Anxiety or stress

Some of the symptoms you may have include:

• feeling frightened, nervous or panicky all the time

• difficulty sleeping

• poor appetite

• lack of concentration

• feeling tired and irritable

• palpitations (when the heart feels like it is racing)

• a dry mouth

• trembling or shaking

• feeling faint

• stomach aches, cramps or diarrhoea

• Your heart rate increases

  Pumping blood into your muscles so they are prepared for action. This is called a 'fight or flight response' – your body prepares to face danger (fight), run away (flight) or freeze.

• Your mind becomes alert

  Helping you focus but can also mean that you over-analyse things.

• Your breathing gets faster

  Allowing your bloodstream to carry oxygen to your arms, legs and lungs.

• You start to sweat more

  Controlling your body temperature.

• You can feel dizzy

  Meaning you can feel light-headed. Your blood is carrying more oxygen to your arms, legs and lungs, so there is less oxygen being sent to the brain.

• Your muscles tense up

  Creating power but it can also cause shaking, which is normal.

• Your liver releases sugar

  Providing quick energy but it can also make you feel fidgety.

• Less important things slow down

  Making it harder for your body to digest food or produce saliva. This is what causes you to have a dry mouth, have a feeling like butterflies in your stomach or feel sick when you’re nervous.

Everybody experiences anxiety of some sort. Feeling anxious is a normal part of everyday life. However, if you start to feel like your anxiety is stopping you from doing things you love and enjoying life, it's a good idea to visit your doctor. You can read more about different types of anxiety below and the self-help materials you can use.

• Exam stress - Exam stress can affect anyone. You might be worried about doing enough revision, getting the grades you need or feel pressure from your school or family. Click here for tips on how to manage exam stress.

• Generalised anxiety – worrying about everything. Click here for tips on how to manage generalised anxiety.

• Health anxiety - worrying about our own health in the future. Click here for ways to manage health anxiety.

• Panic Disorder – worrying that something bad will happen to us imminently. Click here for tips on how to deal with panic attacks.

• Phobias – worry about a specific thing (such as needles, blood or dogs) Click here for tips on how to cope with phobias.

• Relationship stress – worrying about starting a relationship, asking someone out or worrying if your relationship is healthy. Click here for tips on managing relationships.

• Stress at home – worrying about living in care, stepfamilies, parents in prison, being adopted and more. Click here for support.

However, some anxiety problems last longer than a few days and start to affect your everyday life. If this is the case, contact your Primary Mental Health Worker or visit your doctor.

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - worries that something bad will happen unless we do things in a certain way (such as rituals, cleaning or thinking certain thoughts in a certain order)

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – when memories about something bad that has happened to us in the past intrude on our day to day life and leave us feeling scared

• Selective mutism – the inability to speak in certain social situations, such as with classmates at school or to relatives you do not see very often.

• Separation anxiety – worries about being away from main caregivers

CAMHS Resources - This site was created for young people, carers and professionals to pool together lots of helpful resources from across the internet that are available to help support mental health and well-being.

onyourmindglos - Helpful guides about emotional health

Get Self Help - This website provides CBT self-help and therapy resources, including worksheets and information sheets and self-help mp3s

Centre for Clinical Interventions - Self-help resources for mental health problems

Dragonfly - Free booklet about how to deal with anxiety, which can be given to students and/or parents/carers.

Autism NI - Anxiety resource pack

Social Anxiety Self-Help - www.getselfhelp.co.uk