Anxiety.

What is it and what can the effects of it be. 
I have decided to write about anxiety today because there are many people effected by this, especially in the months following the loss of a loved one. 

I know that I have certainly suffered with symptoms of anxiety since we lost Charlie and I know that Charlies mummy, Carrie, also has periods when she is badly effected by anxiety. 

I have used some websites to help me with the information as I wanted to make sure that I got my information correct as well as using my own personal experiences. 

Anxiety is a normal part of life, and it can affect us all in different ways and at different times.

Whereas stress is something that will come and go as the events causing it come and go, anxiety is something that can carry on whether or not the cause is clear.

Anxiety can make a person imagine that things in their life are worse than they really are, and prevent them from confronting their fears. 

Often they will think they are going mad, or that some psychological imbalance is at the heart of their problems. 

What is important is to recognise that anxiety is normal.

The “butterflies in the stomach” feeling that many associate with anxiety is the bodies reaction to a burst of adrenalin  that our body releases as a way of getting us ready to deal with the situation that is causing the anxiety. 

This is also known as the fight or flight reaction.

It can often wrongly and inappropriately be activated in someone during normal, everyday situations when stress has built up.

Some people have a very obvious cause for their anxiety; a traumatic incident, lots of stress or have undergone a significant life event e.g. loss of a loved one, moving house. 

However, some people don’t have an obvious cause for their anxiety and this can cause them great distress. 

One way of thinking about your anxiety is to imagine your stress levels as being like a bucket of water. If we keep adding stress to the bucket (even tiny ones like the school run), over time it fills up until one day it overflows. 

This can be a good way of looking at anxiety as it explains why sometimes it can seem to come out of the blue with no significant trigger. 

However, what has happened is that the trigger was just a very small stress that tipped us over the edge and allowed our bucket to overflow. 

What we need is a leaky bucket with lots of holes in to reduce your overall stress levels. 

Each one of these holes could be something positive that you do to manage your anxiety, such as yoga, exercise, reading, listening to music or spending time with friends or family.

People often experience physical, psychological and behavioural symptoms when they feel anxious or stressed.

Some of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety are:

• Increased heart rate
• Increased muscle tension
• “Jelly legs”
• Tingling in the hands and feet
• Hyperventilation (over breathing)
• Dizziness
• Difficulty in breathing
• Wanting to use the toilet more often
• Feeling sick
• Tight band across the chest area
• Tension headaches
• Hot flushes
• Increased perspiration
• Dry mouth
• Shaking
• Choking sensations
• Palpitations

Some of the most common psychological symptoms (the thoughts we have) of anxiety are:

• Thinking that you may lose control and/or go “mad”
• Thinking that you might die
• Thinking that you may have a heart attack/be sick/faint/have a brain tumour
• Feeling that people are looking at you and observing your anxiety
• Feeling as though things are speeding up/slowing down
• Feeling detached from your environment and the people in it
• Feeling like wanting to run away/escape from the situation
• Feeling on edge and alert to everything around you

The most common behavioural symptom (the things we do when we are anxious) is avoidance. 

Although avoiding an anxiety provoking situation produces immediate relief from the anxiety, it is only a short term solution. 

This means that whilst it may seem like avoiding is the best thing to do at the time, the anxiety often returns the next time that you face the situation and avoiding it will reinforce the message that there is danger. 

The problem with avoidance is that you never get to find out whether your fear about the situation and what would happen is actually true.

Anxiety can be a very debilitating condition and cause the sufferer many difficulties. You can get to the point where you do not even want to leave your home as you are scared that something bad may happen.

Many people are worried about approaching the professionals with anxiety as they think that they may be dismissed as just being a 'worrier' or a 'time waster'. 

However, with mental health becoming more understood over recent years, there is now much more understanding and acceptance of anxiety related conditions.

People suffering with anxiety need people they can talk to to reassure them that they are not going mad, or losing their marbles. 

If you know someone who is suffering with anxiety please try and spend some time with them. Just having someone around can make them feel a little better. Knowing that someone cares and accepts them can help so much.

This time of year can be a very stressful and anxiety provoking time for anyone but for those going through the loss of a loved one this can be multiplied by 100.

They have to cope with the added feelings of not being able to be with their loved ones at a very family orientated time of year.

We hope when Charlies-Angel-Centre is up and running we will be able to provide support for those people out there on their own suffering with anxiety and stress due to bereavement. 

This is our ultimate goal to provide this support to all that need it.