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What is Anxiety?
(Part 1 of the “Don’t Panic! Coping With Anxiety” workshop
series)
Brought to you by the Counselling Service
ph: 9925 4365,
email: [email protected]
What is anxiety?
A normal emotion experienced by everyone in the face of:
Threat
Danger
Stress
Typically when we become anxious we feel:
Worried
Upset
Uncomfortable
Tense
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Normal anxiety
Feeling upset/uncomfortable/tense due to general stressors in
life. For example:
Exams
Loss of a job
Relationship break-up
Car accident
Feeling anxious in these situations is appropriate and can
even be healthy if it enhances performance.
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Problem Anxiety
Affects you on physiological, behavioural and psychological
levels and feels overwhelming. It may occur without a clear
reason or focus. Problem anxiety is:
More intense and extreme (e.g. panic attacks)
Lasts longer (persistent and continual, long after the
stressor has passed)
Is out of proportion to the situation
Results in you avoiding situations in which you
experience anxiety
Interferes with your quality of life
Stops you functioning as effectively as you used to
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Physiological symptoms:
Shortness of breath
Heart palpitations
Nausea or abdominal
distress
Trembling/shaking
Numbness
Sweating
Dizziness/unsteadiness
Choking
Hot flashes or chills
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Behavioural symptoms:
Being frozen/unable to act
Withdrawal from others
Difficulty expressing yourself
Lashing out
Difficulty dealing with
everyday situations
Being passive/unassertive
Avoidance of fearful
situations
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Psychological symptoms:
A sense of
apprehension/uneasiness
Loss of confidence
Fear of dying
Self-critical or perfectionistic
thoughts
Fear of going crazy or out of
control
Worrying thoughts
Feeling of detachment or
being out of touch with
yourself
Feeling defeated “what’s the
point?”
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But remember, you are not alone….
Anxiety disorders are common and affect
one in 20 people at any given time.
There are effective treatments for anxiety
disorders and research is yielding new,
improved therapies that can help most
people with anxiety disorders lead
productive, fulfilling lives.
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Anxiety Disorders
Six of the main anxiety disorders are:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder
Social Phobia/Social Anxiety Disorder
Phobias, including specific phobias and agoraphobia
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Characterized by:
Chronic, exaggerated worry/ tension over everyday events, even
when there are no signs of trouble.
Physiological symptoms (e.g. headaches, trembling, muscle tension,
dizziness, hot flashes, feeling out of breath, or nauseated)
Unable to relax, highly strung or restless
Easily fatigued
Startling more easily than other people.
Irritability
Difficulty concentrating.
Trouble falling or staying asleep.
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Panic Disorder
Characterised by:
Unexpected/sudden and repeated episodes of intense fear
that occur out of the blue, without any apparent cause and tend
to last for a few minutes at a time.
Fear/worry about having subsequent panic attacks
Physiological symptoms that may include chest pain, heart
palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, feeling of unreality,
numbness in hands and feet, or abdominal distress.
These sensations often mimic symptoms of a heart attack or
other life-threatening medical conditions. Sufferers are often
not diagnosed until medical tests are carried out to rule out
organic causes for the symptoms.
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Social Phobia/ Social anxiety disorder
One of the more common disorders that is characterised by:
Overwhelming anxiety and excessive self-consciousness in
everyday social situations
Persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and
judged by others and being embarrassed or humiliated by
one’s own actions.
Interference with work or school, and other ordinary activities.
Worry for days or weeks in advance of a dreaded situation.
Physiological symptoms including blushing, profuse sweating,
trembling, nausea, and difficulty talking.
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Causes of anxiety
Not one specific known cause, there are multiple factors
People “feel” their anxiety in different ways
The effects of anxiety will be experienced in different ways
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Long-term, pre-disposing causes
Heredity (a genetic predisposition to developing anxiety)
Cumulative stress over time (Life Events Survey) that is
persistent and builds up to a level that affects coping style.
Personality factors
Childhood circumstances
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Significant life events associated with anxiety
Severe illness
Loss
Divorce/separation
Death in the family
Relocation
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Personality traits associated with anxiety
Volatile
Excitable (easily aroused)
Reactive
Highly sensitive
Perfectionistic/setting high expectations on oneself
Self-critical
“All or nothing” ways of thinking
Inability to accept one’s “negative” emotions without judgement
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Childhood circumstances associated with anxiety
Parents who communicate an overly cautious view of the world
Parents who are overly critical and set excessively high
standards (growing up feeling “not good enough”)
Emotional insecurity and dependence (due to neglect or being
distanced from parents)
Exposure to abuse or unpredictable/fearful situations (e.g.
alcoholic parents)
Your parents suppress your self-assertiveness
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Hypothesised Biological Causes
Panic attacks: Malfunction of the “fight or flight” response due
to over stimulation of the Locus Ceruleus in the brain.
Insufficient norepinephrine and/or serotonin.
 Generalised anxiety disorder: Insufficient activity in the
functioning of natural benzodiazepine/GABA system of the brain
(Gamma Amino butyric Acid).
Obsessive Compulsive disorder: A deficiency in the amount
of serotonin in the brain.
 Medical conditions that can cause anxiety: hyperventilation
syndrome, hypoglycaemia, hyperthyroidism, mitral valve
prolapse, pre-menstrual syndrome and inner ear disturbances
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Short-term triggering causes
Stressors that precipitate first experience of a panic attack:
Significant personal loss
Significant life change
Stimulants and recreational drugs
Conditioning by association or avoidance:
Anxiety experienced in a particular context is associated with that
context
Avoidance of that context (to relieve anxiety) reinforces the association
Traumatic event that results in an association with anxiety/fear:
For example, the traumatic experience of being in a car accident may
result in an association between driving a car and anxiety
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Maintaining causes
Avoidance of phobic situations
Anxious self talk
Mistaken beliefs
Withheld feelings
Lack of assertiveness
Lack of self-nurturing skills
Muscle tension
Stimulants and other dietary factors
High stress lifestyle
Lack of meaning/sense of purpose in life
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Final thoughts
It is natural to question “why do I have anxiety”, but remember
that:
Understanding what caused your anxiety is not necessary to
overcome it. You can learn strategies to effectively reduce
anxiety without being able to answer this question definitively.
There is not one single cause for anyone who experiences
anxiety, therefore recovery means addressing the various
layers and levels that contribute to your anxiety.
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