Anxiety
Nervousness and anxiety are natural parts of our body’s means of responding and preparing ourselves for the complex and challenging situations we will all face in our lives. At times, our body’s means of processing and dealing with the events that life throws at us are not sufficient, either due to our own difficult histories or because simply the current events in our lives have become overwhelming and traumatic. Issues with anxiety can take many forms, from perfectionism to panic attacks, and there are many different methods and means for treating any particular presentation. What is also important is having an understanding of why anxiety is effecting us to the extent it is.
The NHS measure issues with anxiety using the Generalised Anxiety Disorder questionnaire to measure the severity of anxiety. You can try this for yourself below – take time and answer each question as honestly as possible:
| How often you have felt each of these statements over the last two weeks ? | |
| Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge | |
| Not being able to stop or control worrying | |
| Worrying too much about different things | |
| Trouble relaxing | |
| Being so restless that it is hard to sit still | |
| Becoming easily annoyed or irritable | |
| Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen |
|
Disclaimer: This test is a faithful reproduction of the GAD-7 available from www.phqscreeners.com. Test scoring is provided for information purposes and any level of anxiety reported would need to be confirmed by an appropriate mental health professional.
Anxiety workbooks
If you feel you have particularly high anxiety, and want some further help, these workbooks from the Centre for Clinical Interventions in Australia are excellent resources to help you understand anxiety further and help bring it under control.
Disclaimer: These workbooks are copyright of the Centre for Clinical Interventions and are intended for information purposes only. Diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues requires the attention of a mental health professional and this information is not a substitute for such.
- Module 1: What is Anxiety?
This module provides a general description of anxiety and looks at the symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder.
- Module 2: The Vicious Cycle of Anxiety
This module provides an overview of what worrying is, what triggers worrying, and what keeps it going.
- Module 3: Calming Techniques
This module explores techniques for managing your anxiety and helping yourself become calm.
- Module 4: Progressive Muscle Relaxation
This module focuses on how to involve your body in managing your anxiety, and how to channel your focus.
- Module 5: Coping with Stress
This module explores stress, and what strategies can be developed to manage it effectively.
- Module 6: Behavioural Experiments
This module explores encourages you to identify, challenge and experiment with the beliefs you have that could be contributing to your anxious states.
- Module 7: Situational Exposure
The final module looks at methods and techniques for safely exposing your self to your fears in a way that could help you reduce your anxious reactions.
Other useful resources are as follows: