Anxiety Care

> ⚠️ Ask your doctor or health care professional. This information is AI generated for education and NOT medical advice.

Anxiety is a normal response to stress, but when it's excessive, persistent, or disproportionate to the situation, it can become an anxiety disorder that interferes with daily life.

Common symptoms

Excessive worry, restlessness, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, irritability, sleep disturbance, and physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, or shortness of breath.

General self-care measures

• Practice relaxation techniques (breathing exercises, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation).
• Maintain regular sleep, exercise, and limit caffeine/alcohol, which can worsen anxiety symptoms.
• Challenge unhelpful thought patterns, ideally with support from a therapist trained in approaches like CBT.
• Build a support network and talk about what you're experiencing.

When to seek medical attention

• Anxiety significantly interfering with work, relationships, or daily functioning.
• Panic attacks (see Panic Care) or physical symptoms severe enough to be mistaken for a medical emergency.
• Thoughts of self-harm — seek immediate help; see Urgent Emergency Care.

Common pitfalls

• Avoiding anxiety-provoking situations entirely — avoidance typically reinforces anxiety over time rather than resolving it; gradual, supported exposure is often part of effective treatment.
• Treating physical symptoms as purely medical without considering anxiety — anxiety can produce very real physical symptoms; both possibilities are worth discussing with a doctor.
• Waiting until anxiety is severe before seeking help — earlier intervention is generally easier and more effective than waiting for a crisis point.

Learn more

• Mental Health Assessment for how anxiety is clinically screened (GAD-7).
• Panic Care, Phobia Care for related, more specific anxiety presentations.
• Health Care for general navigation of health systems.