Why do I feel anxious for no reason?

It can certainly feel that anxiety creeps up on us, comes out of nowhere without warning. And always at the most inconvenient time, like when we're trying to sleep! All those anxious thoughts going through our head, questioning everything from the day, or worrying about tomorrow. Or perhaps it's there constantly, that knot in your stomach that never goes away.

One thing to know is you're not alone.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in the UK and is the leading reason why people seek support for their mental health. It can be debilitating, and can cause you to lose who you are, to isolate yourself from friends, and perhaps even to take time off from work.

Why does anxiety happen?

The main reason we feel anxious is that we feel a loss of control, we are faced with uncertainty, and we don't know what to do about it, or we feel we can't control it. This causes a reaction inside of us where we turn to coping strategies such as the fight or flight response. Our brain is trying to keep us safe, but sometimes it can overreact!

These responses aren't always very helpful; do you ever find yourself feeling more irritable? Perhaps snapping at your loved ones? This can be a sign your brain has initiated the fight response. Or perhaps you've found yourself cancelling plans, or having more sick days at work? This could be a sign you're in a flight response.

It's not just emotional responses that change. Sometimes when anxiety is at its peak it can affect our physical health too. We can feel exhausted, drained or weak. Maybe you notice your body is aching, often caused by being tense; sometimes our posture changes when we're in an anxious state. Stomach issues are common with anxiety, you may notice pain or nausea, and your appetite may be affected.

The good thing to know is that this can be managed. The first step is often recognising how we're being and acknowledging where it's coming from.

Being aware of what's happening within us means change can happen.

Things that can help

An important thing to know is that avoidance is rarely the answer. When we avoid what is making us anxious it starts an unhelpful cycle: we feel anxious about something, we avoid it, we feel relieved for a moment, but then we often feel disappointed in ourselves. This can then contribute to other mental health difficulties such as depression or low self-esteem. And what happens next time there's an anxious situation? Well, we seek the feeling of relief and so we avoid it again, and the cycle starts all over again.

Breaking tasks down into small manageable steps can be a great way of lowering the demand we're putting on ourselves to do what feels too hard to do, which will in turn lower our anxiety.

Another thing to know is that if we slow down our breathing we're telling our brain that we're safe. So next time that overwhelming feeling starts to creep up on you, take a moment to notice it, pause and take a deep breath in, count to 5, and slowly release. Repeat until you feel your mind starting to calm.

Reaching out to your support network often proves beneficial — the people around you care about you and want to help. It can often be hard to take that step, but remember you're not alone. So many people struggle with anxiety and it's likely one of your loved ones has at some point too.

When you might need something more

Some of these strategies may be enough to help you manage your anxiety, but sometimes you may find yourself needing something a bit more — and this is where counselling can help you. Within the safety of a counselling session we can explore together what's causing you to feel anxious. It may be that you've always struggled with anxiety and perhaps going back and looking into the root cause may help, or it may be something that you've recently found yourself experiencing and we can identify the contributing factors that may have led to you feeling this way. We will unpick it together and work together to understand what is happening and how we can make it feel easier.

There is no time limit — you may find yourself only needing a few sessions, or it may be that it requires a longer commitment from us both to help you take back control. Whatever is needed we will figure it out together. The work I do is based on theory and evidence, but also from your experiences, as everyone is different and what may work for one person may not work for you.

Many Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques prove to be very effective when it comes to anxiety. One I particularly find effective is Gradual Exposure Therapy. The key idea here is that we don't face the situation that's causing us the most anxiety straight away, but we break it down, doing what feels easier first, and then building up to what feels most tough. This helps to build confidence and teaches us — including our brain — that we can cope, that we can take back control and handle difficult situations.

Online and face-to-face sessions are available, so wherever you are in the UK, support is within reach.