Anxiety & Panic
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is something we all experience from time to time. Anxiety is the feeling of fear that we get when faced
with threatening or difficult situations. It is a normal response when faced with danger as it makes us more
alert and gives us energy to deal with problems. Most people can relate to feeling tense, uncertain and,
perhaps, fearful at the thought of sitting an exam or attending an interview. Short-term anxiety can be useful.
Feeling nervous before an exam can make you feel more alert and improve your performance. But if the
anxiety is too strong or is there all the time, then it can be a real problem. Anxiety disorders affect about 1 in
10 people.
What is panic?
Panic is a sudden surge of intense anxiety that can come out of nowhere.
What does it feel like to have anxiety or panic?
Anxiety:
Your Mind:
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Worrying all the time
Tired
Being irritable
Sleeping badly
Struggling to concentrate.
Your Body:
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Panic:
Racing heartbeat
Sweating
Muscle tension and pains
Shaking
Heavy breathing
Dizziness
Faintness
Indigestion and diarrhea
Panic is a sudden, overwhelming sense of fear and a feeling that you are losing control. You
breathe quickly, feel your heart racing, sweat, and may feel that you are going to die. You
may try to escape from the situation as quickly as you can.
The most common behavioural symptom (the things we do when we are anxious or panicking) is avoidance.
Although avoiding an anxiety provoking situation produces immediate relief from the feelings, it is only a short
term solution. This means that whilst it may seem like avoiding is the best thing to do at the time; the anxiety
often returns the next time that you face the situation and avoiding it will only psychologically reinforce the
message that there is danger. The problem with avoidance is that you never get to find out whether your fear
about the situation and what would happen is actually true.
Anxiety can make a person imagine that things in their life are worse than they really are, and prevent them
from confronting their fears. Often they will think they are going mad, or that some psychological imbalance is
at the heart of their woes. What is important is the recognition that anxiety is normal and exists due to a set of
bodily functions that have existed in us from our cave-man days.
Back then, we were equipped with an internal alarm system designed to protect us from the dangers
surrounding us in the wild. This system would make us hyper-alert by giving us a boost of adrenaline that
would increase the heart rate and boost the amount of oxygen going to our limbs so we were better able to
fight or run from danger. This is known as the “fight or flight” response. The “butterflies in the stomach”
feeling that many associate with anxiety is this mechanism kicking in, but instead of being used to avoid
immediate danger, it is often wrongly and inappropriately activated in a person during normal, everyday
situations when stress has built up, often unknowingly.
Some people have a very identifiable cause for their anxiety; a traumatic incident, lots of stressors or have
undergone a significant life event (moving house, getting divorced, having surgery). However, some people
don’t have an identifiable cause for their anxiety and it causes them some distress. One way of thinking about
your anxiety is to imagine your stress levels as being like a bucket of water. If we keep adding stressors to the
bucket (even tiny ones like the school run or commuting to work), over time it fills up until one day it
overflows. This can be a good way of looking at anxiety as it explains why sometimes it can seem to come out
of the blue with no significant trigger. However, what has happened is that the trigger was just a very small
stressor that tipped us over the edge and allowed our bucket to overflow. What we need is a leaky bucket with
lots of holes in to reduce your overall stress levels. Each one of these holes could be something positive that
you do to manage your anxiety. Addressing your anxiety may make you feel more anxious at first. Even
thinking about anxiety can make it worse. But taking some simple steps (making some holes in your bucket!)
can help your anxiety reduce.
Talking it through: Although it can be difficult to open up about feeling anxious, it can be helpful to talk to
friends, family or someone who has had a similar experience. Although you might feel embarrassed or afraid
to discuss your feelings with others, sharing can be a way to cope with a problem and being listened to can
help you feel supported.
Face your fear: By breaking the cycle of constantly avoiding situations that make you anxious, you are less
likely to stop doing the things you want, or need, to do. The chances are the reality of the situation won’t be as
bad as you expect, making you better equipped to manage, and reduce, your anxiety.
Relaxation: Learning relaxation techniques can help you with the mental and physical feelings of fear. It can
help just to drop your shoulders and breathe deeply. Or imagine yourself in a relaxing place. You could also try
yoga, meditation, massage or some of the relaxation exercises on the DMU website. Go to the self –help
pages at www.dmu.ac.uk/counselling.
Exercise: Taking more exercise can help improve sleep and reduce anxiety and tension. Exercise uses up the
adrenalin and other hormones that are produced under stress, allowing muscles to relax. Endorphins released
during exercise can also enhance your mood.
Healthy eating: Avoid stimulants such as coffee, nicotine, alcohol and foods with high sugar and fat
content.
Have fun: Laughing relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes
after. It also triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals.
Help and Support
If you are worried about your levels of anxiety or feel they are having a significant impact on your ability to
manage then you should make an appointment to see your GP. Longer term anxiety can often have an
underlying cause that can be addressed in counselling. Contact the counselling service on
counselling@dmu.ac.uk. If you are worried that your anxiety may affect your studies, make an appointment
to see a member of the Mental Health Inclusion Team so they can discuss the support on offer
mentalhealthadvice@dmu.ac.uk.
You can find more useful information about anxiety and how to overcome it on these websites.
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk
http://www.mind.org.uk
http://www.anxietyuk.org.uk