Counselling / About Us

Anxiety and Stress

We all experience stress in day to day life. In small doses it keeps us energized and interested. In large doses, and if left untreated, stress may become anxiety and be harder to deal with alone.

Mild or short term stress heightens your senses and gives you the ability to complete a task. For example, it enables you to cross a road safely or to prepare for an exam. Once the particular event has passed the stress disappears.

However, when stress builds and begins to cause anxiety it can affect your ability to do normal things like socialising with other people. It can also affect your immune system, making your more susceptible to illness, and in extreme cases can cause panic attacks.

This section will help you identify:

Please contact us for more information or to make an appointment with a counsellor.

Causes of stress and anxiety

In order to manage stress you need to recognize what’s causing it. This isn't always easy. Unlike fear which is generally caused by a tangible event or situation, stress or anxiety may just be a feeling of nervousness or tension without anything in particular happening.

Causes of stress include:

  • meeting new people
  • starting university
  • breakdown of a relationship
  • serious illness of someone close
  • preparing for and sitting exams
  • financial problems
  • accommodation and share house issues
  • losing your job or looking for work
  • having a baby
  • asking for help from lecturers or academic staff

If you recognize the cause of your stress and have learnt useful skills to deal with it, the effects are likely to be mild. However, if you deny your feelings, think you should just deal with the situation alone, or haven’t been taught how to limit stress, it can build up to higher levels of anxiety.

Anxiety

Anxiety can affect your physical and emotional wellbeing. The following examples can be a signs of short-term stress, but if experienced for an extended period of time, are indicators of anxiety.

Physical changes include:

  • increased heart rate and high blood pressure
  • rapid and shallow breathing
  • muscle tension
  • indigestion and bowel problems
  • sweating and dizziness
  • disrupted sleep patterns
  • nausea

Emotional and mental changes include:

  • feeling uneasy
  • being preoccupied
  • feeling irritable
  • inability to concentrate
  • inability to remember
  • inability to think logically
  • crying for no apparent reason

If you have experienced any of the above changes, you might like to have a look at our worksheet or contact us for more information.

Anxiety Disorders

Severe anxiety can affect your day to day life through extreme tension or panic, seemingly without any identifiable cause. Such anxiety may be triggered by a series of stressful or traumatic events, or could be caused by hereditary or learned responses.

Severe anxieties are generally termed 'anxiety disorders'. They are fairly common and are treatable by professional counsellors.

  • Generalised anxiety disorder: constant and overwhelming worry about harm to you or your family, about money, work or health when there is no sign of immediate danger. Often this worry is focused on the future and involves thoughts which are focused on 'What if…?'
  • Panic attacks: experiencing extreme panic for no identifiable reason. You may experience dizziness, nausea and feeling as though you will pass out or faint, among other things. Attacks normally last about 5 to 10 minutes and can result in fear of going out in public in case an attack occurs. Stress has been identified as a major cause of panic attacks.
  • Social phobia: the fear of being judged by others. You may feel intensely embarrassed around other people which causes you to limit what you do and say or withdraw from social situations all together. There is also a frequent fear of being judged or viewed negatively.
  • Agoraphobia: the fear of being in places or situations which will be difficult or embarrassing to get away from. For example, being in busy, crowded or confined spaces. This can be caused by social phobias or panic attacks.
  • Specific phobias: phobias are intense fears which are out of proportion to the danger of a particular object or situation. For example, arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, may cause you to feel intense fear at the sight of a small spider which is unlikely to cause harm. Phobias can result in panic attacks or make a person highly anxious.
  • Obsessive Compulsive disorder: where a person has constant unwanted thoughts or fears which result in rituals to try and eliminate or control the thoughts. For example, constantly washing hands or returning home to check door is locked.
  • Post-Traumatic stress disorder: where a person has experienced a traumatic event such as vehicle accident, being attacked, or fire. Feelings of terror, nightmares and flashbacks continue to occur for a long period after the event. These are often triggered by situations associated with the event.

If you do identify with any of the above anxiety disorders or would like more information, please contact us to make an appointment.

Worksheet - Reducing stress and anxiety

All types of stress and anxiety can be managed to limit or eliminate negative effects. The attached worksheet will, hopefully, help you to reduce the negative side effects of stress and anxiety. Click here to download the a PDF version of the worksheet.

The tips on the worksheet are designed start you off. If you would like more information, or to speak directly with a counsellor, please contact us.

Who else can help?

You can contact:

For more information about anxiety disorders and other mental health issues go to: www.health.gov.au/mentalhealth