Anxiety Quiz

Stress is what happens in response to change. It can be both good and bad. We might feel stress starting a new job, or moving into our dream home, or undertaking too much work. We feel it both emotionally and physically. Anxiety can be there when there are no changes in our lives. We feel afraid and anxious for no apparent reason.

The way we think affects how we feel and what we do. If you are able to change the way you think about situations, you will feel differently about them. This can also help to reduce to symptoms you feel in your body and calm the thoughts in your head.

Meditation has been shown to decrease physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety give an increased ability to relax, and help us to cope with short and long term situations

Different things make different people feel stressed. One person may feel stressed at the thought of an approaching deadline and feel overwhelmed and not able to complete the work. Another person may use this stress to spur them on to meet the deadline

When we are anxious we are breathing out too much which lowers the levels of carbon dioxide in our bodies. This can result in feelings of pins and needles anywhere in the body.

Many people fully recover from panic and anxiety. There are effective treatments available such as CBT

If left untreated, panic and anxiety can affect a persons life. Some people feel safe in certain places, which in the short term is fine. But it is sending a signal to your brain that other places are where you experience panic and anxiety. This may make it difficult for you to carry on as normal as you may associate different places, people or things with feelings of anxiety.

Our thoughts and feelings are linked together. When we feel anxious in our body, our thought process match up with this feeling and produce anxious thoughts such as, "I can't cope" "What is people see that I am anxious" "What if I have another panic attack?"

Sleep can be affected by anxiety and panic. We are not fully relaxed when going to bed, maybe our mind is racing and feel anxiety in the body. This makes it difficult to fall asleep. Some people also wake up during the night in a panic attack. This is known as nocturnal panic attacks

Unless related to an underlying condition such as asthma, difficulty breathing or catching your breath can be a symptom of anxiety. During a stress response our heart rate speeds up, as does the rate of breathing. This may feel like we are not breathing at all. Or have difficulty catching a breath, or we may feel like you can't get enough air in.

Anxiety can make you feel overwhelmed and irritable, or feel like you cannot cope. This can make it more difficult to function in normal in work or in relationships. You may spend your time worrying that people can see you are anxious or worried that you may have a panic attack in public. This may result in you having to take time off work

Unless due to an underlying medical condition, heart palpitations are usually the first symptom a person notices - your heart is racing. This is due to the activation of your sympathetic nervous system - fight or flight - you are getting a stress response and the first thing that happens is your heart rate speeds up

You are able to change the way you think about things and teach yourself not to worry. Just because you are worrying a lot at the moment, it doesn't mean that this is the way you will always be. You can be taught to calm your thought processes down

Caffeine is a stimulant and may make your heart beat faster. It is advisable not to use anything that may stimulate your body if you are feeling anxiety. You want to calm your body down.

During a stress response blood gets diverted away from your stomach to help your heart beat faster. When this happens your digestion slows does and can result in indigestion.

We now now that we can change the way we are wired (so to speak). This concept is known as neuroplasticity. We can "rewire" our brain to respond to situations in a different way.

It might surprize you if you are experiencing anxiety, but it helps us out in situations when we need. For example if we are in immediate danger, such as walking out in front of an oncoming car, or standing at the top of a ladder that suddenly starts to wobble, anxiety (the stress response you feel) helps us to get out of harms way or grasp the top of the ladder.

You can fully recover from panic and anxiety. Many people do. There is more information on this site to help you stop your panic attacks.