In this month’s instalment of the Exploring Mental Health series, we’re looking at anxiety. Anxiety is something we all experience at some point during our lives, often at times of change or as a result of stressful events. But when does anxiety become a mental health problem, what are the symptoms to look out for, and how can you manage your anxiety?
 
When is anxiety a mental health problem?
 
Feeling anxious is a normal emotion that everyone experiences sometimes. It’s our body’s response to stressful situations or events, and is usually temporary.
 
Anxiety becomes a mental health problem when feelings of anxiety, worry or fear don’t go away, and you experience them all or most of the time, even when there doesn’t seem to be a particular cause.
 
If you can answer yes to any of the following, your anxiety may have become a mental health problem:

• It has become hard to control your worries
• Your feelings of anxiety are strong and it’s difficult to relax
• You’ve felt anxious for a long period of time
• You’re avoiding situations because they make you feel anxious
• You’re not getting pleasure from things you usually enjoy
• Your feelings of anxiety are affecting your daily life
• There doesn’t seem to be a particular cause for your anxiety
• You regularly experience anxiety symptoms

 
If any of these sound familiar, the first step is to visit your GP. They can provide a diagnosis and offer advice on getting support and treatment. There are also some tips on how to manage your anxiety below.
 
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
 
Anxiety can affect our bodies and minds in lots of different ways. Some of the most common symptoms are:
 
Physical symptoms

• Feeling light-headed or dizzy
• Feeling sick
• Needing to use the toilet more/less frequently
• A fast or irregular heartbeat
• Faster, shallower breathing (hyperventilating)
• Tightness in your chest
• Shaking
• Tingling in parts of your body
• Pins and needles
• Headaches or aches in other parts of your body
• Increased sweating or hot flushes
• A dry mouth
• Grinding your teeth
• Feeling restless
• Having panic attacks

 
Cognitive symptoms

• Thinking you might die
• Thinking you have a serious health condition
• Thinking you might lose control
• Thinking others can see your anxiety and are looking at you
• Feeling disconnected from the world around you
• Feeling disconnected from your body or mind
• Feeling a sense of dread and fearing the worst
• Worrying about ‘what ifs’ and things that might happen
• Thinking about a situation over and over again
• Wanting to run away or escape from the situation
• Feeling alert and on edge

 
How to manage your anxiety
 
There are lots of things you can do to control and reduce your anxiety, including:

• Visit your GP – your doctor can give you advice on getting support and treatment

 

• Take medication – in some cases, your GP might prescribe medication to help control your anxiety symptoms

 

• Have counselling – talking to a counsellor can help you identify the causes and triggers for your anxiety, and find ways to reduce and manage it. If you’d like to make an appointment to discuss your anxiety, get in touch.

 

• Talk to someone you trust – this might be a friend, colleague or family member. Opening up about how you’re feeling can create a support network for when you’re finding things tough

 

• Contact support organisations – organisations such as Samaritans and Anxiety UK have helplines you can call when you need support

 

• Join online support groups or forums –these give you the chance to link up with others who understand what you’re experiencing

 

• Keep a journal or diary – this can help you to identify triggers for your anxiety and learn any early warning signs. You can also use it to remind yourself of all the good, positive things in your life, which anxiety can often make you overlook

 

• Plan ‘worry time’ – set aside an amount of time each day to think about what’s worrying you. Between these times, tell yourself to let go of those thoughts until your next worry time. This can feel challenging but also give a greater sense of control over your anxiety

 

• Look after your physical health – a good diet, limiting alcohol and caffeine, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly can all help to improve your mental wellbeing

 

• Practice mindfulness – relaxation techniques, such as mindfulness, can help to bring you back into the present moment and interrupt anxious thoughts about ‘what ifs’, creating a sense of calm. They can also teach you breathing techniques to help control your anxiety symptoms

 
It’s important to note not all of these tips will feel helpful for everyone. We’re each individual, so it’s about trying different ways to manage your anxiety until you find the ones that work best for you.
 
If you’d like to make an appointment to talk about your anxiety, get in touch.

With the clocks changing, now is a good time to think about your sleep. Your sleeping pattern can affect your mental health, increasing feelings of anxiety, depression and stress. If your sleep is poor and you’re struggling to get some much needed zzzzs, take a look at how to sleep better and improve your mental health.
 
The Facts
 
Did you know we spend around a third of our lives asleep? Sleep is as important to our health as eating, drinking and breathing.[i] And a lack of sleep can affect both our physical and mental health.
 
Medicine has identified more than 80 different sleep disorders and problems.[ii] Some can be the result of other medical conditions, but most are short-term and typically triggered by temporary events in our lives or by behavioural factors (such as drinking too much caffeine).
 
Just as poor sleep can impact our mental health, so can mental illness lead to a disruption in our sleeping pattern. To help break this cycle, it’s important to treat both the sleep issue and mental health problem at the same time. In some instances, this may involve a referral to a sleep clinic or the use of sleep medication.
 
Many sleep problems can be improved or eradicated through simple changes to our sleep hygiene. The phrase ‘sleep hygiene’ refers to the habits and practices that help us get a good night’s sleep. If you’re wondering whether or not you need to improve your sleep hygiene, ask yourself: Are you getting enough sleep? Is it good quality sleep? If the answers are no, take a look at these top tips:
 
Top Tips For Good Sleep Hygiene
 
1) Set a routine – get up and go to bed at the same time each day. And don’t sleep in by more than an hour, even on your days off
 
2) Avoid stimulants – caffeine, alcohol and nicotine can affect both your ability to go to sleep and the quality of sleep you get, even if they’re used hours earlier
 
3) Avoid napping – when you’re tired it can be tempting to take a nap. But sleeping for over an hour in the day, or napping too late in the day, can have a big effect on your sleep
 
4) Only use your bed for sleeping – using your bed for other activities, such as playing video games or watching TV, can lead to your brain associating your bed with these, rather than sleep
 
5) Exercise and eat well – exercise and healthy eating can improve sleep. Just avoid strenuous exercise or large meals in the two hours before going to bed. Equally, a light snack before bed can stop you going to bed feeling hungry
 
6) Have a digital detox - the activity of checking emails, updating Facebook etc. stimulates your brain instead of helping you wind down. To avoid this, switch off and put away mobile devices for 90 minutes before going to bed
 
7) Create a comfortable environment – the room should be quiet, dark, and not too hot or cold. Ear plugs, eye masks and fans can help with this, if needed
 
8) Remove distractions – electronic devices, such as laptops, phones and tablets, emit blue light that makes you feel less sleepy. Notifications also tempt you into checking your devices after going to bed. Keeping devices downstairs or switching them off will remove this distraction. To help, invest in an alarm clock rather than using your mobile phone as your alarm
 
9) Don’t lie in bed awake – if you haven’t fallen asleep after 20 minutes, get up and do something calming (avoiding bright lights and screens, which will activate your brain more). Lying in bed awake will stop your brain associating bed with sleep
 
10) Avoid checking the clock – if you’re struggling to sleep, looking at the clock can cause anxiety and increase the pressure to fall sleep, keeping you awake longer
 
11) Write down your thoughts – racing thoughts can make it difficult to sleep. Keep a pen and paper by the bed to write down any worries – if they’re important you can return to them in the morning. Often, your worries will seem less daunting in the daylight
 
12) Try mindful meditation – meditations such as a body scan or mindful breathing can help to physically relax you and interrupt anxious thoughts, calming your body and mind and helping you drift off
 
Getting good quality sleep can benefit your mental health. But mental illness can be the very thing that stops you sleeping well. If you need support and someone to talk to about your mental health, get in touch to make an appointment.


[i] Mental Health Foundation (2011), Sleep Matters: The Impact Of Sleep On Health And Wellbeing, Available: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/sleep-report

[ii] Mental Health Foundation, Sleep, Available: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/sleep

While we frequently think about how we’re physically feeling, how much attention do we pay to our mental wellbeing? For a lot of us, the answer is probably not enough. To make a start at changing this, why not take a look at how your mental health scores.
 
This week (8th – 14th May) is Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW). And with the topic being ‘Surviving or Thriving?’, it’s a good reminder to ask ourselves whether our mental health is as positive as it could be.
 
The aim of this year’s MHAW is to look at why so many people are living with mental health problems and not thriving with good mental health – and how this can be changed.
 
A report by the Mental Health Foundation[i], published for MHAW, has revealed that only 13 percent of people are living with high levels of positive mental health. While two thirds of Britons now say they have experienced mental ill-health at some point in their lives. This figure is even higher for those aged between 18 and 54 years.
 
Perhaps one reason for this is that it can be easy to tell ourselves feelings of stress or anxiety are a natural part of leading a busy day-to-day life. But ignoring feelings of low mood or anxiety is unlikely to make them go away. Instead, it’s better to recognise and keep track of them.
 
To help you do this, the NHS has created a Mood Self-Assessment Questionnaire[ii]. By using it regularly, you can gain a better understanding of how you feel. You may notice that certain events or situations trigger feelings of depression, anxiety or panic. Or maybe that seasonal changes have an effect. Whatever your personal stressors are, recognising that you’re surviving and not thriving with good mental health is the first step towards making a positive change.
 
Start the questionnaire now to see how your mental health scores.

Want to improve your mental health score? Take a look at How Self-Care Can Improve Your Mental Health


[i] Mental Health Foundation, Surviving or Thriving? The state of the UK’s mental health, Available: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/surviving-or-thriving-state-uks-mental-health
 
[ii] NHS, Mood Self-Assessment, Available: http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Mood-self-assessment.aspx

At the start of a new year many of us are making resolutions to improve our physical health by exercising more or changing our diets. But how much thought are we giving to our mental health? By spending a little bit of time each day on self-care, you could help to improve and maintain your mental wellbeing.
 
Why is self-care so important?
 
All of us experience multiple pressures and demands on us every day, whether it’s from work, family life or relationships. And that’s without added stressors such as bereavement or loss, financial difficulties, health concerns or experiencing trauma. And in the midst of dealing with all of this we all too often put our own needs to the bottom of the pile.
 
The result of this can be that we start to feel exhausted and stressed out. Anxiety can creep in or existing symptoms of anxiety can increase. Depression can also worsen and our self-esteem and self-confidence can reduce.
 
How does self-care help?
 
Self-care can prevent or improve feelings or stress, anxiety or depression by giving you the time and space to do something that nurtures your mental, emotional or physical wellbeing.
 
This doesn’t mean getting all zen and meditating every day (although if that’s what you enjoy, go for it!). It means listening to your body and mind, and doing things to give yourself a break.
 
And if it seems daunting to fit yet another thing into the hectic demands of day-to-day life, be reassured that you don’t need to start finding large amounts of time to dedicate to it – although the more self-care you can do, the better. Even taking just a couple of minutes, a few times a day can make a big difference.
 
How can you practise self-care?
 
You can practise self-care in all sorts of ways simply by doing anything that’s about taking time for you. Here are some tips to get you started:
 
1) Move around and go outside
 
Go for a walk and get some fresh air
Do exercise, even if it’s just some simple stretches
Spend time in the garden
Have a picnic in the park
 
2) Pamper yourself
 
Have a bath or shower
Listen to your favourite record
Read a book
Watch a film
Cook your favourite dish
Buy yourself flowers
Wear comfy clothing
Put fresh sheets on your bed
Have a nap or get an early night
 
3) Be creative
 
Write in a journal
Paint, draw or colour in
Play a musical instrument
Bake
 
4) Take time out from stressors
 
Take regular breaks from your computer
Have time out from social media
Switch your phone off at a regular time each night
Chat with a friend
 
5) Relax and remind yourself you’re doing great
 
Close your eyes and imagine being in your favourite place
Practice mindfulness (try the Headspace or Calm apps)
Spend a couple of minutes focusing on your breathing
Stroke a pet
Praise yourself for something you’ve done that day
Write down things you’re grateful for
 
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Each of us has to find the things that relax us and that we enjoy (for instance buying flowers might be lovely for some but terrible if you’re a hay fever sufferer). But whatever it is you do, by taking the time for self-care you can improve your mental health.

This year, 10 million adults will experience a mental health issue – that’s 1 in 4 of us. Mental illness can happen to anyone at anytime. But there are some things we can do to look after our mental health.

1. Eat well

Balancing our food can also help to balance our mood. In fact, research has shown that nutrition plays a role in the development and management of some mental illnesses, such as depression[i]. For tips on which foods can have a positive affect on your mood, take a look at the Mind website.

2. Drink sensibly

Although alcohol can temporarily seem to alleviate negative feelings, it has been found to be a contributing factor in depression, anxiety and psychosis. This is because it decreases the level of serotonin in our brains, which is a chemical that acts as a mood stabiliser. So as well as disrupting regular sleep patterns, which can have a significant effect on mood, it can also heighten feelings of anxiety, depression and despair.

Of course, it’s not just our alcohol intake that it’s important to be mindful of. Caffeine and sugary drinks can also affect our mental health. Sugary drinks produce spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels, leaving you feeling tired and depressed. And as a stimulant, caffeine can also make you feel anxious and depressed, as well as affecting your sleep. To combat this, try drinking more water and swapping coffee for herbal teas.
 
3. Get a good night’s sleep

Much like our diet, sleep patterns play a role in mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Tiredness can increase feelings of loneliness and being overwhelmed. It can also affect your mood, lower your self-esteem and reduce your ability to rationalise, leading to increased negative thoughts.
 
Likewise, mental health problems can affect our sleep. Anxiety can stop you sleeping, with racing thoughts making it difficult to sleep or leading you to experience nightmares or disrupted sleep. While depression may lead you to oversleep, resulting in fatigue or lethargy. Some medications, such as antidepressants, may also affect sleeping patterns.
 
To improve your sleep, try establishing a regular sleeping pattern by going to bed and getting up at the same time each day. Make sure the temperature, light and noise levels are right, and relax before going to bed. This means stopping any stimulating activities, such as exercise, work or looking at your phone, computer or tablet, an hour before going to bed. You can read more tips on coping with sleep problems on the Mind website.
 
4. Take a break

Taking time out is essential for our wellbeing. Without time for relaxation the stresses and pressures of everyday life can become overwhelming, triggering anxiety and depression. So make sure you make time for self-care every day, whether it’s reading a book, having a bath, listening to music or going for a walk. Practising mindfulness can also help you feel calmer and has been shown to help the management of mild depression, anxiety and other common mental health problems.[ii]
 
5. Keep active

Physical activity can positively benefit our mental health, reducing stress and anxiety, and increasing self-esteem. Research has found that low-intensity aerobic exercise (exercising for 30–35 minutes, 3–5 days a week, for 10–12 weeks) is best at boosting your mood.[iii] This can be anything: walking, swimming, cycling, gardening, hoovering, mopping – you don’t have to be training to run a marathon. Any exercise is good for keeping you healthy and making you concentrate on something other than unwanted negative thoughts and worries.
 
6. Keep in touch

Connecting with others can help to combat loneliness and isolation, which can both lead to mental illness and be a result of it. You can build positive relationships by talking to friends and family, joining local groups for the things you like to do, volunteering for a charity or by joining an online community such as Elefriends, where you can share your experiences with others in a similar position. Just remember, what’s important isn’t the number of connections you have but being able to open up and talk honestly to those you’re in touch with.
 
7. Talk about your feelings

Ignoring feelings only makes them more powerful. So start by acknowledging how you feel - writing it down can be helpful if you’re not sure where to start or how to describe what you’re feeling. Then share this with others. Telling your family and trusted friends can help you feel supported and listened to. Local support groups can also provide a safe and confidential space to share how you feel.
 
8. Ask for help

Getting help and support is not a sign of weakness. If you’re experiencing difficulties with your mental health the first person to contact is your GP who can make a diagnosis and talk you through options for treatment. This may be medication, talking or behavioural therapies, or a referral to a specialist mental health service. If you’re having difficulties at work you could also speak to your manager about taking time off or making changes to your workload or hours. The important thing to remember is that you’re not alone and there is help available.
 
If you would like to talk about your mental health difficulties in a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space, do get in touch.


[i] Mental Health Foundation, Diet and Mental Health, Available: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/diet-and-mental-health

[ii] Mind, Mindfulness, Available: http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/mindfulness/#.WAOVgFs4RFU

[iii] Mental Health Foundation, How to Look After Your Mental Health Using Exercise, Available: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-using-exercise