Anxiety is an emotion characterised by feelings of worry or distress. Similar to depression, it’s a typical human emotion, but it may be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder when excessive or persisting beyond developmentally appropriate periods.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder type, affecting 1 in 6 (17%, or 3.3 million) Australians. Meanwhile, a new study shows adults with spinal cord injuries have a near-80% increased risk of developing psychological conditions, such as depression and anxiety, compared with individuals without the injuries. That’s why we need to pay more attention to our mental health.

Researchers don’t exactly know what brings on anxiety disorders. It may be a complicated mix of mental and physical conditions.

Some of the medical causes linked to anxiety include:

• Chronic pain or irritable bowel syndrome
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Respiratory disorders
• Drug misuse or withdrawal
• Withdrawal from alcohol, anti-anxiety medications (benzodiazepines) or other medications
• and more

People with this condition experience many mental and physical symptoms, including:

• worrying
• obsessive thinking
• catastrophising
• panic attacks
• hot and cold flushes
• racing heart
• tightening of the chest
• quick breathing or shortness of breath
• difficulty sleeping
• headaches

Anxiety disorders are treatable. There are many treatments to reduce and manage the symptoms of anxiety. The main treatments are psychotherapy and medicines.

If you want to learn more about what works for anxiety, depression and other mental conditions, please access Beyond Blue. This well-known mental health organisation offers many resources to help people live happy and healthy lives.

The NDIS may fund non-clinical mental health supports related to your ongoing psychosocial disability and functional ability. Nevertheless, there is a lot of confusion around the NDIS funds. If you are confused, our NDIS Support Coordination team will always be pleased to help you. Our Peer Support team will also be happy to offer their collective expertise to assist you.

The post was written based on the materials from Wikipedia, IHPI and WebMD.