NoPanic

Category: Articles by No Panic Volunteers

  • Anxiety … ‘I Can’t Get No Sleep…’

    Fiona Gee, Content Team Contributor

    Readers who remember the 1990s will recognise the second part of the above headline as a famous line from the song ‘Insomnia’ by Faithless (beloved by clubbers everywhere!)However, even those too young to remember the song will likely resonate with the principle (although I am afraid they might have to forgive the terrible grammar).

    I’ve had anxiety all my life and I well understand the negative impact it can have on sleep. In my experience, a terrible night’s sleep caused by anxiety leads to an even more anxious brain the following day and this can quickly turn into a downward slope of days involving exhaustion, brain fog and (yes, you guessed it) even more anxiety.

    So what can we do to help this?

    Sleep anxiety for me falls into two categories:

    1) The type of anxiety caused by struggling to fall asleep straight away when you know you have to be up earlier than normal/at a specific time, leaving you spending the night clock-watching (you know the type – a night spent telling yourself you ‘need to be up in 4/5/3 hours…’ etcetc)

    2) Anxiety caused by specific worry or worries that leaves your brain unable to switch off and renders a sleepless night of spiralling thoughts

    For sleep anxiety type one, it sounds obvious but spending the day before doing exercise/some sort of physical or mental exertion is a gamechanger.  Making sure you are tired enough to fall asleep almost immediately will help prevent that first bout of anxiety and the consequent clock-watching that may then follow. 

    If that does not work/isn’t possible and you still find yourself not asleep and starting to clock watch, some simple relaxation techniques often help me (eg deep breathing, mindfulness, simply trying to relax your body as much as possible in the hope your brain follows suit). It’s a bit of a vicious circle as your anxious brain is telling you to check how much sleep you’re going to get if you fall asleep in the next ten minutes – but also, try and actively avoid looking at clocks.

    Sleep anxiety type two is, for me, trickier. Lots of people have offered advice to me over the years – or suggested there are ‘rules’ (eg that if you’re spiralling and struggling to get to sleep, you MUST get up as that is better for your mental state). My view is that there are no rules; you need to do what works for you (and for me, getting out of bed rarely improves my chances of a relaxing night’s sleep as I am just rendered fully awake – at least in bed I often stay slightly drowsy with a hint of sleep possibility). 

    Chances are, the same thing might not work every time and quick fixes rarely exist. However, depending on the anxious thought, some techniques might be more effective than others in certain situations and a few of them might just turn a bad night’s sleep into a slightly better one. 

    Here are a few ideas to help:

    1) Write a ‘to do’ list. This is obviously particularly effective if your anxiety is caused by ‘brain spill’ or jumbled up thoughts related to a specific task or work you need to do 

    2) Visualise an open, empty box (I always visualise a silver mirror-balled one just to add a touch of glamour – but a cardboard one will do). Tell yourself you are going to pack away your thoughts in that box and visualise yourself doing that. Then, visualise yourself closing the lid tightly and saying that the box will not be opened until the following day – a literal attempt to try and pack away the anxious thoughts

    3) Try deep breathing and mindfulness techniques (also helpful for sleep anxiety type one). I’ve actually found this to be one of the most helpful – trying to make myself completely aware of my surroundings and focusing onmundane things like eg what the duvet is made from,what the duvet feels like, what the sheet feels like has proven quite effective in bringing me back to the here and now instead of wherever my anxiety has taken me – and sleep then often follows as a result

    4) Get up, read a book or do some other task as a distraction. Yes, I am going to suggest this one – as I say above, there are no rules and I have heard that this does work for some people. Even if it ultimately doesn’t always aid sleep, if your anxiety is severe it may at least help ease/distract from those spiralling thoughts

    And finally – remember, the sleepless nights will not last forever. Anxiety is usually ebbs and flows of good and bad – but unlike in the song Insomnia, the chances are that, eventually, you will get some sleep.

  • Anxiety Does Not Make Me Ungrateful

    Niharika Chandy, Content Team Contributor

    To all those who have heard phrases such as “You seem fine to me”, “Everyone gets anxious sometimes” or “Don’t think about it!” from your loved ones, when you finally expressed your anxieties to them, all I can say is I am sorry your feelings have been trivialised. It can feel as though the world lives in this mirage of anxiety being a walking red flag that you see coming from miles away. You scream, cry and stay locked up in perpetual hunger and thirst and the world believes you are anxious, but a blind eye is turned to those who get out of their beds and get through their day with a smile on their face with their tasks on their to-do list checked off. Here’s my story with anxiety and I hope reading this you understand even when you live a “blessed life” with all the materialistic possessions, you canbe grateful and still feel anxious and ask the question, “Why me?”

    What happened?

    2018-20 were the hardest years of my life. Although I had heard about anxiety and its symptoms, like many I thought it would never happen to me. Why would it?! I had a good education, amazing trustworthy friends and parents who had supported me financially. I was the lucky one amongst my friends to get a university education abroad.I had all the materialistic things in the world like an iPhone, branded clothes, a well-built roof over my head and more but in the deeper layers of my being I felt something amiss. I felt lost. With time a feeling of joy, knowing I was studying abroad, was replaced with this feeling of dread each time I would step out of the house to go to my university. Walks of thirty minutes felt like two hours and I was left sweating profusely trying to catch my breath in the bathroom stall of my university campus. It was so bad that I started skipping university. The feeling of being choked became frequent and unbearable to the point that, in order to avoid these symptoms,I started missing out on university lectures and spending my time locked up in my room. I would not be able to move out of bed, I would skip meals and the thought of showers and facing my parents in the process of that seemed like a task. I was not screaming. I was not running away from home. I thought in order to have dilapidating anxiety, validated by others, I had to exhibit physical symptoms. I was physically fine but my mind was in the trenches. Maybe if I had fever or back aches my family would have believed me. Coming from a family where my parents did not believe in the existence of mental illnesses, the idea of happiness being associated withone having an education, financial stability and parents, I had been primed to believe that mental illnesses is just me being negative and ungrateful. 

    Feeling like a burden I started suppressing my emotions and stopped talking about it. Did my anxiety go away when I celebrated my birthday on the beach? No. Did it go away when I got good grades? No. I would find myself surrounded by happiness and yet with time I felt more distanced from everyone including my well-wishers. I realised I started walking around with a mask on just to appease others not realising the impact of toxic positivity. After three years spentin isolation with troubled sleep, sense of hopelessness, irritability and increased mental and physical exhaustion I had enough of this mask.

    Through the process of therapy, I got diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Depression and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). By educating myself on these illnesses and reading self-help books I realised healing is not linear and emotions are complex. The first step to my journey towards managing my anxiety symptoms was acceptance of what I had gone through in my childhood which seemed to be the reason for my anxiety. I had to face these negative emotions first and although it was a difficult journey, it led me to certain epiphanies.  Anxiety is a normal reaction based on evolution and it is a signal indicating something dangerous is close to us. When you feel anxious ask yourself “What am I doing that is going against my values of who I truly want to be?” What I wanted out of life was different than what others wanted for me. It is as normal to have bad days as it is to have good onesand during those bad days show yourself some compassion.Talk to yourself the way you would talk to a friend going through a tough day with a non-judgemental mindset.Relaxation techniques such as the breathing technique and muscle relaxation technique mentioned by No Panic helped me feel less tense and more calm both in my mind and in my body. Finally, when sad dance your problems away. Anxiety creates increased cortisol, a stress hormone, in the body. Exercise or movement allows for a realise of neuro-chemicalslike endorphins, a pain-relieving chemical, that helps counteract this cortisol by making you feel happy. Doing jumping jacks on the spot as well as swinging my arms around helped me reduce my anxiety and help put a smile on my face.

    Overall, know you can be grateful and still have anxiety. Your anxiety is not less important if you have financial abundance. Talking about your anxiety and accepting you are not okay does not make you ungrateful, it only makes you human.

  • Living With Anxiety

    Lila Saw, Content Team Contributor.

    Anxiety is defined as “worry over the future or about something with an uncertain outcome; uneasy concern about a person, situation, etc”, I personally think this is a very vague definition of what anxiety is. Yes, it is the feeling of uneasiness, uncertainty and worry however the definition doesn’t describe the engulfing feeling of being overwhelmed by specific situations, and how it could last minutes, hours or days and sometimes longer. It doesn’t even touch on how anxiety varies and is provoked in different ways for every single person on this planet, for some anxiety might come around in very specific scenarios, for example, for sportspeople they may only feel anxiety before competition however, for others it could be experienced in day-to-day life with tasks like leaving the house, meeting new people, or even speaking in front of others.

    Most people in their lifetime will experience a moment of anxiousness however, for others it’s a lot more than just a moment of anxiousness. Having anxiety is something that takes time and patience to deal with, it can come and go during stressful, scary or brilliant moments in your life, or it can be something that you’ve always had. It’s a curse but, at the same time it’s also a blessing. This is because it proves how strong you are, it proves that you’re able to achieve with the added stress and pressure that you have. Anxiety isn’t something that should hold you back in life, it can be horrible and draining but, it doesn’t define you as a person. With anxiety also comes strength, patience and it is a massive achievement to push through, follow breathing techniques and calm yourself. Being able to overcome anxiety attacks or continue with something even though your anxious is a massive deal and proves how amazing you are, it’s something to be proud of and I can guarantee you will look back in the future and congratulate yourself for how well you have done in your life, how proud you are of yourself and you get the joys of experiencing whatever you want to experience.

    I’ve personally experienced anxiety, moments of anxiousness and general fear and nervousness, so have a lot of people I’ve met. Although it is very hard and scary, I, along with so many other people who I have the blessing of knowing, have been able to push through, breathe and carry on. Nobody’s perfect and with anxiety you’re not always going to be able to just carry on but, that’s okay too. Nobody asks that your perfect and nobody believes that there’s something wrong with you, everyone I know is proud of me for what I’m able to achieve and I’m proud of them. It doesn’t mean that you are worthless or that you cannot achieve whatever you want to achieve because I know you can, there will be someone in your life who is proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself.

    There are so many ways you can deal with your anxiety, but they can vary from person to person as different techniques will be more effective for some than they are others. I personally think, from my own experiences and speaking to others, that the best way to deal with anxiety is to just talk. I honestly think it is the simplest, yet most difficult solution to your problems. Sometimes with anxiety it can feel as though you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and with your anxiety present it can make it even harder to talk about it due to the fear of being judged etc, but just being able to get it off your chest can really relieve the pressure of your woes and help you overcome your anxiety. It is important though to make sure you trust the person you are confiding in, whether that’s a parent or other relative, a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife, colleague, your GP, a therapist or a helpline, as it is going to help you find it much easier to vent your problems to them and it will help you suppress that anxiety as you don’t have to worry about feeling insecure when you’re talking to your chosen person. 

    When dealing with anxiety, the world can become a very lonely place and you may feel as though you have nowhere to go or have nobody to go to, but it is important to remember, there is always a rainbow after a storm! Nothing is forever and what you’re going through now will pass over, although it may not feel that way. It’s just a test and once you overcome this you are going to come out on the other side a much stronger person in a much happier place. To whoever is reading this, and what you’re going through right now, it is important to remember you are loved, you were put on this planet for a reason so let’s make the most of it. You will always have someone fighting alongside you in your corner and you should never forget that, reach out to someone, confront your problems and overcome them!

    There is no better time to take action then now!

    The No Panic helpline is open every day between 10am and 10pm on 0300 7729844.

  • Oh no, It’s back!

    Craig Soutar, Content Team Contributor

    Whilst I appreciate there will be many of you reading this who feel Anxiety is an ever present in your life, most can relate to the concept of ‘good spells’ even if they are just a day or two long. For some, those ‘good spells’ last weeks, months or even years. Whichever position you find yourself in, there is generally a common worry… ‘what if it comes back’?? Or you may already be in the ‘oh no, it’s back’ phase.

    This is such a common reaction, but let’s break down what is really going on. As the feelings that go with anxiety tend to make this feel like a much worse message than it actually is. I am going to break this experience down into 4 areas: 

    – What is ‘it’?

    – Does this mean I have failed?

    – Is it here forever now?

    – What do I need to do next?

    Firstly, let me explain my own background so you understand that I have experience in this space. I first experienced disruptive anxiety just over 20 years ago. At the time, I remember feeling like this was the end, either madness or death loomed and the concept that my system could run normally again was unimaginable, I felt broken. It was with almost as much joy then when about 4 months later, I found myself pushing on with life and gradually took steps found the anxiety lifted… amazingly to me, I went on to meet my partner, get married, buy a house, get promoted in my career and of course I experienced some of life’s inevitabilities, loss of close family, people growing older. In amongst it all, I’ve experienced another 5 or 6 significant spells of anxiety, only one thing is completely true of each of them… they passed. Even despite knowing this, I hate it when anxiety arises again, so it’s absolutely no surprise to me how often I hear people saying things like ‘oh no, it’s back’ or ‘what if it comes back’or ‘I couldn’t take it happening again’.

    What is it?

    I love to question others and myself when saying ‘it is back’. It’s the first correction for me,  because IT to me is something we associate with an object or external force. That is not what is happening here and it’s worth reminding yourself of that. For me, it really helps when anxiety arises again to state to myself what is actually going on, i.e. my nervous system has become activated due to some form of stressor or prolonged stress. Whatever that was, what it means is that certain physical and mental reactions will be triggered, and they will continue to until my nervous system calms again. This time may be shorter, longer, easier to handle or more challenging, but for sure I know if I engaging in questioning it and trying to figure it out again, it will go longer and deeper.

    Have I failed?

    When your nervous system becomes activated again, it is so natural and easy to feel like you’ve done something wrong, you’ve failed in some way. This may sound like ‘I’ve not been following my good practices’ or ‘I’ve let myself get too stressed’ or ‘I should have avoided…’. The number 1 important thing to remember here is you did not set out to make yourself anxious again, and there is nothing to be gained from looking for blame. You may know by now that you cannot stop your reactive thoughts, but you do get a say in how much you engage with and investigate them. So if you spot yourself wondering what you did wrong, how you could have broken yourself again, acknowledge those thoughts and choose to go back to what you were doing, choose to practice some relaxation, take some exercise, write or read… whatever, just know you do not need to find blame in your actions. 

    This time it’s back for good

    So, you’ve acknowledged the process that is happening and you accept it’s not the bogey man. You also recognise that you didn’t intend for this to happen and it’s not a case of finding fault. You may even have gotten yourself back into practicing some good habits that you know will support your nervous system while it learns to calm again. It’s very likely then that you will start doubting whether you can handle it THIS TIME. I mean, you know you’ve managed to get this far and you may even have been round this loop a few times, but nothing has felt as bad as this time, or maybe this time is one too many and there is just now way back this time – right? STOP… I want to remind you what is going on just now, your nervous system has been activated.. what happens when your nervous system is activated? Your threat response goes hyper vigilant .. so now it’s looking for things which could be a threat to your survival and what would be a greater threat than feeling like this forever and of course the inevitable doubts that follow.. will I go mad .. will my heart stop… will I want to end my life. Can you see how these thoughts start to become obvious threats for your nervous system to go after… but is EVERY thought you have in life correct? Are you that good? Or sometimes, do you get it a bit wrong, over or underestimate, just maybe? If we step back, is anything technically that different … are your symptoms so much different or different to ones you’ve heard about, or is it just more variants of the same, but you FEEL it MUST be more dangerous this time?

    I can tell you from experience, having gone through 6 spells of tough anxiety that it’s not a case of I manage it because it must be easier or lighter each time, the thoughts aren’t suddenly, hey this is anxiety how nice.. lots of the same doubts creep in.. what’s different is as it happens each time, little by little you start to learn and realise, somehow if I give myself space, kindness, relax and look after myself, this passes. The great news, each time it happens, all that work, all the knowledge I have from the past, it hasn’t gone, it’s there… and whilst the anxious thoughts are there, little reminders pop up too helping me onwards and through it. 

    So what should I do?

    The same principals that have always held true remain:

    1. You are not broken and your nervous system can calm again.

    2. Engage in good life practices just as we promote through the no panic website. Practice your muscle relaxation, practice your breathing, exercise, look after your diet and hydration .. not as urgent cures, but as practices you know over time relax your nervous system more and more.

    3. When you spot doubts about what this is or what this will mean for you, choose to keep returning to what you were doing and let those thoughts pass through.

    4. Continue with your life.. socially engage, do the things that otherwise bring you joy or satisfaction or peace.. you are every bit as capable of them, it will just not feel as normal for now.

    So if you are feeling anxious today for the first time, or for the umpteenth time remember… it is a physiological process, not a nasty big monster… it is not nice, but you CAN come through it, many of all strengths and varieties of anxiety have… it may come back, but that’s ok, you don’t need to stand guard for it, when it comes back you’ll manage and in the meantime, you can experience life. 

    Look after yourself everyone and don’t wait till you are better to live, live now and better will come in time 😊

  • Dear University Students

    Daniel Seow, Content Team Editor

    Going to university is one of the most important times of a person’s life. It could be your first time leaving home and becoming independent, or the beginning of a dream career. Some people claim university to have been the ‘best time of their lives’. After all, it’s not everyday you get to move to a fresh environment, get to meet new people and learn more about yourself in the process. The university journey itself, however, can be a daunting prospect to some. 

    According to a 2022 survey on students from the mental health charity Student Minds, 57% of respondents self-reported mental health issues, with 27% disclosing that they had a diagnosed mental health condition. During their educational journey, students may encounter stress, anxiety and/or other associated mental health issues. This can be due to a wide range of factors, from financial difficulties, heavy workload, or simply missing home. Although mental health issues may seem to come hand-in-hand with the rigours of studying and university life, not all students will suffer from these issues. I was, however, one of those burdened by anxiety and stress in my early days.

    When first starting at university, one of my biggest fears as someone who didn’t socialise much was being unable to make friends and find a group to be a part of. Anxiety seeped into my life at university, adding stress to my degree workload and leading me to worry repeatedly about my undecided future. This took its toll on my motivation to do anything productive, exacerbating the issues further. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic ended up being a blessing in disguise for my mental health, allowing me to step back from university to look at my situation with fresh eyes, as well as properly establish a strong support network for the rest of my degree.

    With the help of friends and family after lockdown, I reevaluated my goals and motivations and set about making sure that I didn’t regret any of my choices. The second half of my degree ended up being the most enjoyable and productive part of my time at university, with my academic stress managed by a combination of my support network and being able to try out new activities.

    The most important part in my journey of managing anxiety in university was being able to notice when I was burning out or building up stress, acknowledge it, and then do something about it. I found that the first step of noticing the problem was always the hardest – it took me an entire change in perspective during a global pandemic after all! However, once the problem was dragged into the open, I could finally find different solutions to it: spending time with family and friends, joining a sports team or playing gigs with friends. I gave myself control over what I did, rather than being dictated by stress and worry.

    My experience is only one of many – different solutions work for different people after all. However, if I were to go back to 4 years ago to my former self, I would tell myself these 3 things:

    Always be open, especially to new people, activities, and change. Opportunities will always come in a new environment, and you can choose to take them or leave them. These choices will often open up new doors and paths you may not have considered.

    Prioritise work-life balance and understand when it is the right time to work or to take a break. My initial focus on academic work unfortunately meant my mental health fell to the wayside, leading to a buildup of stress and anxiety. Figuring out my work-life balance was greatly beneficial not only to my mental state, but my academics as well.

    Establish your support network and never be afraid to reach out for help. I was extremely lucky to have friends and family supporting me over the course of the pandemic, as well as my tutor and members of the careers team at my university. There are also other university services and charities available for further support.

    University may seem like an exciting new horizon, an unknown journey that you have no control over. However, I believe that having the knowledge to manage stress and anxiety will allow you be able to manage your mental health and make the most of your invaluable time at university.

  • Raising Awareness of Anxiety in Universities

    Wayne Senior, Content Team Supervisor and Growth Officer

    At this time of year, new students leave their parents for parts of the country they have never visited, as they begin a new adventure at university. This year, No Panic is joining some of them, and for us too, it will be a new adventure.

    Anxiety affects students who are starting university, and students who are further along their university journey. No Panic wants to help. For us to be able to help anxious students, they need to know we exist, and be aware of the support we offer.

    We are a small national charity. The vast majority of our volunteers volunteer on the helpline. We only have a couple of paid staff.

    For us to reach more students, we need new volunteers. We need volunteers who are at university, and can therefore raise awareness at university fairs, and deliver talks to health students. We have created a new Student Ambassador role, and we are recruiting now.

    Student Ambassadors will raise awareness of anxiety, helping students who have never experienced anxiety to better understand how it affects people. Raising awareness of anxiety will help students studying for careers which may bring them into contact with anxious members of the public.

    An understanding of anxiety can also help students while they are at university. A common problem people who have anxiety experience, is lack of understanding from friends and loved ones. Students will be able to better support their friends if they have panic attacks.

    Student Ambassadors will not provide support to people who have anxiety. Instead, they will tell students about the support No Panic has to offer. We will provide Student Ambassadors with the information they need, so they can tell students about our helpline, our recovery services, our online Anxiety Support Chat, and even our Single Session Mentoring which is handy if you’re anxious on the day of an exam, anxious because you’re about to go back to university after a holiday or anxious because you’re about to fly abroad for a holiday.

    We don’t expect Student Ambassadors to do all the work at their university themselves. To make the role easier and less stressful, we are recruiting teams of Student Ambassadors. We hope to have 3 or 4 Student Ambassadors in each Student Team. Each university where we are recruiting Student Ambassadors will have a Student Team.

    Just as new students start university every year, other students complete their studies and leave university. Student

    Teams will provide continuity.

    This type of work is new to No Panic, so we are only targeting a few universities in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and the Midlands. However, we hope that over time we can expand this initiative to more universities across the UK, enabling us to reach even more students.

    If you would like to become a Student Ambassador for No Panic, please apply here.

  • Social Media and its Impact on Mental Health

    Millie Painter, Content Team Editor

    When facing mental health struggles such as anxiety, it is important not only to acknowledge coping strategies that improve mental wellbeing but also to identify detrimental factors that may be increasing feelings of anxiety.

    I have experienced anxiety for as long as I can remember. However, it was not until my teen years that I realised not everybody experiences these intense feelings of worry and dread. Having discovered this, I began to study Psychology in order to understand myself better and to find ways to alleviate these emotions to the best of my ability. From here, I engaged in many hobbies that I found extremely helpful when I was going through a bad time with my anxiety. On the contrary, I also noticed that certain situations would increase my anxiety. For me, a particularly adverse factor was social media. 

    I had downloaded Instagram at a young age and had always been aware of the pressures that come with such a platform. However, since I was young and impressionable, I wanted to be involved with my peers and so I pushed aside any adverse feelings I was experiencing. By the age of 15, I had become more aware of my struggles with anxiety and began to notice that the idea of posting on Instagram made my anxiety spike. I would sit for a while after posting, over-analysing myself and constantly feeling worried and dread for how I was being perceived. Shortly after truly recognising its negative impact on me, I made the decision to temporarily deactivate my account in order to test for any improvements in my mental health. I had always planned on reinstalling it so this just felt like a temporary fix. Quickly afterwards, however, I began to notice an improvement in my mood, as I felt less self-conscious and the lack of social pressures relieved certain aspects of my anxiety, particularly my social anxiety. After noticing this, I had no desire to reinstall the app and left it to delete itself (which is what it does after a year of inactivity). Five years on, I still have no social media despite texting platforms to communicate with family and friends. It is not something that I miss and I still believe deleting it was in the best interests for my mental health.

    As much as social media had a negative impact on my mental wellbeing, I do not believe that this will be something that helps everyone. For others, apps like instagram are very beneficial, giving them a platform to discuss their emotions and find others experiencing similar issues. I simply believe in the importance of recognising parts of your own life that are exacerbating any mental health struggles you may be facing. 

  • As Time Goes By

    Brian Robinson, No Panic youth services

    As time goes by, it seems to be getting more and more difficult for our young people to navigate the world they live in. Social media now seems to be dominating and we all know how much negativity and pressure that can involve. School curriculums have become more demanding; classrooms seem to be getting fuller and fuller; and SATs and exams are never far away. So we really have come a long way from the 3Rs “reading-riting-and rithmatic”.

    As time goes by, our young people also have to manage the hormonal disruption caused by growth spurts and that awkward transition from childhood to adulthood. And if that wasn’t enough, many of the young people we speak with have complicating conditions like Autism and ADHD.

    It is no surprise then, that as time has gone by, the mental health of young people has suffered significantly; finding the resources to help those in need has become far more difficult; and parents are often struggling and in desperate need of help. This is why at No Panic we see helping the young as a priority.

    But it is also true, that as time has gone by, our understanding of anxiety disorders has developed to a high level of sophistication and now covers a broad area of understanding. We now know that avoiding unnecessary stress makes perfect sense; that emotions should better reflect the reality of the situations we face; that our thoughts should be healthy working for us and not against us; and that our behaviours can have a dramatic effect on the way we feel.

    Fortunately, tried and tested therapies now exist to help deal with these issues and our youth mentors have years of experience helping those with anxiety disorders. Along with that, we do our best to offer help as soon as possible.

    The following is an example of the feedback we receive from our youth mentoring programme:

    Hello

    From my point of view, my son went from vomiting, shaking and hyperventilating every morning before getting on the bus to school and us being called to the school (often to pick him up for panic attacks) multiple times a week and him missing lots of lessons. In the six weeks since talking to Brian he has managed two weeks of going into school as normal, having no panic attacks and missing no lessons.

    So from his parents it has been amazing, while we know it’s not totally over, we thought it would be a long haul to get anywhere near this.

    If you feel we can help a young person in your life then please email youth@nopanic.org.uk or visit our Youth Hub.

  • Plan Your Summer with Anxiety Support Chat

    By Wayne Senior, Anxiety Support Chat moderator

    Anxiety Support Chat will be open on Monday evenings between 8:00-9:00 to support you through the summer.

    If you’re a teacher or a university student, you may be worried about how you’ll manage your anxiety on days when you are less active than during term-time. Our community of No Panic members can help you plan your summer holiday. Even if you don’t manage to fill every day, Anxiety Support Chat may inspire you with ideas for filling some of the days.

    Are you going on holiday this summer? Anxiety can cause excitement to be replaced with anticipation. Anxiety Support Chat will provide you with some tips for managing anticipatory anxiety so you can go on holiday in a better state of mind.

    If you’re one of our more regular users in Group A, there is good news for you too. You’ll be able to join Anxiety Support Chat from the start on the first and last Mondays of August. Usually, Group A joins 10 minutes in, so there is more space at the start for our newer members.

    No matter what you’re anxious about this summer, come to Anxiety Support Chat to talk about it with No Panic members. Don’t suffer alone, when there are members of No Panic waiting to support you. More information about how to join Anxiety Support Chat can be found here.

  • Anxiety: Friend or Foe

    By Brian Robinson, helpline volunteer.

    Many of us see anxiety as this terrible enemy or bully who we have to stand up against and fight. Who would blame us for that? However, the problem with this view of things is we risk ending up at war with ourselves.

    Fight or flight is in fact a system which exists in all of us and its only purpose is to keep us safe. It is part of who we are. It is not our enemy: and therefore it should be seen more as a misguided friend.

    When anxiety strikes we brace ourselves, plant our feet, clench or fists ready for the fight. This is the worst thing we could do. This only produces physical tension and sends a ‘danger present’ signal to our nervous system. Yes, it is the most natural reaction to resist: but passive resistance is the best way to encourage things to settle.

    When panic comes knocking, allow it in, don’t push it away, talk to it, reassure it that everything is okay and we are not in danger. Meet it with patience and understanding.

    I’m not going to pretend it’s the best friend in the world; or that it won’t test our patience to the limits; but it is a friendship that needs to be worked on: slamming the door in its face won’t make it go away.