Anxiety is a normal emotional and physiological response to a perceived threat – in our physical or psychological environment. Symptoms can range from mild uneasiness to severe panic.
We experience anxiety in different ways:
Psychologically - Fear, nervousness, not being able to concentrate/feeling distracted, feeling overwhelmed
Physiologically - Breathing fast, trembling, dry mouth, heart racing, and stomach churning
Cognitively - Fearful and negative thoughts e.g. I’m going to fail/ make a fool of myself/lose control
It is not unusual to feel anxious when in a stressful situation: anxiety can serve a protective as well as a motivational function by alerting us to situations that might be harmful or difficult in some way. It can also prepare us to face a difficulty or challenge – activating our physiological systems to be ready to face the perceived threat or difficulty.
When the anxiety is too severe or is disproportionate to the threat we are facing, it can be debilitating. Sustained anxiety that is focused on specific situations or triggers can lead to avoidance of those triggers. Avoidance then becomes a problem in itself – for example, social anxiety leads to avoidance of social situations which cases increased isolation, loneliness and a loss of social confidence, compounds the social anxiety.
Prolonged anxiety can lead to:
- Sleep disturbance causing fatigue and tiredness.
- Loss of concentration impacting performance e.g. at work.
- The need to take time off work.
- Comfort eating or loss of appetite.
- The need for drugs/medication or alcohol to reduce the symptoms of anxiety.
- Low mood, agitation and irritability
- Increasing isolation and withdrawal as avoidance behaviours become established.
How you can help yourself
Identify factors that might be contributing to your anxiety
For example:
- If you are feeling overwhelmed, consider saying “no” to things which are not a priority.
- Reflect on your expectations – of yourself and of others. It is useful to ask yourself. Whether these expectations are realistic or achievable and to moderate them where necessary.
- Slow down and build in time to pause and reflect, so that you can be responsive rather than reactive.
- Identify ways in which you might have started to avoid the things that cause you to feel anxious. Avoidance is likely to increase the anxiety you experience rather than decrease it (see next section)
Reducing your anxiety
Decide what pace of change feels right for you rather than pushing yourself to manage everything all at once.
- Talk to close friends and/or family about your anxiety – not necessarily to find a solution, but so that you don’t have to hide how you are feeling.
- Talk to a trusted colleague or a supervisor or manager if you are having difficulties at work.
- Try to set realistic goals and expectations for overcoming the difficulties your anxiety presents. For example, you might not be able to get rid of your anxiety completely, but you can learn how to tolerate it and by doing so, to reduce it.
- Try to tackle your avoidance: You might find that you have started to avoid certain situations that make you anxious. Usually anxiety can be reduced over time by gradually facing the thing that is making us feel threatened. This is called ‘exposure’ or ‘desensitisation’. The idea is that you gradually face the cause of your anxiety, at a pace that feels manageable, increasing your exposure to the anxiety a little at a time, while you learn to tolerate the uncomfortable feelings that this provokes
Further information can be found here:
Situational Exposure Information Sheet (health.wa.gov.au)
While you are exploring ways of reducing your anxiety it can be helpful to look after yourself more generally. This will place you in the best position possible to manage the uncomfortable feelings that anxiety gives rise to.
- Look after your physical health by eating well; exercising regularly - a 20 min brisk walk for example.
- Establish a regular routine to support healthy sleep (see our sleep hygiene leaflet).
- Engage in social activities and/or activities you enjoy.
Experiment with more objective ways of thinking.
For example:
Fear: “I will make a fool of myself and others will notice”
Objective thinking: “Others might not notice and might even be feeling anxious.”
Fear: “I am going to mess this up...”
Objective thinking: “I will do my best – I don’t know yet how this will turn out”
Locate where you feel your anxiety in your body and focus on that to enable you to ignore the negative thoughts
One way to disengage from frightening thoughts is to locate where in the body you experience your anxiety the most. Try to notice the psychical sensations of anxiety. You are not trying to reduce or resolve your anxiety, but to observe how you are feeling without being self-critical or impatient with yourself
Try to regulate your breathing by breathing in for 5 counts, and breathing out for 5 counts.
If you are distracted by anxious and fearful thoughts, try to steer your awareness back to your physical experience.
Practice Relaxation
Practice noticing the differences between the way your body feels when it is tense, to them it is relaxed. You can do this by tensing different parts of your body - start with your toes and feet and work your way up – and relaxing them.
Try not to hold your breath whole you do this – if necessary, try the breathing technique from the previous section
Meditation 1: Mindfulness of body and breath - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzf4DxDqjxU
Anxious thoughts
Fear can distort your perception of how threatening a situation is, and impact your perception of whether you can cope with the anxiety.
Useful questions to ask yourself might be:
Am I judging myself?
Are you focusing on failures and overlooking your successes?
Am I catastrophising?
Are you seeing things in all-or-nothing terms? It can be helpful to think about a worst case scenario and how you might cope with this - developing a Plan B.
Am I worrying about things that haven’t happened yet?
Are you thinking too far ahead? If so you might be trying to manage situations that haven’t yet or may never happen.
Am I comparing myself to others?
Are you assuming that everyone else is doing fine, when you don’t actually know how others are feeling or managing?
Am I trying to manage things that are not in my control?
It can be useful to identify what lies within your sphere of control and what you are not able to change.
Panic Attacks
A panic attack is an intense experience of anxiety. It is your body’s response, to a stressful situation. You may experience a sense of dread and physical symptoms such as feeling your breathing is constricted; dizziness; chest pains; trembling, and sweating. You might fear that you are losing control, or worry that there might be something physically wrong with you. Although panic attacks can be very frightening, they are not harmful and will pass.
If you have a panic attack:
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Remember that a panic attack will pass eventually and is not dangerous.
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Try not to get rid of your feelings; they will gradually become less intense.
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Stop what you are doing and allow yourself to slow down and pause. Breathe steadily and gently and try to focus on your out-breath rather than trying to breathe in.
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Instead of focusing on your frightening thoughts, focus on the here and now: notice the things around you - observe their shape, colour, sounds...
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Alternatively hold your attention on the physical area of your body in which you experience anxiety and notice how that is feeling.
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As your panic subsides, take a big sigh, stretch out, and then flop and relax.
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Continue to focus on your breathing and possibly take some gentle exercise e.g. go for a stroll.
It can be helpful to note what happens before a panic attack, and when/where they tend to occur. This might help you to identify possible triggers.
Where to get help
If your anxiety is persistent and is stopping you from living a normal life/engaging in day to day activities, you can:
- Speak to a close friend or family member, colleague, supervisor or line manager.
- Talk to your GP if you are worried about the physical symptoms of anxiety or you think you might need some medication.
- Register with the University Staff Counselling Centre for short term counselling to help you understand and manage your anxiety.
Staff Counselling Centre:
Website: https://staff.counselling.cam.ac.uk/
Email: staffcouns@admin.cam.ac.uk
Tel: 01223 762160
For urgent support/NHS 111: First Response Service (FRS)
https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/service-detail/service/first-response-service-frs-21/
Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/branches/cambridge/