Everyone feels anxious from time to time – it’s a normal experience. You may feel heightened anxiety in stressful periods such as moving to University and settling in, and exam periods.
Anxiety is what we feel when we’re worried about something that might happen. It can have both physical and mental symptoms.
Physical symptoms can include:
- dizziness
- restlessness
- trouble sleeping.
Mental symptoms can include:
- an inability to relax
- sense of dread.
Anxiety and worry can help us to prepare for or avoid dangerous or difficult situations and motivate us to overcome challenges and get things done. But anxiety can become a problem when it’s severe, overwhelming, or stopping you from doing the things you’d usually do.
If you’re experiencing frequent symptoms of anxiety and it’s impacting your day-to-day life, follow advice and guidance and reach out for support if you need it.
Self-help resources
- Leeds Mindwell – Self-help resources for anxiety management
- Centre for Clinical Interventions – Anxiety information and self-help worksheets
- NHS – Mental health self-help guides
- Calm – How to use ‘box breathing’ as a calming technique
Apps
- Finch – a free app designed to help you take care of yourself by looking after a virtual pet.
Support from the University
- Complete the self-referral form to talk to the University’s Student Wellbeing Service. We’ll invite you to an initial appointment where we can explore appropriate support. This could include personalised short-term wellbeing, mental health or counselling support.
- Explore our therapeutic support groups and workshops – the Managing Worry and Anxiety workshop gives you techniques to manage anxiety.
- Meditation guide and MP3 resources – a range of guided meditation and yoga exercises to support wellbeing.
Local support services
- Leeds Mental Wellbeing Service (LMWS) – offers free NHS talking therapies like counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).