Anxiety

Anxiety is generally the experience of excessive worry or fear that impacts significantly on your life such that you are not able to do things as you normally would. 

Symptoms

The following are symptoms that you may experience if you are suffering significant anxiety:

• heart - racing or rapid heart beat; heart palpitations; 'missed' heart beats; pounding heart 
• digestive problems -  nausea and/or vomiting; churning / burning stomach; indigestion 
• breathing symptoms -  breathing difficulties; hyperventilation; tightening of the throat; choking sensation 
• tension - chest pain; headaches; lower back pain; sciatica; muscle pain. 
• dissociative symptoms -  feeling detached from the body; feeling as if you and/or surroundings are not real; feel as if looking through a white or grey mist; sensitvity to light and sound; stationary objects appear to move; sensations of falling into a 'void'; dizziness 
• major fears -  fear of dying / having a heart attack; fear of going insane / losing control; fear of embarrassment / of making a fool of yourself.

If you are concerned about anxiety further impacting on your life then make an appointment to see a counsellor at Student Services.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder

This is persistent and excessive anxiety or worry experienced for six months or more about events or activities which may or may not happen.   People can experience panic attacks with the above disorder, there are three different types of panic attacks now recognised:  

• Spontaneous panic attacks

This particular panic attack is associated to panic disorder. Panic disorder is the fear of having a spontaneous panic attack. This attack comes without any warning day or night irrespective of what the person is doing. The spontaneous attack is not related to and is not induced by any particular situation or place. Many people can be waken from sleep with this type of attack. Many people fear they are dying, having a heart attack or going insane or losing control. 

• Specific or 'cued' panic attacks

These occur in relation to specific feared situations or places. For example social situations for people with Social Phobia. Revisiting the scene or scenes reminiscent of the traumatic events in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or exposure to a particular anxiety producing situation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as in being 'exposed' to germs. 

• Situationally predisposed panic attacks 

People with Panic Disorder may experience this type of attack. Some people with Panic Disorder can be predisposed to having panic attacks in certain situations or places, although they are not frightened of the situation or place. For example someone may experience panic attacks while driving their car. Sometimes they will have them, other times they won't. They are predisposed to having attacks while driving, but the attacks are not a response to a fear of driving.