Anxiety disorders are common, affecting 1 in 7 people in Australia (or 14% of the population). Three common anxiety disorders are:

• Social phobia (affects 5% of people). People with social phobia fear being judged by others. So, they often avoid or don’t like going to social events or public places.


• Panic disorder (affects 3% of people). People with panic disorder have panic attacks (these are the sudden onset of strong physical symptoms including a racing heart, hyperventilation, shaking, upset stomach, and thoughts of losing control, going crazy, having a heart attack or dying). People with panic disorder often also have "Agoraphobia", which is when people avoid situations because of their concerns that they will suffer a panic attack.


• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (or GAD, affects 3% of people). People with GAD worry excessively, and have difficulty controlling their worry. They worry about many things, including their health, the health of family and friends, finances, upcoming events, etc.  

Each of these types of anxiety trigger 3 kinds of symptoms:

1. Physical symptoms. These can include: sweating, a racing heart, faster breathing, shaking, upset stomach, tingling sensations, feeling physically unwell, etc.


2. Changes in behaviour (the things we do). These include:
   • Avoiding places where you might see others (going out to parties, going shopping, going to the supermarket or bank, talking to others, or other situations where they need to meet other people). These patterns of avoidance often occur in social phobia.
   • Avoiding places, thoughts/feelings or physical sensations that remind them of panic attacks, or where they might have a panic attack. These patterns of avoidance often occur in panic disorder.
   • Avoiding situations that are unfamiliar or that disrupt the predictability of everyday life, or avoid things that remind them of their worries, like certain TV programs, newspapers, or topics of conversation. These patterns of avoidance often occur in GAD.
   
   
3. Unhelpful thoughts. These include:
   • Worrying that others are judging them negatively, for example, “they probably think I’m stupid/or an idiot”, “I’m going to make a fool of myself”, “they’re all going to laugh at me”. These types of thoughts are common in social phobia.
   • Worrying what their symptoms of panic mean about their health, for example, “I'm going to lose control", “I’m going to collapse or die", “I can't cope”. These types of thoughts are common in panic disorder.
   • Having worries that are difficult to control and out of proportion to the actual likelihood or impact of the things the person is worried about, for example, "I'm going to have a breakdown", "My worry will be the end of me", "I'm going to go crazy". These types of thoughts are common in GAD.
   
   

The Impact of Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are unpleasant and often affect people’s quality of life. Anxiety can be mild, moderate, or severe. Many people with anxiety can still work or attend study, and have healthy relationships, but this is harder for people with moderate or severe anxiety.

Many people with social phobia, panic, or GAD tell us that their anxiety affects their mood, their work or study, and affects their relationships with others. People tell us that anxiety restricts what they do and when they do it. Many people tell us that they are worried that they can’t control their anxiety, and worried that they will become isolated, lonely, or depressed. People with social phobia, panic, or GAD often also have symptoms of another type of anxiety. And, because of their symptoms, many people with anxiety don’t seek help from health professionals.

When people have severe anxiety they often also develop symptoms of depression including feeling helpless, hopeless and suicidal. If you are having such thoughts please urgently contact your GP, another health professional, or your local mental health team. Or, in a crisis, dial 000. Remember, anxiety and depression can be treated.

Treatment for Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are treatable. The best treatments involve learning about your symptoms, learning how to control those symptoms (using cognitive and behavioural techniques or CBT), and gradually resuming your usual activities. Learning to beat your anxiety takes courage, commitment, and practice.

You can talk to your General Practitioner about getting a referral to a Clinical Psychologist, Psychiatrist, or another mental health professional to learn to manage your anxiety. Or, you can try a VirtualClinic Program.

VirtualClinic Programs for Anxiety

We have developed two programs to treat different types of anxiety or depression including:

• The Anxiety Program is designed to teach people with anxiety how to manage their symptoms. This program provides information about three common types of anxiety in the same program. Technically, this type of program is called a Transdiagnostic Program, because it targets more than one type of anxiety at a time.
• The Wellbeing Program teaches people how to manage symptoms of both anxiety and low mood (or depression). The Wellbeing Program targets symtpoms of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and panic disorder. The aim of the Wellbeing Program is to help people to gain better control over their symptoms, improve their confidence, and get back to living a full and satisfying life.

The Next Trial of the Anxiety Program

We are currently updating the existing Anxiety Program. In the meantime, you may want to consider registering your interest for the next trial of the Wellbeing Program (which also treats GAD, panic disorder, and social phobia). The next trial of the Wellbeing Program will begin in early 2011.

Page Last Updated: 2 August 2010, by Dr Nickolai Titov