Anxiety is a common condition, affecting around one in 10 people in the UAE. However, if you experience anxiety or have a loved one who does, you’ll know that it’s a complex thing to get your head around. That’s why we’ve put together this straightforward beginner’s guide to anxiety, explaining what it is, how it might present, and how it can be treated and overcome.
What is anxiety and how is it different from stress?
When people have a lot going on in their lives, they might use the terms ‘stressed out’ or ‘feeling anxious’ interchangeably. It’s not surprising that stress and anxiety are often confused. However, there is a distinct difference between stress and anxiety.
What is stress?
Stress is a reaction to a particular situation that causes worry, panic and even physical symptoms like fatigue or digestive problems.
It’s a natural physiological reaction designed to help the brain and body meet challenges and it resolves when the problem passes. Examples of situations that might cause stress are problems at work, major life changes like a new baby, illness in the family, or school exams.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a more persistent feeling that can be present with or without stressful situations. It develops over time and is characterized by long-term and excessive worries and fears that regularly impact a person’s day-to-day life.
When someone experiences anxiety most days and struggles to ever feel relaxed, they might be diagnosed with anxiety disorder by a doctor.
Stress and anxiety can interact. Stress can cause anxiety to get worse or flare up. Anxiety also makes a person more likely to experience the symptoms of stress in certain situations.
What causes anxiety?
The underlying causes of anxiety disorder are not yet understood. Some theories outline risk factors that make a person more likely to have anxiety disorder.
Current research suggests that genes may play a part. A history of traumatic experiences, chronic illness, and substance abuse have also been linked with anxiety disorder.
For many people, long-term anxiety is triggered by difficult childhood experiences such as bullying, family breakdown or losing a parent.
Stressful situations experienced as an adult can also bring about anxiety disorder. Examples include working long hours or being unemployed, money or housing problems, or lots of change and uncertainty. The coronavirus pandemic has also been linked to increased anxiety.
What does anxiety feel like?
People with anxiety commonly report these kinds of feelings regularly in their lives:
- Persistent restlessness and an inability to relax
- Lots of worries, fears, and the feeling of life being out of control
- Racing thoughts
- Insomnia
- Trouble concentrating
- Low mood
In addition, people may experience physical symptoms of anxiety too. These may include:
- Feeling lightheaded
- Headaches
- Butterflies in the stomach
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Racing heartbeat
Acute anxiety attacks can also occur where lots of these symptoms happen at once or reach debilitating levels.
Anxiety attacks can take place when fear presents itself in light of an upcoming situation like a job interview or exam. They can build up over hours and days and last some time. They are different from panic attacks, which can come from out of nowhere but are over quickly.
When should a person with anxiety seek help?
It’s completely normal and natural for humans to feel anxious at times. However, if anxiety symptoms are persistent then it might be a good time to seek advice from a medical professional.
This is particularly advisable if anxiety is affecting a person’s ability to:
- Look after themselves properly, i.e. they are not eating or sleeping well, or following normal self-care routines
- Maintain healthy, happy relationships with a partner, friends or family
- Study or work effectively, maintain a job, or achieve their goals
- Enjoy life and take part in social activities or hobbies.
Anxiety disorder can be very distressing and hugely impact daily life.
If you think anxiety symptoms are affecting you or a friend or family member’s health and happiness, then it’s time to look into getting treatment.
What treatments are available for anxiety?
Thankfully, there are many effective treatments for anxiety. These can be summarized into four groups.
1. Self-help
There are a few things a person can do that are shown to help with anxiety without the need to go to a doctor or clinic. These are any activities that are known to help promote a healthy state of mind.
For example, regular exercise can help. Activities like brisk walking or yoga are ideal starting points. Maintaining a healthy, nutritious diet may be beneficial, too. If anxiety symptoms are mild, these tips may be beneficial.
2. Talk therapy
If self-help strategies are not working, then you could consider talk therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT does not ask you to consider previous trauma. Instead, it focuses on the current situation and presents strategies that will help you think and respond to situations in a different way.
In CBT, the patient and therapist collaborate closely to form practical, workable solutions to anxiety. The focus is on breaking negative thought cycles and freeing the patient from their anxiety symptoms.
3. Medication
Your family doctor can help with medication for severe anxiety. These treatments are widely used and many people find them helpful.
However, as with all medications, you and your doctor should carefully consider whether they are right for you as they may cause side effects.
4. Neurofeedback therapy
Neurofeedback therapy is a form of brain training that can help you deal with overwhelming emotions like anxiety and stress. It’s a non-invasive treatment that uses EEG to monitor brainwaves. Each neurofeedback therapy session is customized to the patient and their therapy goal.
Patients undergoing neurofeedback therapy simply have to sit and watch a favorite show on television. The treatment works by providing the brain with feedback and rewarding desired brain activity with a clearer picture and sound. Over several sessions, the brain is able to retrain itself to behave in a way that reduces anxiety.
Overcoming anxiety
Approaching a clinic, doctor, or anxiety therapist for help with anxiety is the first step in overcoming a debilitating problem.
Modern treatment choices mean that nobody should need to bear the overwhelming symptoms of anxiety disorder, and a more positive future is there for the taking.