Anxiety

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Overview

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.

Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life. For example, you may feel worried and anxious about sitting an exam, or having a medical test or job interview.

During times like these, feeling anxious can be perfectly normal.

But some people find it hard to control their worries. Their feelings of anxiety are more constant and can often affect their daily life.

Anxiety is the main symptom of several conditions, including:

The information in this section is about a specific condition called generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

GAD is a long-term condition that causes you to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event.

People with GAD feel anxious most days and often struggle to remember the last time they felt relaxed.

As soon as one anxious thought is resolved, another may appear about a different issue.

Symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

GAD can cause both psychological (mental) and physical symptoms.

These vary from person to person, but can include:

When to get help for anxiety

Although feelings of anxiety at certain times are completely normal, see a GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or causing you distress.

Your GP will ask about your symptoms and your worries, fears and emotions to find out if you could have GAD.

Read more about diagnosing GAD.

What causes generalised anxiety disorder GAD?

The exact cause of GAD isn't fully understood, although it's likely that a combination of several factors plays a role.

Research has suggested that these may include:

  • the genes you inherit from your parents 
  • having a history of stressful or traumatic experiences, such as domestic violence, child abuse or bullying
  • having a painful long-term health condition, such as arthritis
  • having a history of drug or alcohol misuse

But many people develop GAD for no apparent reason.

Who is affected?

GAD is a common condition.

More women are affected than men, and the condition is more common in people from the ages of 35 to 55.

How generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is treated

GAD can have a significant effect on your daily life, but several different treatments are available that can ease your symptoms.

These include:

With treatment, many people are able to control their anxiety levels. But some treatments may need to be continued for a long time and there may be periods when your symptoms worsen.

Self-help for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

There are also many things you can do yourself to help reduce your anxiety, such as:

  • going on a self-help course
  • exercising regularly
  • stopping smoking
  • looing after your physical health

Symptoms

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) can affect you both physically and mentally.

How severe the symptoms are varies from person to person. Some people have only one or two symptoms, while others have many more.

You should see a GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or is causing you distress.

Psychological symptoms of anxiety

GAD can cause a change in your behaviour and the way you think and feel about things, resulting in symptoms such as:

  • restlessness
  • a sense of dread
  • feeling constantly "on edge"
  • difficulty concentrating
  • irritability

Your symptoms may cause you to withdraw from social contact (seeing your family and friends) to avoid feelings of worry and dread.

You may also find going to work difficult and stressful, and may take time off sick. These actions can make you worry even more about yourself and increase your lack of self-esteem.

Physical symptoms of anxiety

GAD can also have a number of physical symptoms, including:

Anxiety triggers

If you are anxious because of a specific phobia or because of panic disorder, you will usually know what the cause is.

For example, if you have claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), you know that being confined in a small space will trigger your anxiety.

But it may not always be clear what you're feeling anxious about. Not knowing what triggers your anxiety can intensify it and you may start to worry that there will be no solution.

Diagnosis

See your GP if anxiety is affecting your daily life or is causing you distress.

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) can be difficult to diagnose.

In some cases, it can also be difficult to distinguish from other mental health conditions, such as depression.

You may have GAD if:

  • your worrying significantly affects your daily life, including your job and social life
  • your worries are extremely stressful and upsetting
  • you worry about all sorts of things and have a tendency to think the worst
  • your worrying is uncontrollable
  • you've felt worried nearly every day for at least six months

Talking to your GP about anxiety

Your GP may ask you questions about:

  • any physical or psychological symptoms and how long you've had them for
  • your worries, fears and emotions
  • your personal life

You may find it difficult to talk about your feelings, emotions and personal life.

But it's important that your GP understands your symptoms and circumstances so the correct diagnosis can be made.

You're most likely to be diagnosed with GAD if you've had symptoms for six months or more.

Finding it difficult to manage your feelings of anxiety is also an indication that you may have the condition.

To help with the diagnosis, your GP may carry out a physical examination or blood tests to rule out other conditions that may be causing your symptoms, such as:

Treatment

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a long-term condition, but a number of different treatments can help.

If you have other problems alongside GAD, such as depression or alcohol misuse, these may need to be treated before having treatment specifically for GAD.

Psychological therapies for GAD

If you have been diagnosed with GAD, you will usually be advised to try psychological treatment before you are prescribed medication.

You can get psychological therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and applied relaxation on the NHS.

 

Your GP can refer you.

Guided self-help

Your GP or psychological therapies service may suggest trying a guided self-help course to see if it can help you learn to cope with your anxiety.

This involves working through a CBT-based workbook or computer course in your own time with the support of a therapist.

Or you may be offered a group course where you and other people with similar problems meet with a therapist every week to learn ways to tackle your anxiety.

If these intitial treatments don't help, you'll usually be offered either a more intense psychological therapy or medication.

Cognitive behavioural therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for GAD.

Studies of different treatments for GAD have found that the benefits of CBT may last longer than those of medication, but no single treatment works for everyone.

CBT helps you to question your negative or anxious thoughts and do things you would usually avoid because they make you anxious.

It usually involves meeting with a specially trained and accredited therapist for a one-hour session every week for three to four months.

Applied relaxation

Applied relaxation focuses on relaxing your muscles in a particular way during situations that usually cause anxiety.

The technique needs to be taught by a trained therapist, but generally involves:
  • learning how to relax your muscles
  • learning how to relax your muscles quickly and in response to a trigger, such as the word "relax"
  • practising relaxing your muscles in situations that make you anxious

As with CBT, applied relaxation therapy will usually mean meeting with a therapist for a one-hour session every week for three to four months.

Medication

If the psychological treatments above have not helped or you would prefer not to try them, you will usually be offered medication.

Your GP can prescribe a variety of different types of medication to treat GAD.

Some medication is designed to be taken on a short-term basis, while other medicines are prescribed for longer periods.

Depending on your symptoms, you may require medicine to treat your physical symptoms as well as your psychological ones.

If you are considering taking medication for GAD, your GP should discuss the different options with you in detail before you start a course of treatment, including:

  • the different types of medication
  • length of treatment
  • side effects and possible interactions with other medicines

You should also have regular appointments with your doctor to assess your progress when you are taking medication for GAD.

These will usually take place every two to four weeks for the first three months, then every three months after that.

Tell your GP if you think you may be experiencing side effects from your medication. They may be able to adjust your dose or prescribe an alternative medication.

The main medications you may be offered to treat GAD are described below.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

In most cases, the first medication you will be offered will be a type of antidepressant called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

This type of medication works by increasing the level of a chemical called serotonin in your brain.

Examples of SSRIs you may be prescribed include:

  • sertraline
  • escitalopram
  • paroxetine.

SSRIs can be taken on a long-term basis but, as with all antidepressants, they can take several weeks to start working.

You will usually be started on a low dose, which is gradually increased as your body adjusts to the medicine.

Common side effects of SSRIs include:

These side effects should improve over time, although some – such as sexual problems – can persist.

If your medication isn't helping after about two months of treatment or it's causing unpleasant side effects, your GP may prescribe an alternative SSRI.

When you and your GP decide it's appropriate for you to stop taking your medication, you'll normally have your dose slowly reduced over the course of a few weeks to reduce the risk of withdrawal effects.

Never stop taking your medication unless your GP specifically advises you to.

Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)

If SSRIs don't help ease your anxiety, you may be prescribed a different type of antidepressant known as a serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI).

This type of medicine increases the amount of serotonin and noradrenaline in your brain.

Examples of SNRIs you may be prescribed include:

  • venlafaxine
  • duloxetine

Common side effects of SNRIs include:

  • feeling sick
  • headaches
  • drowsiness
  • dizziness
  • dry mouth
  • constipation
  • insomnia
  • sweating

SNRIs can also increase your blood pressure, so your blood pressure will be monitored regularly during treatment.

As with SSRIs, some of the side effects (such as feeling sick, an upset stomach, problems sleeping and feeling agitated or more anxious) are more common in the first one or two weeks of treatment, but these usually settle as your body adjusts to the medication.

Pregabalin

If SSRIs and SNRIs aren't suitable for you, you may be offered pregabalin.

This is a medication known as an anticonvulsant, which is used to treat conditions such as epilepsy, but, it's also been found to be beneficial in treating anxiety.

Side effects of pregabalin can include:

  • drowsiness
  • dizziness
  • increased appetite and weight gain
  • blurred vision
  • headaches
  • dry mouth
  • vertigo

Pregabalin is less likely to cause nausea or a low sex drive than SSRIs or SNRIs.

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines are a type of sedative that may sometimes be used as a short-term treatment during a particularly severe period of anxiety.

This is because they help ease the symptoms within 30 to 90 minutes of taking the medication.

If you're prescribed a benzodiazepine, it will usually be diazepam.

Although benzodiazepines are very effective in treating the symptoms of anxiety, they can't be used for long periods.

This is because they can become addictive if used for longer than four weeks. Benzodiazepines also start to lose their effectiveness after this time.

For these reasons, you won't usually be prescribed benzodiazepines for any longer than two to four weeks at a time.

Side effects of benzodiazepines can include:

  • drowsiness
  • difficulty concentrating
  • headaches
  • vertigo
  • tremor (an uncontrollable shake or tremble in part of the body)
  • low sex drive

As drowsiness is a particularly common side effect of benzodiazepines, your ability to drive or operate machinery may be affected by taking this medication.

You should avoid these activities during treatment.

You should also never drink alcohol or use opiate drugs when taking benzodiazepine as doing so can be dangerous.

Referral to a specialist

If you've tried the treatments mentioned above and have significant symptoms of GAD, you may want to discuss with your GP whether you should be referred to a mental health specialist.

A referral will work differently in different areas of the UK, but you'll usually be referred to your community mental health team.

These teams include a range of specialists, including:

  • psychiatrists
  • psychiatric nurses
  • clinical psychologists
  • occupational therapists
  • social workers

An appropriate mental health specialist from your local team will carry out an overall reassessment of your condition.

They'll ask you about your previous treatment and how effective you found it.

They may also ask about things in your life that may be affecting your condition, or how much support you get from family and friends.

Your specialist will then be able to devise a treatment plan for you, which will aim to treat your symptoms.

As part of this plan, you may be offered a treatment you haven't tried before, which might be one of the psychological treatments or medications mentioned above.

Alternatively, you may be offered a combination of a psychological treatment with a medication, or a combination of two different medications.

Self-help

If you have generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), there are many ways to help ease the symptoms of anxiety yourself.

Try a book or online course

When you are diagnosed with GAD, your GP may recommend trying self-help treatments before having more intensive psychological therapy or medication.

Reading Well is a scheme that aims to help people with mild to moderate emotional problems to make use of high quality self-help books that have been specially selected by psychologists and counsellors working in Wales. A GP or other health professional can prescribe a therapy book which is available to borrow from any branch library across Wales. Sometimes a self help computer programme may be recommended. These schemes will may run for around six weeks or longer. In some cases, you may be closely supported by a trained therapist who you will speak to every week or two, although some treatments only involve minimal or occasional contact with a therapist who will monitor your progress.

There are a number of different books and courses available that can help you learn to cope with your anxiety, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) only recommends trying treatments based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

CBT is a type of psychological treatment that can help you understand your condition better and how your problems, thoughts, feelings and behaviour affect each other. The aim of CBT-based treatments is to help you learn ways to manage your anxiety by modifying negative or unhelpful behaviour and thoughts.

Exercise regularly

Regular exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, may help you combat stress and release tension.

It also encourages your brain to release serotonin, which can improve your mood.

Examples of good aerobic exercises to try include:

  • walking fast or jogging
  • swimming
  • cycling
  • tennis
  • hiking
  • football or rugby
  • aerobics

You should aim to do a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week.

Moderate-intensity exercise should raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster.

Learn to relax

As well as regular exercise, learning how to relax is important.

You may find relaxation and breathing exercises helpful, or you may prefer activities such as yoga or pilates to help you unwind.

Avoid caffeine

Drinking too much caffeine can make you more anxious than normal. This is because caffeine can disrupt your sleep and also speed up your heartbeat.

If you are tired, you are less likely to be able to control your anxious feelings.

Avoiding drinks containing caffeine, such as coffee, tea, fizzy drinks and energy drinks, may help reduce your anxiety levels.

Avoid Smoking and Alcohol

Smoking and alcohol have been shown to make anxiety worse. Only drinking alcohol in moderation or stopping smoking may help reduce your anxiety.

To reduce the risk of harming your health:

  • men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week
  • spread your drinking over three days or more if you drink as much as 14 units a week

Fourteen units is equivalent to six pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of low-strength wine.

Contact support groups

Support groups can give you advice on how to manage your anxiety.

They are also a good way to meet other people with similar experiences.

Examples of support groups you may find useful include:

Support groups can often arrange face-to-face meetings, where you can talk about your difficulties and problems with other people.

Many support groups also provide support and guidance over the phone or in writing.

Ask your GP about local support groups for anxiety in your area, or look up online emotional support services near you.

Children

Just like adults, children and young people feel worried and anxious at times.

But if your child's anxiety is starting to affect their wellbeing, they may need some help.

What makes children anxious?

Children can feel anxious about different things at different ages. Many of these worries are a normal part of growing up.

From the age of around 6 months to 3 years it's very common for young children to have separation anxiety. They may become clingy and cry when separated from their parents or carers. This is a normal stage in a child's development and should stop at around age 2 to 3.

It's also common for preschool-age children to develop specific fears or phobias. Common fears in early childhood include animals, insects, storms, heights, water, blood and the dark. These fears usually go away gradually on their own.

There may also be other times in a child's life when they feel anxious. For example, many children feel anxious when going to a new school or before tests and exams. Some children feel shy in social situations and may need support with this.

Starting secondary school can also be difficult. The school is bigger, your child has to make new friends and is responsible for managing their day.

When is anxiety a problem for children?

Anxiety becomes a problem for children when it starts to get in the way of their everyday life.

If you go into any school at exam time, all the children will be anxious, but some may be so anxious that they do not manage to get to school that morning.

Anxiety can start to cause problems for your child when:

  • it’s very strong, or getting worse, and does not go away
  • it gets in the way of daily activities, stopping your child doing things they enjoy

Severe anxiety like this can harm children's mental and emotional wellbeing, affecting their self-esteem and confidence. They may become withdrawn and go to great lengths to avoid things or situations that make them feel anxious.

What are the signs of anxiety in children?

When young children feel anxious, they cannot always understand or express what they are feeling. You may notice that they:

  • become irritable, tearful or clingy
  • have difficulty sleeping
  • wake in the night
  • start wetting the bed
  • have bad dreams
  • often have stomach aches or headaches

In older children you may notice that they:

  • lack confidence to try new things or seem unable to face simple, everyday challenges
  • find it hard to concentrate
  • have problems with sleeping or eating
  • have angry outbursts
  • have a lot of negative thoughts, or keep thinking that bad things are going to happen
  • start avoiding everyday activities, such as seeing friends, going out in public or going to school

Why is my child anxious?

Some children are more likely to have worries and anxiety than others. They often find change difficult and may become anxious following a house move or when starting a new school.

Children who have had a distressing or traumatic experience, such as a car accident or house fire, may have anxiety afterwards.

Family arguments and conflict can also make children feel insecure and anxious.

At school, children may feel anxious about things like school work, their teachers, bullying or being lonely. They might struggle with things like the noise of other children in the school.

Teenagers are more likely to have social anxiety than other age groups, avoiding social gatherings or making excuses to get out of them.

How to help an anxious child

If a child is experiencing anxiety, there are things that parents and carers can do to help.

First and foremost, it's important to talk to your child about their anxiety or worries. Listen to them carefully to understand their feelings.

Try not to make assumptions or dismiss their worries. Reassure them that recognizing and talking about problems is good, and show them you understand how they feel.

If your child is old enough, it may help to explain what anxiety is and the physical effects it has on our bodies.

Describe anxiety as a natural reaction to stress that affects our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. It may be helpful to describe anxiety as being like a wave that builds up and then goes away again.

As well as talking to your child about their worries and anxiety, it's important to help them find solutions to their worries.

For example, if your child is worried about going to a sleepover, talk to them and get them to make a plan involving a close friend or another parent being there. This can help with problem-solving and confidence.

If your child is worried about school, you can work with them and the school to identify the problem and find solutions together.

This might include getting support from a peer mentor, or avoiding a noisy playground by coming in early to help tidy the classroom. Most schools offer quiet or safe spaces for anxious pupils.

It can help to:

  • talk with your child to find out what makes them feel anxious. It could be certain times or situations
  • think of ways to find solutions to make things better at home and school
  • set up a meeting with your child's teacher or SENCO (special education needs co-ordinator)

It’s important to acknowledge their anxiety and find helpful ways of dealing with it. Do not force your child into a stressful situation without talking to them about what’s making them anxious first. This could make the problem worse.

If your child is really struggling and it's affecting their everyday life, it might be good to talk to your GP or school nurse.

Other ways to ease anxiety in children

  • teach your child to recognise signs of anxiety in themselves
  • encourage your child to manage their anxiety and ask for help when they need it
  • children of all ages find routines reassuring, so try to stick to regular daily routines where possible
  • if your child is anxious because of distressing events, such as a bereavement or separation, look for books or films that will help them to understand their feelings and realise it’s normal to feel sad or anxious in these situations
  • if you know a change, such as a house move, is coming up, prepare your child by talking to them about what is going to happen and why
  • prepare your child for change before they move from primary to secondary school and then give them extra support when they begin secondary
  • try not to become overprotective or anxious yourself
  • practise simple relaxation techniques with your child, such as taking 3 deep, slow breaths, breathing in for a count of 3 and out for 3
  • distraction can be helpful for young children. For example, if they are anxious about going to nursery, play games on the way there, such as seeing who can spot the most red cars
  • turn an empty tissue box into a "worry" box. Get your child to write about or draw their worries and "post" them into the box. Then you can sort through the box together at the end of the day or week

Find out more

When should we get help?

If your child's anxiety is severe, persists and interferes with their everyday life, it's a good idea to get some help.

A visit to a GP is a good place to start. If your child's anxiety is affecting their school life, it's a good idea to talk to their school as well. Support from trusted adults who your child knows can really help them overcome these challenges.

Parents and carers can get help and advice about children's mental health from Young Minds' free parent helpline on 0808 802 5544, from Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4pm.

 



The information on this page has been adapted by NHS Wales from original content supplied by NHS UK NHS website nhs.uk
Last Updated: 10/06/2024 16:03:55