time duration) specific anxiety (general
group) about pre-planned public speaking (trigger)
which always makes me feel sick and gives me an
upset stomach just before I have to do it (experience
and expression)." |
|
| |
|
| Responding
to anxiety |
|
| Modern approaches are now tending to shy
away from the endless lists of things one should do to
relax - partly because anxiety is a functional and general
part of our lives and partly because this is not helpful
for specific anxieties. The approach nowadays is to come
to some understanding about the anxiety at the same time
as generating possible control or relief from the symptoms.
The following paradoxes about worry may become apparent
when you start to deal with it: |
| |
|
You may create more anxiety if you
become too concerned to control or relieve all the
symptoms. |
|
You may find you maintain your anxiety because
you believe it is wrong not to worry and so you
feel more insecure if you relax. This is particularly
true of exams where people can feel something is
wrong if they are not hyped-up. |
|
You may worry about worrying because it seems
uncool. This is often true of a fear of speaking
in public, which most people have but to which few
admit. |
|
You may worry about not solving the whole worry
all at once. Usually there is not a simple single
solution to such things as exam fear - the way forwards
is a mixture of anxiety control, practice, revision
and acceptance of some degree of nerves. |
|
| |
|
| |
| Coping
with anxiety |
|
|
Do not immediately consider complete
relief as the only solution. Much anxiety is completely
survivable and may even help you. |
|
Take an interest in exactly how your anxiety manifests
itself. Modern thought would suggest that we might
gain from being informed and monitoring ourselves.
|
|
Identify what sort of worry you have. If it takes
a particular form you may need to seek a treatment
which is appropriate to it. Panic, for example,
will not respond to techniques and strategies aimed
at reducing and dealing with general worry. Nor
will a particular phobia give way to general advice
about keeping relaxed - specific approaches designed
to meet the particular anxiety are more helpful. |
|
Talk about your worry to a counsellor so you can
become more objective about it and begin to understand
any paradoxes. |
|
Take a measure of how you react in different situations
and review the ingredients which are particularly
worrying. |
|
Look at the situations you are avoiding because
of anxiety and begin to consider how you could begin
to expose yourselves to these in small but increasing
steps. |
|
Seek to learn more about your anxiety. Reading
may be a tool to help in this. |
|
Develop a problem solving attitude to allow you
to dismantle the large problems into lots of smaller
ones and then to resolve them by practical steps.
For example small steps to deal with a large anxiety
over public speaking could include talking to a
counsellor; observing how others cope; making your
tutor aware of the problem you have; preparing the
subject; rehearsing in private; taping your voice;
practising before a friend; getting as relaxed as
possible on the day; doing it. |
|
Do not completely disregard general stress management
and relaxation - they will not banish a specific
anxiety, but they will make you generally happier
and so more able to deal with the things you find
difficult. |
|
Medication can be very useful for some people
when they are coping with specific crises or when
anxiety needs an initial reduction to allow for
planned action to be taken. Be very wary of using
alcohol or non-prescription drugs to overcome anxiety
as they rarely offer more than a fleeting solution.
|
|
| |
| In summary the suggested approach is not
to immediately run for medication, relaxation exercises
or the avoidance strategy but to stay in there and come
to some understanding of how to manage the anxiety. Changes
are made to the level of worry by changing your adaptation
to it and by taking an incremental problem-solving approach.
|
| |
|
| |
| Books |
|
Feel the fear and do it anyway - S Jeffers
- Rider.
A bit outdated now but worth looking at for the generally
encouraging messages (and the title!).
Think
Your Way to Happiness - Dr W Dryden and J Gordon. Sheldon
Press. Ch 2 esp.
A good straightforward chapter with a useful summary at
the end. The rest of the book is an entertaining read
although some of the ideas on how to meet a partner and
to overcome shame verge on the eccentric!
Coping with Anxiety and Depression -S Trickett. Sheldon
Press
The book takes an holistic approach to anxieity and depression
and includes many self-help suggestions. Its caveats about
antidepressant medication - although introducing a wise
note of caution - seem slightly pessimistic and possibly
anxiety provoking.
How to Stop Worrying -
Frank Tallis. Sheldon Press
This book takes a very practical problem-solving approach
and incudes some illuminating worked examples.
Beating the Comfort Trap - Dr W Dryden and J Gordon. Sheldon
Press
A good motivating book for those of us who tend to put
uncomfortable tasks off or run for the bar at the first
sight of a problem (- i.e. most of us!). |
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
| Adapted from material produced
by Royal Holloway College, the University of London |
