Mental Health Awareness Week



Posted 09/05/2023





Mental Health Awareness Week takes place from Monday 15 – Sunday 21 May 2023. The official theme for this year, as set by the Mental Health Foundation, is ‘anxiety’. The ‘Just’ Anxiety?’ campaign aims to help people and organisations to understand the difference between anxiety and anxiety disorders and to confidently seek and signpost each other to the right support. It is important to gain the right support when you are anxious and not suffer alone. Your counsellor at PCS can help and support you and signpost you to someone else if you require more specialist help and support. The counsellor’s details are at the bottom of this blog regarding anxiety. You can self-refer or speak to one of the staff team to be referred. This is a free and confidential service, so no-one will be told.




What is anxiety



Anxiety is a common emotion that we’ve likely all experienced at some point in our lives. People living with an anxiety disorder will feel intense levels of anxiety frequently, which can deeply impact their quality of life. Anxiety disorders affect over 8 million people in the UK – that’s a little over 1 in 10 of us – and there are lots of different types. When we talk about anxiety, we might dismiss or invalidate it as someone “just worrying” or “just being stressed”. These common phrases can be harmful. That’s why we want to challenge the notion that it’s ‘just’ anxiety, and share the truths about the condition.



Overview of anxiety



This section provides information about anxiety disorders. How they are diagnosed, possible causes and where to get further information and support.

  • Anxiety can make you feel worried, nervous or scared.
  • It can also cause physical symptoms such as a racing heartbeat.
  • It is normal to feel anxious at times, but you may have an anxiety disorder if you feel anxious all or most of the time.
  • Many people recover from anxiety with support and treatment.
  • Doctors can offer treatment and support. Method of treatment will depend on how severe the symptoms are.


Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)



GAD is the most common type of anxiety disorder. The main symptom of GAD is excessive worrying about different activities and events.

You may feel anxious a lot of the time if you have GAD. You might feel ‘on edge’ and hyper-alert to your surroundings. GAD can affect your day-to-day life.


You might find that it affects several areas of your life including:

  • Your ability to work or hold down employment.
  • Travel, or leave the house.
  • Your energy, sleep or concentration.

You might also have physical symptoms, such as muscle tension and sweating. It is common to have other conditions such as depression or other anxiety disorders if you have GAD. GAD can be difficult to diagnose because it doesn’t have some of the unique symptoms of other anxiety disorders. Your doctor is likely to say you have GAD if you have felt anxious for most days over six months and it has had a negative impact on multiple areas of your life.



Panic disorder



Panic disorder means you have regular panic attacks with no particular trigger. They can happen suddenly and feel very intense and frightening, it is also possible to dissociate during panic attacks (feel detached from your body). You may also be fearful about having panic attacks in the future. Fear of certain situations can cause panic attacks, for example, if you don’t like small spaces but have to use a lift. But this doesn’t mean that you have a panic disorder.

Panic disorder symptoms can include:

  • An overwhelming sense of dread or fear
  • Chest pain or a sensation that your heart is beating irregularly
  • Feeling that you might be dying or having a heart attack
  • Sweating and hot flushes, or chills and shivering
  • A dry mouth, shortness of breath or feeling like you’re choking
  • Nausea, dizziness and feeling faint
  • Numbness, pins and needles or a tingling sensation in your fingers
  • A need to go to the toilet
  • A churning stomach
  • Ringing in your ears


Social anxiety disorder



It’s normal to worry about social or performance situations. social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is when you will have an intense fear or dread of social situations. This can happen before, during or after an event. Some common situations where you may experience anxiety:

  • Speaking in public or in groups
  • Meeting new people or strangers
  • Dating
  • Eating or drinking in public

You may be worried that you will do something or act in a way that is embarrassing. You might feel aware of the physical signs of your anxiety, such as:

  • Sweating
  • Racing heartbeat
  • Shaky voice
  • Blushing

You may worry that others will notice or judge you and you might try to avoid certain situations. You may see that your fears aren’t logical, but it’s difficult to control them.



Health anxiety



Health anxiety is the constant worry that you are ill, or that you are going to get ill. If you have health anxiety you may find that you are:

  • Constantly checking your body for signs of illness such as lumps or pain
  • Seeking reassurance from others or from medical professionals that you are not ill
  • Worrying that advice or results from medical professionals are incorrect
  • Obsessively consume health related information on the internet and match descriptions of illness to own symptoms
  • Avoid health related content, such as TV soaps

The physical symptoms of anxiety may replicate symptoms of illness which can be mistaken for signs of serious illness by those who have health anxiety.



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