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Understanding Anxiety
Anxiety is a natural response to threat. However with excessive anxiety we tend to overestimate risk, and underestimate our ability to cope with it. It can be experienced, as a sense of dread, unease, feeling sick, and being unready to handle the expected or ongoing situation properly.
There are many different types of anxiety which are situation-specific such as Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces), Social anxiety (fear of social situations), or specific phobias (exposure to a specific object or situation). Sometimes, anxiety is generalised, when the symptoms relate to ordinary or routine issues. Anxiety can affect people in different ways.
Are you experiencing any of these typical symptoms:
​Everyone experiences symptoms differently. These are common but not exhaustive.
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You are not alone.
42%
of adults in Ireland are likely to be experiencing a mental health issue at any point in time, according to Recent research from Maynooth university and Trinity college – a similar figure found in the United States and New Zealand according to the World Heath Organization.
4 in 10
individuals report experience of anxiety according to Aware survey.
Self-help For Anxiety
There are some positive coping skills and strategies which can be useful in dealing with anxiety.
Relaxation techniques including mindfulness (staying in the moment) can be useful in tackling the symptoms of anxiety.
This can also include deep breathing exercises (slowly inhale – hold – then exhale).
Grounding exercises enables you to connect with the present moment by using your senses. An example is the 5-4-3-2-1 method (identify 5 things you see, 4 you touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, and 1 you taste).
Challenging negative or unhelpful thoughts that are contributing to the anxiety. This involves questioning the evidence for these thoughts, and determining the realistic chances that what you are anxious about will actually happen.
Exercise produces serotonin and dopamine. These are "feel-good" chemicals in the brain. Taking part in physical activity often leads to a strong sense of achievement and wellbeing.
