Anxiety 101: Support, Causes, and Treatment Options

No one enjoys feeling anxious. Whether it's feeling constantly on edge, lying awake at 2 a.m. replaying conversations from three days ago, feeling overwhelmed, or discovering our mind's remarkable ability to generate every possible worst-case scenario, anxiety can be exhausting.

For better or worse, anxiety is one of our most common and natural responses to the pressures of life, with approximately one in four Australians experiencing an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.

If anxiety has been affecting you recently, please remember that you are not alone. Anxiety is incredibly common, and it is highly treatable.​

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is our natural response to perceived threat or uncertainty.

At its core, anxiety is best understood as a fear response.

It may be fear of what might happen if things go wrong at work, fear about an upcoming interview or performance review, fear of failing an important exam, or fear of losing someone we care about.  

What distinguishes anxiety from fear, however, is that fear tends to arise in response to an immediate threat, whereas anxiety is usually focused on the future.

It will come up as thoughts or questions, such as: What if I don't do well in the interview? What if those people dont like me? What if my performance review is bad? What if something goes wrong? What if I can't cope? 

In many cases, the danger exists as a possibility rather than a probability. 

However, as unenjoyable as it feels, fear is a core emotion of what makes us human. We cannot avoid it, and it helps keep us safe.  

What causes anxiety? Why do I feel anxious all the time?

Our minds work in weird and wonderful ways. As discussed earlier, anxiety is driven less by danger itself and more by our anticipation or perception of danger.

In other words:

Anxiety is not evidence that danger is present. It is evidence that your brain thinks danger (or something to be afraid of) might be present.

These are two very different things. What do I mean by that? Hear me out.

One of the most common thinking patterns associated with anxiety is something psychologists refer to as catastrophising.

Catastrophising occurs when our minds automatically jump to the worst possible outcome and begin treating it as though it is a probability rather than a possibility.

For example, many people experience anxiety within their relationships. Our significant others often mean a great deal to us. We care deeply about them, and because of that, even relatively small events can trigger a strong emotional reaction.

Imagine receiving a short text message from your partner that simply says:

"Can we talk later?"

I can hear some of you thinking, "Yikes." Some of you may have even tensed up reading that. ​Objectively, however, this message contains very little information. It could mean almost anything.

Yet an anxious mind may immediately begin filling in the blanks:

"Have I done something wrong?"

"Are they upset with me?"

"Is something wrong with the relationship?"

"What if they want to break up?"

Within moments, the brain has transformed a vague and uncertain situation into a potentially catastrophic one.

The interesting thing is that nothing has actually happened yet. The anxiety is not being caused by what has happened. It is being caused by what the brain believes might happen.

The reason anxiety can feel so convincing is because as humans, we use the same system we used to alarm ourselves about predators is the same system we use for anxious thoughts. The "sympathetic nervous system" for the nerds reading. Our body's alarm system does not always wait for evidence before sounding the alarm. Often, the possibility of danger is enough.

This is also why anxiety is often less about the situation itself and more about what we believe the situation might mean.

Evolutionary Hangover: Why do we even experience Anxiety?

To help change our relationship with anxiety, I want us to think about it is as an 'evolutionary hangover'.

"What a strange thing to say," I hear you thinking – that's fair. But I promise I have a point.

From today to when our ancestors first began farming and living in larger settlements is only around 10,000 years ago. Compared to the vast evolutionary history of our nervous system (roughly 500 million years), that is an extremely small, minuscule fraction of the time it has existed. It is barely a drop in the ocean. It is not nearly enough time for our nervous systems to change to our new worlds.

So, for well over 99.99% of that history, our nervous systems were primarily concerned with only a few things: don't get eaten, don't get cast out from your tribe, don't die, and procreate if possible.

That's it. Our minds have not had enough time to adapt to the modern world.

And yet the world around us has changed at a breathtaking pace, particularly since the industrial and technological revolutions.

We now live in the age of the immediate, of the instant: instant communication, instant access to information, instant entertainment, instant gratification, and increasingly, instant expectations.

The nervous system tasked with navigating the stone age and sabor toothed tigers is now used to navigate smart phones and social media. It is still operating using many of the same threat-detection systems that helped our ancestors survive in a vastly different world.



But wait, it gets better :)



There is another reason our brains are so sensitive to threats. Natural selection.

In short, the more anxious or attentive to danger our ancestors were, the more likely they would have been to survive. And the more likely to procreate.

The ancestor who noticed the rustling in the bushes, questioned whether a situation was safe, or paid close attention to signs of threat was generally more likely to live long enough to pass on their genes than the ancestor who was completely carefree.

As you can imagine, over many thousands of generations, many millions of years, these anxious ancestors shaped nervous systems that became very, very effective at identifying potential danger and preparing us to respond. And created many very anxious offspring.

The result is that modern humans have inherited brains that are exceptionally good at asking questions such as: What if something goes wrong? What if I am not prepared? What if this thing happens? How will othere percieve me? Do they like me? Am I someone who is even likeable?

We have inherited a nervous system that has spent the vast, vast, VAST majority of its existence trying to prevent us from being eaten, injured, abandoned, or otherwise meeting an untimely end. This anxious mind tends to be less helpful in a world where the threats we face are more likely to involve deadlines, social media and social situations, performance reviews, mortgage repayments, and the joy of children.

Our threat-detection systems evolved under conditions very different from modern life, and they evolved for survival. Not for our happiness. Nor for our emotional comfort. That is why we, in part, often do not feel "bonita" (family guy reference).

Common Symptoms of Anxiety

While there are many common signs and symptoms, anxiety can affect people in very different ways. With that being said, anxious symptoms will typically fall into three broad categories: physical symptoms, emotional symptoms, and cognitive (thinking) symptoms.

Physical Symptoms

Because anxiety activates the body's fight-or-flight response, it can create a wide range of physical sensations, including:

• Increased heart rate or palpitations

• Muscle tension (e.g., tightness in our chest, jaw, shoulders, or headaches)

• Restlessness or feeling unable to relax

• Panic attacks

• Sweating

• Shaking or trembling

• Shortness of breath

• Nausea or stomach discomfort

• Dizziness or light-headedness

• Fatigue or exhaustion

• Difficulty sleeping

Emotional Symptoms

People experiencing anxiety often report:

• Feeling nervous, worried, or on edge

• Irritability or frustration

• Feeling overwhelmed

• A sense of dread or impending doom

• Difficulty enjoying things they would normally find pleasurable

Cognitive Symptoms

Many of the challenges associated with anxiety occur in our thinking. These can include:

• Excessive worrying

• Overthinking

• Difficulty concentrating

• Constantly imagining worst-case scenarios

• Self-doubt and second-guessing decisions

• Difficulty tolerating uncertainty

• Repeatedly seeking reassurance from others

​While occasional anxiety is a normal part of life, persistent symptoms that interfere with work, relationships, sleep, or day-to-day functioning may indicate that additional support could be helpful.

When Does Anxiety Become a Problem?

As touched on earlier, anxiety and fear are normal human emotions and form a core part of life. Sometimes, a small amount of stress or anxiety can be helpful if it motivates us to study more for that exam, or pay our bills on time, or avoid that potentially dangerous situation.

It's a natural emotion that has helped keep us alive for thousands of years.

Where the challenge arises is when our levels of anxiety become too frequent, too intense, or affect our quality of life.

Some signs of when anxiety may be problematic include:

• Constant or excessive worrying

• Difficulty relaxing or switching off (insomnia is a common side effect)

• Persistent feelings of nervousness or dread

• Avoiding situations due to fear or anxiety (e.g., a friend's party or certain places)

• Difficulty concentrating

• Sleep disturbance

• Increased irritability

• Physical symptoms such as muscle tension, headaches, nausea, or a racing heart

• Anxiety that is affecting work, study, relationships, or day-to-day functioning

Rather than asking "do I experience, or am I experiencing anxiety?"

I'd gently encourage you to ask:

"How much is my anxiety affecting my life". "What would my life look like if I was less anxious"

A good rule of thumb is this: Anxiety becomes a problem when it starts dictating your choices, limiting your opportunities, or preventing you from living the life you want to live.

Treatment Options for Anxiety

I have good news. Anxiety is highly treatable.

I know that probably sounds like something every psychologist is contractually obligated to say, but in this case, it's actually true.

One of the biggest misconceptions about anxiety is that treatment involves somehow eliminating fear, uncertainty, or uncomfortable emotions from our lives. Unfortunately, no psychologist possesses such magical powers. I am not Dumbledore.

The goal of treatment is not to eliminate anxiety altogether. The goal is to change your relationship with anxiety.

For some people, this may involve learning to identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns such as catastrophising. For others, it may involve developing skills to better manage the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as muscle tension, panic, or difficulty sleeping.

Sometimes treatment involves gradually facing situations that have been avoided because of anxiety. Whilst avoidance often provides short-term relief, it tends to reinforce anxiety over time.

Learning that we can cope with uncertainty, discomfort, and fear is often an important part of recovery.

Depending on the person and their circumstances, treatment may involve approaches such as:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Schema Therapy

• Exposure-based approaches

• Lifestyle changes relating to sleep, exercise, stress management, and substance use

• Medication (for some people, in consultation with their GP or psychiatrist)

Importantly, there is no single treatment that works for everyone. Recall those "weird and wonderful" minds we spoke about earlier?

Good therapy is not about finding a one-size-fits-all solution.

Instead, it involves understanding what is contributing to your anxiety, what keeps it going, and developing a plan that is tailored to your unique circumstances.