Module 5: Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety is extremely common, we can all relate to feeling anxious or worried.

Anxiety is a general term for nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. Anxiety affects how we feel and behave and can cause physical symptoms. Many people who have experienced trauma will experience anxiety as a result. Anxiety and depression also frequently go hand in hand.

Physical: Sweating, strange sensations in your stomach and chest, muscle tension, fast breathing, increased heart rate, digestion difficulties

Psychological: Panicked thoughts and feelings, paranoid thinking, depression Behavioural: Fight, flight, or freeze

• Break it down with your beneficiary into the thoughts that lead to the feelings that cause the behaviour
• Try and build awareness of the common triggers by identifying unhelpful thoughts and behaviour cycles with them. Encourage them to become familiar with what is going on with their body, thought, feelings and behaviours when they’re triggered
• Try to help your beneficiary build coping mechanisms to decrease anxiety. For example, learning to challenge and replace unhelpful thoughts
• Discuss current coping strategies and try together to identify the healthy and unhealthy ones. Work together to find alternative options for unhelpful mechanisms

10 Panic

Can’t think rationally so work with the body (e.g. deep breaths, walk off the nervous energy or sit still to lower the heart rate)

5

4

Able to think rationally so you can talk to them about what is making them anxious and think practically about preventing anxiety.

0 Calm