Anxiety is an unpleasant, apprehensive feeling in response to a potential threat.
It is a normal human emotion, just like sadness or joy.
Importantly, fear and anxiety are needed to keep us safe in life-threatening situations. They act as our internal alarm system, alerting us to danger and urging us to act. This can be particularly helpful as someone who works in and around emergency services.
However, anxiety can become a problem when it starts to impact our day-to-day functioning or when we start to perceive danger where there is none.
| Anxiety | Anxiety Disorder |
|---|---|
| A normal reaction to a stressful event | Intense and excessive reaction to a stressful event |
| Short-term | Can last weeks or months |
| Lessens or disappears when away from the stressful situation | Feeling anxious, worried or on edge most of the time |
| Can involve a realistic fear of a dangerous situation | Intensity of the feeling is out of proportion to the situation |
| Can be helpful and motivate action | Interferes with your daily life, stopping you from doing normal activities |
Around 1 in 6 Australian adults will have experienced an anxiety disorder in the last 12 months1.
Different anxiety disorders can have different symptoms, but there is usually some overlap.
Common symptoms of anxiety disorders
- Always fearing the worst outcome
- Avoiding work, school, socialising or other previously enjoyed activities
- Difficulty concentrating
- Issues with indecisiveness, procrastination, second guessing
- Agitation, irritability, and restlessness
- Rapid breathing and racing heart
- Chest tightening
- Sweating, shaking, hot or cold flushes
- Feeling tense, wound up and cannot switch off
- Poor sleep
- Butterflies in the stomach, nausea, and other digestion issues
Common anxiety disorders
| Generalised Anxiety Disorder | Panic Disorder |
|---|---|
| Worrying a lot of the time about anything and everything | Regular panic attacks |
| Feeling like your worry is uncontrollable | Fear of panic attacks |
| Feeling on edge | Avoiding situations that might trigger a panic attack |
| Difficulty winding down and relaxing |
| Health Anxiety Disorder | Social Anxiety Disorder |
|---|---|
| Worrying about getting sick/injured/physically hurt | Fear of being judged, embarrassed, and criticised in social situations |
| Constantly checking your body for symptoms | Avoiding social situations (e.g., public speaking, parties, meeting new people) |
| Avoiding situations that might cause bodily harm | Trying to avoid being the centre of attention (e.g., looking at your phone, sitting in the back row) |
| Regularly looking for reassurance on symptoms through googling, doctor’s visits, asking others |
Coping & Support
Although anxiety can be an unpleasant sensation, it doesn’t last at peak intensity forever. There are many different relaxation strategies that we can use to help our body naturally calm itself. Some common strategies include slow diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation – Check out our guided videos here.
For further information on anxiety, check out Beyond Blue.
1Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing 2020-21. ABS. 2022 July.