Anxiety: Symptoms, Causes, Self-Help and Treatment

Your heart races before a meeting. Your hands turn cold and your stomach knots up the night before an exam. A little worry is a normal part of life. But if the worry is constant, feels out of proportion and starts to affect your sleep, work or relationships, it may be an anxiety disorder. In our culture people often brush it off as weakness, overthinking or a lack of faith, when it is a genuine medical condition that responds well to treatment.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is the body’s alarm system. When it is stuck on, you feel on edge even when nothing is wrong. Common types include:

• Generalised anxiety: persistent worry about many everyday things, such as money, health, family or work
• Panic disorder: sudden attacks of intense fear with physical symptoms
• Social anxiety: intense fear of being judged or embarrassed around people
• Phobias: strong fear of a specific thing, like heights or injections

Anxiety symptoms

In the body:

• Racing or pounding heart, palpitations
• Sweating, trembling, cold hands
• Tight chest, shortness of breath or a lump in the throat
• Dizziness, stomach upset, nausea or diarrhoea
• Muscle tension, headaches and tiredness
• Trouble falling or staying asleep

In the mind:

• Constant worry that is hard to switch off
• Restlessness, irritability and difficulty concentrating
• Expecting the worst, and avoiding situations that trigger fear

A panic attack peaks within about ten minutes. It can feel like a heart attack, with chest pain, breathlessness and a fear of dying, but it passes. If you have never had these symptoms before, or the chest pain comes on with effort, get your heart checked first. See heart attack warning signs.

What causes anxiety?

• Long-term stress from money, job, exams, family conflict or illness
• Family history, and difficult past experiences
• Too much caffeine from chai, coffee, cola and energy drinks
• Medical conditions such as an overactive thyroid, low blood sugar or heart rhythm problems
• Some medicines, and alcohol or drug use and withdrawal
• Poor sleep, which feeds anxiety and is fed by it

Self-help that works

• Slow breathing: breathe in through the nose for 4 counts and out slowly for 6, for a few minutes. A long out-breath calms the body.
• Grounding: name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell and 1 you can taste.
• Move: a brisk 30-minute walk on most days lowers anxiety.
• Cut back on caffeine, especially after noon.
• Protect your sleep. Our guide to insomnia has practical tips.
• Limit endless news and social media scrolling, particularly at night.
• Make time for prayer, dhikr, meditation or quiet time, if these bring you peace.
• Talk to someone you trust. Sharing a worry often shrinks it.

Treatment

If anxiety is getting in the way of daily life, a doctor or mental health professional can help. The most effective treatments are:

• Talk therapy: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) teaches you to recognise and change anxious thinking and to face fears step by step.
• Antidepressant medicines such as sertraline or escitalopram, which are also the main long-term medicines for anxiety. They take 2 to 6 weeks to work, may cause mild nausea or restlessness at first, and should not be stopped suddenly.
• Propranolol may be used to control physical symptoms like palpitations and tremor in situations such as public speaking.
• Sedatives such as the benzodiazepine family (for example alprazolam or clonazepam) can calm severe anxiety quickly, but they cause dependence, drowsiness and memory problems. Doctors use them only for short periods, and you should never take them without a prescription or mix them with alcohol.

When to get help

• Anxiety lasts more than a few weeks and interferes with work, study or relationships
• You have repeated panic attacks or avoid places because of fear
• You use alcohol, sleeping pills or other substances to cope
• You also feel hopeless or depressed

If you ever have thoughts of harming yourself, please tell someone you trust or go to the nearest emergency department straight away. You do not have to manage this alone.

Key takeaways

• Anxiety is a common medical condition, not a weakness.
• Racing heart, tight chest, restlessness and constant worry are typical signs.
• Breathing, exercise, less caffeine and good sleep help, and CBT and medicines work well for persistent anxiety.
• Sedatives are for short-term use only, and only under a doctor.

Related medicines on Medimart

These are commonly prescribed by doctors for anxiety:

• Sertraline: an SSRI used for anxiety and depression
• Escitalopram: an SSRI used for anxiety disorders
• Propranolol: eases physical symptoms such as palpitations and tremor

Prescription medicines are supplied only against a valid prescription. Please take them only as advised by your doctor.

Browse anxiety medicines on Medimart with delivery across Pakistan. Prescription medicines are supplied only against a valid prescription.

This guide is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor or mental health professional. If anxiety is affecting your life, please speak to one.