This page is about anxiety disorders, which are mental health conditions. For more information about feeling anxious about something going on in your life, check out the page on anxiety.
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When does feeling anxious become a mental health problem?
Most people worry sometimes and feel anxious when stressful things happen, like exams or arguments with friends.
We all feel anxious at times, and it’s typical for our anxiety to go up and down based on things that are happening around us. Sometimes life can feel overwhelming – anxiety is our body’s natural way of reacting and letting us know that it’s a stressful time.
There are three main signs that let us know that anxiety might be becoming a problem:
If you’re feeling anxious a lot more frequently or worrying about things all the time.
If you’re feeling anxious about things that don’t usually make you feel worried, like spending time with a good friend.
If your feelings of anxiety are getting in the way of your day-to-day life, for example, making it hard for you to go to school or see friends.
“You do not need a label from a clinician for your experiences to be “real” or “valid”. And you do not have to have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder to start to work on managing your anxiety, especially if it’s something that’s becoming a problem in your day-to-day life.”
Tom, Clinical Nurse Specialist
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety disorders are mental health conditions. People can be diagnosed with a range of different anxiety disorders, depending on their experiences and symptoms.
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
When someone feels anxious a lot of the time, about a range of different things. Sometimes, people with GAD don’t know why they feel anxious.
Social anxiety disorder (or social phobia)
When someone feels really anxious about social situations, for example, being around people or talking on the phone.
Health anxiety
When someone feels really anxious about being (or getting) ill. People might spend lots of time checking their body or ask their friends and family (or a pharmacist or GP) to check things or give them reassurance.
Agoraphobia
When someone has a fear of being in a situation where it might be difficult to escape or get help if things go wrong. People might be afraid of certain situations (like public transport, for example) or of leaving their home and going out.
Specific phobias
When someone has a big fear of a specific thing or situation and feels anxious about it. A phobia is more than being a bit afraid – it can make day-to-day life really hard. Common examples include animals, heights, or vomit.
Panic disorder
When someone experiences a lot of panic attacks. Sometimes, people find that being anxious about having a panic attack can trigger one.
OCD is also a type of anxiety disorder
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) involves unwanted thoughts and urges that cause distress, and repetitive behaviours or mental acts that people feel driven to do to cope with that anxiety.
Symptoms and signs of anxiety
There are lots of potential symptoms of anxiety because people experience it in different ways. The symptoms are often split into physical symptoms and thoughts and feelings.
What are some physical symptoms of anxiety?
- Having a stomach ache, or feeling like you’ve got an upset or unsettled stomach
- Feeling or being sick
- Needing to go to the toilet a lot, or having diarrhoea
- Feeling your heart beating really fast
- Breathing fast, often with shallow breaths
- Having pins and needles
- Feeling dizzy or faint
- Shaking
- Sweating more than usual
- Feeling tense
- Having headaches
- Not being able to sleep
- Having panic attacks
How can anxiety make you feel?
- Nervous or on edge
- Worried about something specific
- Like you can’t relax
- Like you can’t concentrate
- Overwhelmed
- Like something bad is going to happen (some people describe this as a feeling of dread)
- Like your thoughts (or the world around you) are speeding up or slowing down
- Tired
- Grumpy or irritable
- Self-conscious, for example, if you feel like other people are judging you for looking anxious
- Low, or cause symptoms of depression
Some people also do things related to anxiety, like picking their nails or skin, or avoiding places or people.
How does anxiety affect someone's life?
Some people find their anxiety is constant, whereas for others it changes and can get more or less intense depending on lots of other things, like what’s happening in their lives. Both of these experiences are equally valid.
Anxiety can make it difficult to engage at school or at work. It can also affect your friendships and relationships with other people, and it might make it difficult to do things you’d otherwise enjoy like hobbies.
How do you know if you have anxiety?
Talking to a professional
People are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder by a medical professional. Who this is can depend on things like your age, as well as your specific experiences.
Different routes for adults and young people
A GP can often diagnose some anxiety disorders in adults, but diagnosing mental health conditions in young people is often more complex. Generally, young people are referred to a more specialist service, where professionals can spend a bit more time getting to know them and understanding everything that’s going on in their life.
How a diagnosis is made
Whichever medical professionals you speak to, they diagnose people using diagnostic criteria – specific guidelines about the signs and symptoms that mean someone has an anxiety disorder, rather than any other mental health condition.
What they might ask you to do
- Talk about your symptoms
- Fill out questionnaires about how often you experience certain symptoms
- Discuss anything you think might be contributing to your anxiety
Ruling out physical causes
Anxiety can’t be diagnosed by any sort of blood test or scan, but sometimes doctors may check that their symptoms aren’t caused by a physical health condition.
You don’t need a diagnosis to get support
You can use a lot of the information on self-care for anxiety regardless of whether you have a diagnosis. Lots of techniques for managing anxiety can be helpful for everyone, whether they have anxiety around a specific event, like exam season, or an anxiety disorder.
Find support for anxiety
Find trusted services that can support you when things feel overwhelming.
What causes anxiety?
Some people’s anxiety is triggered by certain things or situations, while other people feel a more ‘general’ sense of anxiety. Your experience of anxiety might change over time, too.
Childhood experiences
Going through difficult experiences when you’re a child or young person, and the distress that they cause, might be part of the reason someone develops an anxiety disorder. People often think of ‘difficult experiences’ as big, traumatic events. But going through multiple smaller difficult experiences can also have a big impact.
Life events
Almost everyone will experience some things that are stressful or upsetting (like a relationship ending, work stress, or someone they love dying) at some point. For some people, these stressful situations may trigger an anxiety disorder or make it harder to manage symptoms of anxiety that they already have.
Discrimination
Experiencing discrimination (like racism, ableism, homophobia, and/or transphobia) can make it more likely that someone will develop a mental health condition like an anxiety disorder. People can experience discrimination in society (for example, when the systems behind things like education and housing are set up in ways that disadvantage some groups of people because of who they are), as well as when a person is being discriminatory against someone else in a specific situation. These experiences of discrimination can be traumatic.
Other health problems
People who live with physical health conditions or other mental health conditions can find that their symptoms, or things that have happened to them as a result of their condition, can cause anxiety.
Family history
Research suggests that people with a close family member with an anxiety disorder are more likely (but not certain) to develop it too. What we don’t know is whether this is because of biology (due to genes you’ve inherited from your parents) and how much is due to a shared environment and circumstances. If genes are involved, it’s likely that it’s much more complex than one single gene causing anxiety disorders – and often it’s about the way the characteristics you’ve inherited (through your genes) combine with your life experiences.
Alcohol
It’s really common to feel anxious after drinking alcohol – you might hear this called ‘hangxiety’ or ‘beer fear’. It’s often caused by a combination of worrying about what you might have done while drunk, and the physical effects of the alcohol ‘wearing off’ and leaving your body. Feeling anxious after drinking does not mean someone has an anxiety disorder – but people who have an anxiety disorder may find alcohol makes their symptoms worse.
Some people can identify other triggers for their anxiety, such as drinking caffeine or being under a lot of stress at school or work. Being able to spot these potential triggers can be really helpful, as it means you can try to avoid them as much as possible, or make a plan to help you stay well if they happen.
Treatment and looking after yourself if you have anxiety
Treatment for an anxiety disorder might include talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (which can also be delivered as guided self-help) and family therapy. For some people, it might include medication.
There are also things that everyone can to do help with anxiety – whether it’s the result of an anxiety disorder or not. They don’t always aim to tackle the causes of anxiety but can help you cope with the symptoms.
Video: How to manage anxiety by understanding your brain
Find out why different things happen in our bodies when we get anxious and what we can do to cope.
Talk to someone you trust
It can make a big difference for a trusted adult to understand how you’re feeling. Depending on what’s causing your anxiety, they might be able to help you problem solve, and they can support you to get more help if you need it.
Breathing and grounding exercises
There are lots of different breathing and grounding exercises, so you can experiment and find one that works for you. It’s a good idea to practise them before you feel anxious, as this makes it easier to use them (and for them to help) when you’re struggling.
Find a way to express your anxiety
Some people find it helpful to plan a specific time where they let themselves focus on their anxiety. They might use this time write or draw about their anxiety or the things that they worry about – some people try to leave their writings or drawings in a specific place afterwards.
The five ways to wellbeing
Adding wellbeing-boosting activities to your life can be a positive distraction, as well as giving you opportunities to challenge your anxiety and prove it wrong.
Making a self-soothe box
Self-soothe boxes are filled with items that can help you cope when things feel overwhelming. What you put in a self-soothe box is up to you, but people often choose items that help them engage with their senses.
Apps for anxiety
Explore trusted apps for anxiety that can help you feel calmer, manage symptoms, and find support when things feel overwhelming.
With the right support and treatment, people can recover so that they longer have an anxiety disorder – although, like everyone, they’ll probably still feel anxious sometimes.
Why does anxiety therapy involve facing your fears?
Therapists and counsellors don’t expect people to ‘just’ face their fears – and they don’t force people into their worst-case scenarios.
In therapy, people can gradually build up to encounter the thing that makes them feel afraid or anxious. If they’re scared of an animal, for example, they might start by looking a cute illustration of it long before they’re in the same room as one.
With support (and time), people are able to face that first step with a lower level of anxiety that doesn’t last as long. They can then move on to the next step (for example, watching a cartoon video of the animal or looking at a photo).
At the same time, people might talk about previous experiences with the thing that’s scary or anxiety-provoking or keep track of things in their life now that make them feel anxious. They often learn and practise skills (like grounding techniques or breathing exercises) to help them cope as well.
How to get more help if you have anxiety
If you think you may have an anxiety disorder (or have a diagnosis but are struggling to manage), the first step is to speak to an adult you trust. This might be a parent or carer, teacher, youth worker, or GP. Find out more about getting help from an NHS GP in England.
Together, you can make a plan so that you get the support you need to manage.
Emergency?
If anyone is in immediate danger, call 999 now.
If you need urgent help for mental or physical health, call NHS 111 or get help from NHS 111 online.
If you’re not sure where to start or want to practise talking about anxiety before you have a conversation with an adult in your life, you might find it helpful to contact NATTER.
Text NATTER for help
Anyone can text ‘NATTER’ to 85258 to seek
help, wherever they are in the UK. It’s a free, anonymous service and available 24/7.
More about NATTER
How to help someone else with anxiety
If someone you care about has an anxiety disorder, it can be difficult to know how to support them. As well as being a good friend and including them in the things you do, there are some things you could try to help them.
Learn about anxiety
If you learn more about anxiety, other people with anxiety don’t have to spend as much time raising awareness. It also means you can better understand what’s going on for them, which can be really helpful if they do something you find difficult, like cancelling plans.
Listen to what they tell you
Everyone has their own experience of anxiety, so it’s really important to listen to people if they want to tell you what it’s like for them. It’s OK to ask how you can help, too, or if there’s anything you need to know about how they communicate.
Help them be kind to themselves
If someone with anxiety is struggling with something, you can show them that you understand it’s hard, while encouraging them to use any strategies they have to take care of themselves. Celebrating their ‘little wins’ is also a great way to show support.
Do normal ‘friend stuff’
When someone’s struggling with their mental health, spending time together talking about shared interests (or doing a hobby you both enjoy) can help them feel more like themselves again. This might mean continuing to invite someone to do stuff, even if they’re not always able to say yes.
Support them to get more help
You could offer to go with them to speak to a trusted adult or help them decide who they could talk to. It can be difficult for people to open up, but speaking to an adult they trust is often the first step towards them getting the help they need.
