Coping with anxiety

What is anxiety and when does it become a problem?

You may have heard people talk about feeling anxious, worried, nervous or stressed. All these words mean something very similar and they all refer to that uncomfortable feeling we get when we are uncertain or afraid of something unknown.

It’s a very normal feeling and we all get it. We usually don’t feel anxious all the time, but when we do we can sometimes struggle to understand why we might be feeling that way.

Anxiety can feel overwhelming and difficult to understand. However, we know that it is made up of thoughts and feelings (physical and emotional) that make us behave in ways that can make the anxiety feel worse.

To help yourself, first you need to identify it is anxiety you are feeling, and accept that it’s OK not to feel OK. Lots of people feel anxious and it has an impact on our lives, our routines and our family and friends. You are not on your own.

Read more about coping with anxiety: Coping-with-anxiety.pdf [pdf] 257KB

Need more help?

If you or someone you are supporting is experiencing a mental health crisis and needs urgent support right now, please click here.

Further organisations offering support:

Childline (under-19s) trained counsellors provide confidential support on anything – no matter how small or large.
- Call: 0800 1111
- Chat with a counsellor online about whatever's worrying you
- Visit: www.childline.org.uk/get-support/1-2-1-counsellor-chat/
- Open: 24 hours a day, 7-days a week

PAPYRUS HOPELINEUK (for under-35s) offers confidential support and practical advice.
- Call: 0800 068 4141
- Text: 07860 039 967
- Email: pat@papyrus-uk.org
- Open: 24 hours every day of the year (including bank holiday and weekends)

Samaritans offer a safe place for you to talk any time you like, in your own way – about whatever’s getting to you. You don’t have to be suicidal.
- Call: 116123 (free from any phone)
- Email: jo@samaritans.org (Sometimes writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you understand them. Email how you are feeling to 'jo' and a volunteer will respond)
- Open: 24-hours a day, 7-days a week

Watch

The following videos may also help to manage anxiety:

Anxiety For Kids & Teens | Anxiety Symptoms, Triggers, Causes, Coping Techniques

Practical Tips for Dealing with Anxiety

Struggle Switch - An ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) approach to anxiety

Progressive muscle relaxation – exercises that will help you to recognise the differences between feeling tense and at ease.

Learn about how CBT can help with anxiety in the STOPP video

Anxiety United has 5 Top Tips on how to reduce anxiety

Useful links

Useful tips for parents / carers to help manage their emotional wellbeing can be found here.

Further relaxation tips can be found here.
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy gives guidance around manging anxiety, click here.
Get Self Help website provides CBT self-help and therapy resources, including worksheets and information sheets and self-help mp3s, click here.
Childline: check out their Calm Zone Tool Box click here.

Apps

The apps below are useful tools to help support children and young people with anxiety. Most of these apps are availble to download from the Apple Store or Google Play.

Calm App
Calm
Headspace app
Headspace