This week, from the 15th to the 22nd of May, marks Mental Health Awareness Week.
This year, the Mental Health Foundation has designated the theme as ‘anxiety’.
For many, this will be a very familiar term and increasing numbers of people are diagnosed with ‘General Anxiety Disorder’ every year.
But what do we mean by ‘anxiety’?
The NHS describes anxiety as; ‘a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.’
It is normal for people to feel some level of anxiety throughout their lives. It is natural to feel nervous or worried before an important occasion in your life - this is usually called low-level anxiety.
But for some people, those feelings of worry do not leave them and can make living their daily lives very difficult.
If your feelings of anxiety do not leave or occur for no reason, or you are experiencing these symptoms, you may wish to see a GP:
Feeling restless or worried.
Having trouble concentrating or sleeping.
Dizziness or heart palpitations.
How to deal with low-level anxiety
Most people will experience and have to deal with low-level anxiety in their lives. Indeed, the Workplace Health Report from Champion Health [https://championhealth.co.uk/insights/guides/workplace-health-report] found that 60% of employees are experiencing anxiety, which rises to 67% for employees aged 16 to 24.
The Mental Health Foundation has put together a useful list of tips to deal with feelings of anxiety which you can read in full here: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week/what-can-we-do-cope-feelings-anxiety
Some tips that we find useful are getting out into nature and moving your body.
We hope that these tips will help you to deal with any low-level anxiety you might be facing.
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