It is now estimated that 7,900 adults are likely to have extreme anxiety in Salford - but what is anxiety and are there different kinds?
Anxiety is a mental health condition which is a feeling of unease (which can be worry or fear) which affects people who can suffer on a daily basis.
We all have times of stress and anxiety in our lives but when it starts to affect us on a day to day basis, support and counselling can help.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Generalised anxiety disorder is the most common condition form of anxiety among adults. This is a long term condition that causes you to feel anxious about situations or certain issues. Other anxiety disorders include social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder.
Unfortunately, like a lot of mental health illnesses, anxiety is still not fully understood. However a mixture of several factors can contribute to its onset. According to the NHS website these areas are:
- Over activity in the brain (including emotions and behaviour)
- An imbalance of brain chemicals (serotonin and noradrenaline)
- The genes from your parents
- History of stressful or traumatic experiences
- Having a painful long term health condition
- Having a history of drug or alcohol misuse
Diagnosis can be hard for some, but may also come as a relief to others. Help is available and accessing support is a big step, particularly with anxiety, which may lead to your identifying triggers and putting your own coping strategies in place.
Your GP may give guidance on where to find help such as self-help sites or help lines to ring for immediate interventions if you are feeling anxious. Longer term solutions may lie with counselling, whether that be with the NHS through your GP or private counselling. If you would like to dicsuss this further with us here at Salford Counselling, please feel free to contact us in confidence.