Taking care of mental health can safeguard a person's ability to enjoy life.  This requires balancing life activities, responsibilities, and mental resilience efforts. Stress, depression and anxiety can all affect someone's mental health and disrupt their routine.

 

While the term mental health is commonly used, many of the conditions physicians recognize as psychological disorders have physical roots.

 

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems and it is increasing. Yet it remains under-reported, under-diagnosed and under- treated. A good ability to cope with anxiety is key to resilience in the face of whatever life throws at us. However, experiencing it too much or too often means we risk becoming overwhelmed, unable to find balance in our lives or to relax and recover.

 

We need to recognise when the people around us, our friends, family members and colleagues, are experiencing distressing levels of anxiety or at risk of this because of life events and circumstances. 

 

For some people anxiety triggers inappropriate or disproportionate responses to perceived threats, leading to persistent and intrusive symptoms associated with anxiety disorders, such as panic, phobias and obsessive behaviours, which often have a debilitating effect on their lives. Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health problems in the world, yet it is still under-reported, under-diagnosed and under- treated. The experience of anxiety in people’s everyday lives and the impact of anxiety disorders. 

 

The true impact of anxiety can be masked when it is the symptom of other more obvious or treatable physical problems which are likely to be prioritised in any subsequent medical intervention. Anxiety problems are common amongst cardiovascular patients; for example, panic disorder is up to 10 times more prevalent amongst people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than in the general population 

 

People with GAD have been found to be at higher risk of coronary heart disease, while anxiety has also been linked to increased incidence of gastrointestinal problems, arthritis, migraines, allergies, and thyroid disease. People with anxiety disorders are four times as likely as others to develop high blood pressure, and many studies have shown a relationship between anxiety and reduced white blood cell function, a sign of immune system weakness. There is also emerging evidence of a link between stress and Alzheimer’s disease. Anxiety is also associated with unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and a poor diet.

 

Although anxiety can be a debilitating condition, it is not an illness and therefore is no more susceptible to being ‘cured’ than other emotional states that serve important functions as part of the human survival kit. Several different treatments are available to ease the psychological and physical symptoms of anxiety, including psychological therapies and medication, as well as a range of guided self- help strategies and exercise on prescription.