Anxiety
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FACT™ Teacher Form
Feifer Assessment of Childhood Trauma™: Teacher Form
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FAST™ and FASI™
Firestone Assessment of Self-Destructive Thoughts™ and Firestone Assessment of Suicide Intent™
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MAQ™
Multidimensional Anxiety Questionnaire™
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PASS™-12
Pandemic Anxiety Screener for Students™–12: Research Edition
What is Anxiety?
Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. Normal worry can be motivating — it can help you with things such as getting to work on time or studying for a test. But in some people, anxious feelings don’t go away and are out of proportion to the situation.
High levels of anxiety affect your ability to: concentrate, sleep and carry out ordinary tasks.
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety disorders are the most common group of mental health conditions in Australia. They affect 1 in 4 Australians at some stage in their life.
Having an anxiety disorder is not just a matter of feeling too anxious. People with anxiety disorders have ongoing fears that cause distress and stop them from doing things they want to and should be doing.
Types of anxiety disorders include:
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Excessive, uncontrollable worry about everyday issues such as health, work or finances.
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A disorder that causes people to avoid social or performance situations for fear of being embarrassed or rejected.
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Regular panic attacks, which are sudden intense episodes of fear, worry about more attacks, and avoiding situations where panic attacks may happen.
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Avoiding certain situations due to fear of having a panic attack. Agoraphobia is often associated with panic disorder.
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Fears that only apply to one particular situation, such as a fear of animals, insects, places, or people. For example, claustrophobia is a fear of enclosed or confined spaces.
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Unwanted thoughts and impulses (obsessions), cause repetitive, routine behaviors as a way of coping with anxiety.
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When feelings or fear do not fade after experiencing a traumatic life event. It involves upsetting memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and difficulties sleeping.
What are the symptoms of anxiety disorders?
One of the main symptoms of anxiety disorders is having difficulty managing your fears and worries. You might become overwhelmed by your anxious thoughts.
Anxiety may cause you to feel:
Apprehensive or powerless
Like something bad is about to happen
Like you’re in danger
Like your mind is racing
It may also cause difficulty concentrating and memory problems.
People who have an anxiety disorder may avoid situations that make them feel anxious. This can affect your everyday life. You might excessively worry about the past, present, or future and have trouble thinking about anything else.
Each type of anxiety disorder has different specific symptoms.
What are the physical symptoms?
There are some physical symptoms that can affect people with anxiety such as:
Panic attacks – sudden, intense episodes of fear
Shortness of breath
Dizziness
A racing or pounding heart
Sweating
Problems sleeping
A churning stomach or ‘butterflies in the stomach, pins and needles’
Feeling lightheaded
Trembling
Feeling very thirsty
What causes anxiety?
The causes of anxiety are not fully understood. Nor are the reasons why anxiety affects some people to the point where it interferes with their lives.
A range of factors are thought to contribute to anxiety disorders.
Most anxious people probably have genes that make them more likely to develop an anxiety disorder. Females are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder than males.
Risk factors for anxiety disorders include the following:
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You are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder if you have family members with mental health conditions.
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Having another mental disorder.
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Ongoing stressful situations, such as: problems at work, unstable housing, family or relationship breakdown and grief.
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Any kind of abuse (such as physical, sexual, verbal or domestic abuse).
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E.g., direct or implied threats of violence.
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Pregnancy and childbirth (for the pregnant person or their partner).
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Physical health issues such as thyroid problems and other chronic (ongoing) conditions.
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Substance use – particularly cannabis, amphetamines, alcohol, and sedatives.
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Withdrawing from vices such as drugs and alcohol.
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Having a certain personality type, such as: being a perfectionist, having low self-esteem, or needing to be in control.
Everyone is different and often a combination of factors contributes to developing an anxiety disorder.
How is anxiety treated?
Treatment options for anxiety disorders include:
Lifestyle measures, such as regular physical activity
Psychological therapy
Medicines
Your doctor will talk with you about your treatment options and what may be best for your situation. They will consider:
The type of anxiety disorder you have
How severe your condition is
Your treatment preferences
People involved in your care might include: your doctor, a psychiatrist or a psychologist, mental health nurse or other type of counsellor.
Treatment for anxiety can take time. A good support network makes the process easier.