1

If you were explaining anxiety to a patient, what would be the main points to include?

  • Signs of anxiety include behaviours such as muscle tension, palpitations, a dry mouth, fast shallow breathing, dizziness and an increased need to urinate or defaecate.

  • Anxiety has three aspects: physical -bodily sensations related to flight and fight response, behavioural -such as avoiding the situation, and cognitive (thinking) -such as imagining the worst.

  • Anxiety is all in the mind, if they learn to think differently, it will go away.

  • Anxiety has three aspects: physical -such as running away, behavioural -such as imagining the worse (catastrophizing),and cognitive (thinking) -such as needing to urinate.