What is anxiety?
Anxiety is not the same as stress. Anxiety is often the result of feeling uneasy, worried or fearful about some aspect of our life, our health or ourselves. It could even be something small which causes worrying thoughts which can take over our mind, so that we can’t think about anything else. Anxiety can cause us to feel scared or panicky about going out, being in public, and fearful of events which may or may not be about to happen. Uncertainty can be a trigger for anxiety, as worrying about the unknown can become irrational and excessive and lead to anxious thinking and behaviour.
Anyone who experiences anxiety knows how overwhelming and debilitating it can be. It can take over our life, reduce our confidence and self-esteem, making us afraid to do anything challenging or even slightly out of our normal routine. Anxiety can impair our ability to cope with everyday living and reduce our quality of life, unless we are able to learn good coping strategies to manage it. Long term, excessive anxiety can lead to feeling stressed with all the accompanying signs and symptoms including panic attacks.