- About Anxiety in Adults
- Social Anxiety Program
- Excessive Worry Program
- Fly Without Fear
- How to get help
About Anxiety in Adults
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a common emotion that is needed to survive and is experienced by all people. Other words used to describe the emotion include fear, shyness, worry, nerves, or stressed. People differ in the extent and degree to which they experience anxiety and in the types of situations that produce anxiety. When an individual experiences anxiety to such an extent or in such situations that it reduces their enjoyment or functioning in life, they might consider seeking help.
Types of Anxiety Problems
When people have a problem with anxiety, it commonly takes one of several main forms. Of course it is important to note that anxious individuals often experience more than one of these forms of anxiety.
Social Fears
People who suffer what is often called social phobia or social anxiety disorder are typically highly shy. That is, they worry a great deal about what other people will think about them. As a result of these worries, they fear or even avoid social activities such as going on dates, attending meetings, giving talks, being assertive, and even writing or drinking in front of other people.
Generalised Anxiety
People who suffer from what is known as generalised anxiety disorder are characterised by high levels of worry. Typical areas of worry include family, health, career, finances and especially daily, minor events and hassles. For people with generalised anxiety, their worries seem to be out of control and take up a large part of their day.
Panic Disorder
People who suffer panic disorder experience a number of panic attacks. Panic attacks involve a sudden rush of fear together with many physical symptoms including palpitations, dizziness, breathlessness, and shakiness. In many cases, there is also a strong feeling that one is about to pass out or even die. Panic attacks may lead to further avoidance such as not wanting to go out without a partner, not wanting to catch public transport, or avoidance of trapped spaces such as cinemas, lecture halls, and being stuck in traffic. In these cases, panic disorder is said to be accompanied by agoraphobia.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
People with obsessive compulsive disorder usually experience fearful thoughts, images, or even urges, which run through their minds over and over again in a repeated pattern. Some common themes include thoughts about contamination and germs, images of losing control, feelings that things are not "just right", or thoughts about things not being in the right order or not being completed. These thoughts or urges often lead to particular actions that are repeated over and over and are aimed at preventing or undoing the beliefs. For example, people might wash themselves repeatedly, check repeatedly, or repeat certain signs or phrases.Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
From time to time, many people in our society will go through a traumatic, life-threatening event such as a rape, car accident, or natural disaster. Following these events, it is common to experience extreme distress, often lasting for some time. In most cases, this distress decreases with time. When the distress is especially high and does not seem to decrease over the expected time, it is oven referred to as a post-traumatic reaction. People who experience post-traumatic reactions often report quite marked symptoms such as a blank memory for the event, strong feelings of unreality, extreme jumpiness, and sleep difficulties.
Treatment for Anxiety Problems
The good news is that there are a number of very effective treatments now available for anxiety disorders. These include various medications and psychological treatments. Scientifically, the best-studied and most demonstrated techniques include medications such as tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs and the psychological techniques often referred to as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
At the Macquarie University Anxiety Research Unit we offer cognitive behavioural therapy for all of the anxiety disorders as well as for problems related to anxiety such as depression, relationship difficulties, or work-related problems. Our research-based programs are currently focussing on social anxiety and generalised anxiety. Further information on these programs can be obtained by clicking on the relevant heading at the top of this page. We also offer individual therapy for anxiety-related problems, that are not the focus of current research, from psychologists who are highly trained and specialised in delivery of treatments for anxiety. Further information on clinical services can be obtained by clicking here.
