Anxiety

Anxiety can take many forms - panic attacks, phobias, obsessive and compulsive behaviour, the nightmares and flashbacks of post-traumatic stress disorder, or just a constant feeling of being nervous and on edge. People who suffer from anxiety disorders may self-injure as a way of calming themselves down. When someone injures themselves, their brain produces chemicals called endorphins which have a soothing effect and can bring fast relief from tension. This relief is only temporary, and many self-injurers find they have to hurt themselves more and more often or more and more severely to achieve the same effect.


More Information

Understanding Anxiety
Information on the causes and effects of anxiety, and what you can do to reduce it to a manageable level.

Anxiety Disorders
Information on the different anxiety disorders - panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalised anxiety disorder, specific phobias, social anxiety, OCD and PTSD.

For more information on and help with OCD or PTSD, see our Mental Illness page.


Self-Help for Anxiety

Anxieties.com
Offers free online self-help programmes for people suffering from anxiety or panic attacks.

Anxiety: A Self-Help Guide
Self-help guide written by clinical psychologists with examples and exercises.

How to Cope with Panic Attacks
Explains what happens during a panic attack, what causes them, what can trigger them and what you can do about them.

The Panic Center
An online CBT programme for those who suffer from anxiety or panic attacks.


Sources of Support

First Steps to Freedom
Offers help to people who suffer from phobias, OCD, general anxiety, panic attacks, anorexia and bulimia, and those who wish to come off tranquillisers.

National Phobics Society
Support, help and information for those with anxiety disorders.

No Panic
Support for sufferers of panic attacks, phobias, OCD, generalised anxiety disorder and tranquilliser withdrawal.