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Anxiety

Anxiety feels uncomfortable. It’s the feeling of fear, dread and uneasiness, and causes those rumblings in your stomach. So it’d be ridiculous to hear that anxiety is actually helpful to us. 

 

How is anxiety helpful? It highlights situations that we perceive as dangerous and/or important to us, and alerts us to pay attention. For example, when sitting for an exam, you’d feel anxious about your answers. That anxiety drives you to double-check your answers to reduce mistakes. 

 

Anxiety fades away on its own overtime. However, when we find ourselves excessively worrying all the time, it could potentially be an anxiety disorder. 

What is Anxiety?

How do I know if I have anxiety disorder?

Anxiety disorders make it difficult to get through the day. 

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  • Common anxiety symptoms:

  • Feeling nervous, restless or tense

  • Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom

  • Increased heart rate and rapid breathing

  • Sweating

  • Trembling

  • Feeling weak or tired

  • Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry

  • Having trouble sleeping

  • Stomach problems

  • Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

 

Common causes of anxiety:

  • Trauma

  • Illness

  • Personality

  • Drug use

  • Major events

How to cope?

​Teens generally respond well to professional treatment. The earlier you get treated, the better.​

 

Here are some ways to cope:

  • Deep breathing

  • Progressive muscle relaxation

  • Guided imagery

  • Stress relief exercise

How to differentiate anxiety from stress? 

Anxiety and stress can feel similar, but there's one distinction between them.

 

Stress goes away once the situation is resolved, meanwhile anxiety lingers on, giving you a constant feeling of dread even when the threat is no longer present.

In case of Emergencies

​You are not alone, and help is available. You can feel better.

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