What is anxiety?

Butterflies in your stomach? Constant worry? Sleeplessness? Are you anxious? Maybe you’re feeling worried about work, your health, or what people think about you? Anxiety, worry and nervousness are a normal part of healthy living and for most of us these feelings will come and go and last for short periods of time. Some moments of anxiety may even be helpful, for example helping us to cram for an exam or in carefully weighing up the pros and cons of an important decision. But sometimes anxiety can become more serious, interfering with our ability to get on with our daily life demands, interfering with sleep and concentration, our social life, our relationships and our ability to enjoy life. Anxiety can last for many weeks, even months or years and significantly impact our life as well as be physically overwhelming. Anxiety, like, depression, has a number of forms and causes and like depression, anxiety and stress has been linked to a number of physical health concerns including gastro-intestinal problems, weight gain/loss, and headaches just to name a few. Worry, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Phobias and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, all sit under the umbrella of Anxiety. The symptoms may vary slightly between each but there are a number of core symptoms.