Treating anxiety and how to identify anxiety symptoms

Anxiety can be a difficult and debilitating condition for someone to live with. The threat of particular events and the rush of fear are features that can make life very difficult for those living with it. Anxiety is an ongoing feeling of severe fear and worry that affects your day-to-day life, making you unable to take pleasure in things you would ordinarily enjoy.

Being aware of the symptoms of anxiety can help a person to understand their own anxiety and develop coping mechanisms, as well as identifying their triggers. However, it is important to remember there is both treatment and support available.

Identifying anxiety symptoms

The symptoms of anxiety can include impatience, feelings of fear, paranoia and tenseness, anger and irritability. It can involve feeling emotionally tired, getting too much or too little sleep, nervousness, edginess, severe stress and poor judgement. These symptoms can appear at any time, making it difficult for someone with anxiety to ‘stay calm’ because they don’t know when an anxiety attack is going to come on.

Anxiety symptoms may also include a persistent feeling of fear and dread, physical symptoms such as nausea and weight loss or gain, gradually removing oneself from social situations, a sense of hopelessness and anxiety attacks.

The psychological effect of these symptoms can lead people to feel as if they have lost control and cannot cope. A person may begin to withdraw from various aspects of life to avoid the things that trigger their anxiety and they may turn to drink and drugs as coping mechanisms.

How to treat anxiety

Anxiety treatment can effectively ease the symptoms you are experiencing. They may include talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or mindfulness. It is possible to receive treatment as an inpatient or an outpatient; this may depend on the severity of a person’s condition and their preference. Working with an experienced therapist can really help a person to understand their condition and control the symptoms. In some cases it can also be effective to use medication alongside therapy to get the best results.

The important thing to remember is that there are effective treatments available for anxiety and you don’t have to struggle on your own.