Anxiety

Anxiety and feeling safe

Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness, stress, panic dread or fear that can affect your day to day life. Everyone can experience anxiety at some time in their life as it can be a normal reaction.  For example, before an exam, when meeting with new people or before making an important decision.

For some, it can be particularly hard to control worries and therefore anxiety becomes a feeling which is more constant

There are recognised types of anxiety which include:

  • Generalised anxiety disorder- along term condition where a feeling of anxiousness is felt in a wide range of situations and times as opposed to being linked to a particular event e.g. and exam
  • Social anxiety- a fear and worry of social situations and activities, a perception that you will say or do something embarrassing or wrong that others will see and feeling like others are watching or judging what you do
  • Health anxiety- spending significant amounts of time worrying that you are unwell or going to become unwell (often linked with OCD)

Anxiety can cause both psychological (mental) and physical symptoms:

Your body:

  • stomach problems, such as pains, feeling sick or diarrhoea
  • heart palpitations
  • feeling light-headed, dizzy or faint
  • feeling restless or worried
  • difficulty concentrating

difficulty sleeping

How can I help myself?

Living with anxiety can be very difficult, but there are steps you can take that might help.

  1. 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.
  2. Try to understand your anxiety. Consider writing down what you are thinking about and how you respond. It may help you to consider what you would advise someone else to do if they were in the same situation. If you would advise them to do something different to what you do, consider giving this a go yourself.
  3. Look after your physical health – ensure you’re getting enough sleep, think about your diet to make sure you are eating regularly and have a balanced diet. Try to do some form of exercise regularly
  4. Try mindfulness activities – Mindfulness can help by either giving your full attention to how you are feeling or focussing your attention on something else to give you some rest bite. 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?

The following resources may contain sensitive information.

Seek help from your GP

NHS Central Access Point – If you need mental health support, you can call this service on 0808 800 3302 24 hours a day.

Mind – offers Mental Health support and information

Young Minds – Supports young people with their mental health and wellbeing

Anxiety UK – support with anxiety and stress

No Panic – Supports people struggling with panic attacks, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other anxiety-related issues

How can we help?

If you would like to access support and arrange a meeting with our HE Welfare Team, please email HE.Welfare@loucoll.ac.uk.

 We also offer the following weekly during term-time:

HE Common Room:

  • Start the day right – Tuesdays 8am-9:30am
  • Cake and Chat – Fridays 2pm-3:30pm

Room TBC

  • HE Drop-In – Thursdays 2pm-3:30pm

HE Health Assured:

You can get support, information and advice through HE Health Assured which is offered independently of the college. You can also access free counselling through HE Health Assured and download their free app ‘Wisdom.’  Call 0800 028 3766. This line is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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.