Anxiety and Feeling Safe
Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness, dread and fear. Everyone can experience anxiety at sometime in their life as it can be a normal reaction to stress. For example, before an exam, when meeting with new people, or before making an important decision.
Symptoms and patterns you may experience:
Your body:
- stomach problems, such as pains, feeling sick or diarrhoea
- heart beating really fast
- fast, shallow breathing
- feeling light-headed, dizzy or faint
- grinding your teeth
- skin picking/biting nails
- shaking or trembling
- sweating more than usual
Your feelings:
- nervous, on edge and unable to relax
- overwhelmed
- like something bad is going to happen
- tired and grumpy
- needing reassurance or worrying you’ve upset someone
- self-conscious
- out of control
Your behaviour:
- finding it difficult to concentrate
- eating more or less than usual
- sleeping problems
- panic attacks
- needing the toilet more
- fidgeting or feeling tense
How can I help myself?
Living with anxiety can be very difficult, but there are steps you can take that might help.
- Talk to somebody you trust – Talking to someone you trust about what is making you anxious could be a relief and help relieve some of your symptoms. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care could help enough.
- Anxiety can make it difficult for you to stop worrying. You might have worries you can’t control or feel as though you need to keep worrying because it feels familiar to you. It can be helpful to try different ways of addressing these worries. For example, you could:Set aside a specific time to focus on your worries – so you can reassure yourself you haven’t forgotten to think about them. Some people find it helps to set a timer.
- Write down your worries and keep them in a particular place – for example, you could write them in a notebook or on your notes on your phone.
- Look after your physical health – ensure you’re getting enough sleep, think about your diet to make sure you’re eating regularly and are consuming a balanced diet and try to do some physical activities which can help to support you mental wellbeing.
- Try mindfulness activities – Mindfulness gives your full attention to how you are feeling in the present moment and can help with anxiety by allowing you to notice how your thoughts come and go and what your body is telling you. Visit the following link on some the mindfulness activities you could try –https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/mindfulness/mindfulness-exercises-tips/
Where can I receive support?
Access external help:
Seek help from your GP
Mind – offers Mental Health support and information.
Anxiety UK – Supports people with anxiety disorders including PTSD.
Young Minds – Supports young people with their mental health and wellbeing.
No Panic – Supports people struggling with panic attacks, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other anxiety-related issues
How can we help?
Learner Welfare Drop-Ins
The Learner Welfare Team offers a range of drop-ins including confidential 1-1s, mixed drop-ins and wellbeing walks with our therapy dogs. We will also offer specific drop-ins including Sexual Health Drop-Ins and drop-ins for our Looked After Children (LAC) learners.
Please see the current timetable below:
Mental Health First Aiders
We offer a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) service where students are able to call the Mental Health First Aid phone available Monday-Friday 08:30-16:30 if they feel they need someone to talk to. Our staff will support you with various issues such as academic pressure, bullying, wellbeing support, panic etc.
Please call 07483 956433 or 07483 956434 if needed.