What Causes Anxiety & What Does It Mean?

Anxiety is a stress response; it alerts you to the possibility of danger, think of it as a fire alarm going off, so that makes anxiety useful, right? Well, it can be useful, in that it signals to you that something isn’t quite right. But anxiety can take over, leaving you feeling on alert even when there is no actual danger present.

So what causes anxiety, what is that ‘something not quite right’ signal? Anxiety can be caused by many different things; work stress, financial hardship, health issues, difficulties in your personal relationships, for instance family disputes, tension in your friendships or romantic relationship.

Anxiety can also be a trauma response; there may have been a time in your past when you didn’t feel safe, that unsafe feeling state can stay with you for many years, and this may be the cause of you feeling anxious in your everyday life.

There isn’t a one size fits all when it comes to managing anxiety. Symptoms and causation remain complex. You may want to try some grounding and distraction techniques. Meditation, mindfulness, yoga, physical exercise and self-care activities may help you feel less anxious, and should you need further support, contact a qualified therapist who can help you with anxiety.