Anxiety

Anxiety is a psychological state characterised by feelings of worry or anticipation over anticipated future concerns. As with depression, anxiety, is a symptom that predominates various clinically diagnosable disorders. It is normal to experience some degree of anxiety –life is not predictable, and we naturally want to pre-empt negative events and outcomes. Anxiety becomes problematic when it is manifestly excessive (relative to the object or event of concern) or causes significant interference in our daily lives. Signs and symptoms of anxiety include

• Excessive fear/worry
• Catastrophising
• Feelings of panic
• Racing heart
• Hyperventilation (i.e., breathing to quickly, disrupting the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide)
• Trembling
• Disturbed sleep habits (e.g., insomnia)
• Avoidance of situations that provoke anxiety, impacting work, study or socialising

Anxiety disorders include

• Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD): excessive anxiety over various aspects about one’s life, such as work, school, and social activities, that lasts for at least six months
• Social anxiety disorder (SAD; also sometimes called social phobia): involves excessive anxiety relating to social situations (e.g., parties, talking to strangers) where the person feels they may be scrutinised
• Panic disorder: involves unexpected, recurrent panic attacks (i.e., overwhelming sense of fear, feeling of doom, racing heart, hyperventilation, sweating), fear of further attacks or behaviours aimed at avoiding future panic attacks

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