The good news is anxiety is treatable.

The research tells us that anxiety affects about 14% of adult Australians in any year. It can affect anyone, men, women, young adults and older adults. Left untreated, anxiety can lead to low mood and have a big impact on your daily life.

Anxiety can start in childhood. And it can also onset in the teenage years. For others it onsets or worsens later in life. We know that the earlier you begin treatment, the better.

At Mindworx Psychology we have worked with adult clients who have lived with severe anxiety for most of their life to make incredible change. We love early intervention for child anxiety, seeing children of all ages – from pre-schoolers refusing to separate from their mothers, to adolescents and young adults who no longer want to mix with their peers due to social anxiety. And we adore seeing the transformations that can occur with late intervention too. Sometimes, for whatever reason, early intervention is not possible – but the great news is that neuroplasticity and new learning is possible at every age. For many of our clients, realising they too suffer from anxiety happens when they bring their child for treatment!

We work with adults who may be experiencing social anxiety that may get in the way of going to parties, social events or making friendships. High functioning adults who, even so, experience panic attacks that get in the way of going to shopping centres or concerts. Business executives who feel sick at the thought of presenting or speaking up in a meeting. Mums and Dads who dread the school run and having to navigate other parents. Grandparents who miss out on special events because they are anxious. Parents who find it hard to let their child attend school camps. Young adults who worry about world events. People who worry about real (and also psychosomatic) health complaints. Cancer survivors with health anxiety. People who can’t use elevators due to phobias. People who can’t go on holiday overseas due to fears of flying. People who avoid parks because of dog phobias. The one common theme is that it gets in the way of life.

Whatever type of anxiety you are experiencing – it’s never too early to start treatment – and it’s never too late to begin.

If you feel like anxiety is getting in your way, you can get help.

We all experience anxiety occasionally, but people with anxiety conditions find that the anxiety impacts on their quality of life, or ability to get things done. Although we are all unique, many people experience similar physical symptoms of anxiety.

These symptoms can include:

Physical symptoms: panic attacks, feeling tearful, hot and cold flushes, sweating, racing heart, tightening of the chest, shaking hands, quick breathing, restlessness, or feeling tense, wound up and edgy

Psychological symptoms: excessive fear or worry, catastrophising, ruminating and obsessive thinking

Behavioural symptoms: because the physical and psychological symptoms can feel overwhelming, people with anxiety naturally tend to want to avoid situations that might trigger their anxiety. For example, children who get anxious in social situations may try to avoid going to school, adults may avoid social events.

Research indicates that anxiety isn’t caused by a single factor but by a combination of things. These can include genetic factors, ongoing stress, personality factors, difficult life experiences and physical health issues.

Sometimes anxiety seems to run in a family. Even so, having a parent or close relative with anxiety or another mental health condition doesn’t mean you’ll automatically develop anxiety too.

Stressful events can be a trigger for anxiety. Stressful events can include a range of experiences, including:

• family and relationship problems
• emotional shock following stressful or traumatic events
• redundancy or job change
• changes in living arrangements
• pregnancy and birth
• verbal, sexual, physical or emotional abuse or trauma
• death or loss of a loved one

We do know that everyone is unique – and ultimately, it’s often a combination of factors that contributes to developing an anxiety condition. Sometimes it can be impossible to identify the cause of anxiety, and sometimes it can be impossible to change difficult circumstances.

It’s important to seek advice and support, including a thorough assessment by your GP to rule out any underlying physical conditions which can mimic anxiety (e.g. overactive thyroid), or may be contributing.

The good news is that symptoms can reduce with successful treatment, and many people with anxiety find day to day life significantly improved following treatment.

CBT is often referred to as a “first line treatment” for many anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias.

Our CBT approach can incorporate elements of mindfulness therapy, narrative therapy, solution focused therapies, and motivational strategies to help you achieve your goals.

We know one size doesn’t fit all. Treatment is tailored to your strengths – in addition to CBT, we have training in a wide range of different therapeutic approaches and strategies, and we will work with you to find the most helpful solutions.

Research has led to the grouping of anxiety symptoms. These groupings help us with research and finding out what treatments work. It’s likely that your symptoms will fall into one or more of these categories – we assess this during your first visits to determine which treatment will be most effective for you.

Anxiety disorders include:

If you or a loved one has anxiety, It’s important to be compassionate, and to seek help – remember that people can recover from anxiety.