Understanding Anxiety: How it Shows Up, Common Experiences, and When to Seek Support

Living with anxiety can feel exhausting. Your mind rarely switches off, your body is always tense, and small worries can quickly spiral into something unmanageable. You might find yourself avoiding situations, second-guessing yourself, or feeling stuck in patterns you desperately want to change. It can be incredibly frustrating when everything seems to be going well, yet anxiety keeps whispering that something is about to go wrong.

Anxiety is something most of us experience at different points in life. It can show up as worry, tension, racing thoughts, physical symptoms (such as stomach discomfort or headaches), or a constant sense that something isn’t quite right. While occasional anxiety is a normal part of being human, for many people it can become persistent, overwhelming, and can interfere with daily activities and enjoyment of life.

When you’re anxious, your nervous system stays switched into survival mode, preparing your body to respond to threat. In reality, the situation is rarely as big or unsafe as your body is being led to believe. With the right support you can learn to calm your nervous system and control your anxiety. Understanding the different ways anxiety can present is often the first step toward feeling more in control and knowing when support may be helpful.

Here are some of the most common ways that anxiety can affect us, and when it would be important to seek support.

Generalised Anxiety

Generalised anxiety is characterised by ongoing and excessive worry about a range of everyday things, such as work, health, finances, relationships, or the future. People often describe feeling “on edge,” restless, or mentally exhausted. Even when things are going well, the mind may constantly scan for potential problems or feel like something will go wrong.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD is more than simply liking things a certain way. It involves intrusive, unwanted thoughts or images (obsessions) that create significant anxiety. It also often involves behaviours or mental rituals (compulsions) that a person feels they need to do in order to reduce their distress. Common thoughts include fears about harm, contamination, responsibility, or needing certainty, often accompanied by checking over and over, reassurance-seeking, or avoidance. While these strategies may make the person feel relief in the short-term, they tend to strengthen the cycle of anxiety in the long run.

Social Anxiety

Social anxiety involves a strong fear of being embarrassed or negatively judged by by others. This may lead to avoiding social situations, speaking up at work, or attending events. Many people with social anxiety are highly capable, but their fear of making mistakes or being perceived negatively holds them back.

Panic and Panic Attacks

Panic attacks are sudden surges of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms, such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, or a sense of losing control. For some people, the fear of having another panic attack becomes just as distressing as the attacks themselves, leading to avoidance of certain places or situations.

Health Anxiety

Health anxiety involves ongoing worry about yourself or loved ones having or developing a serious illness, even when medical reassurance is provided. Normal bodily sensations can be misinterpreted as signs of something dangerous, creating a cycle of checking over and over, reassurance-seeking, and heightened anxiety.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the constant pressure to get things “just right” and a deep fear of making mistakes or not being good enough. It can drive you to set unrealistically high standards and be overly critical of yourself. Over time, this can lead to anxiety, burnout, and a sense that nothing you do is ever quite enough.

Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia involves anxiety about being in situations where escape might feel difficult or where help may not be readily available if the person becomes distressed. These situations can include being in crowded places, using public transport, shopping centres, open spaces, or even leaving home alone. Over time, people may begin avoiding more and more situations, which can significantly limit independence and quality of life.

Specific Phobias
Phobias involve an intense and ongoing fear of a particular object or situation, such as flying, heights, needles, animals, driving, or medical procedures. The fear is often out of proportion to the actual level of danger, yet feels very real and overwhelming. Many people go to great lengths to avoid the feared object or situation, which can affect daily life, work, travel, or health care. Even thinking about the feared object or situation can trigger anxiety.

Stress and Overwhelm

Chronic stress is another common experience that can overlap with anxiety. Ongoing demands from work, family, health, or life transitions can leave people feeling constantly overwhelmed, irritable, tense, or emotionally drained. When stress doesn’t ease with rest or lifestyle changes, it can significantly affect wellbeing, sleep, relationships, and physical health, and can lead to burnout.

When to Seek Support?

It may be helpful to seek professional support if:

• Anxiety is interfering with your work, study, sleep, relationships, or daily life

• You feel constantly on edge, exhausted, or unable to switch off your thoughts

• You avoid situations because of fear or worry

• You experience panic attacks or persistent physical symptoms related to anxiety

• You notice increasing self-criticism, burnout, or a sense that nothing you do is ever good enough

• You’ve tried to manage on your own but don’t feel things are improving

You don’t need to wait until things feel “severe” to ask for help. Early support can prevent anxiety from becoming more entrenched and help you develop healthier ways of responding to stress and uncertainty.

How I Can Help

I can work alongside you in a supportive and collaborative way to explore what may be contributing to and maintaining your anxiety. Through therapy, we can begin to notice patterns of worry, fear, and avoidance, and develop practical coping strategies to help you feel safer, calmer, and more confident in daily life. Therapy is always tailored to your individual experiences, moving at a pace that feels manageable and respectful of your needs. Therapy doesn’t happen overnight, but over time it can help you to build trust in yourself, develop your ability to manage your anxiety, and reconnect with the parts of life that matter most to you without feeling like anxiety is controlling you.

If anxiety or stress is impacting your wellbeing, you don’t have to manage it alone. Reaching out can be a meaningful first step toward feeling more in control and moving forward with greater clarity and confidence.

If you’d like to find out more about how I can be of support to you, feel free to get in touch. I offer a free 15-minute phone call to discuss how we can work together. My contact details can be found here.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kristy