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Understanding Anxiety: When Your Mind and Body Stay on Alert

10 min readEvidence-based
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Anxiety is how your mind and body react to a possible threat or an uncertain outcome. It affects what you think, how your body feels and what you do to protect yourself.

Some anxiety is useful. It helps you focus before a job interview and reminds you to check the road before you cross. But when the sense of threat is frequent, strong or hard to switch off, everyday life can start to feel exhausting.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions in Australia. A national survey found that about one in six Australians aged 16–85 (17.2%) had an anxiety disorder in the past year. The good news is that anxiety responds well to treatment.

What does anxiety feel like?

Anxiety can show up in several ways at once:

  • Thoughts: constant worry, "what if" thinking, expecting the worst or finding it hard to concentrate.
  • Body: a racing heart, fast breathing, tight muscles, nausea, sweating, shaking, headaches or poor sleep.
  • Actions: avoiding things, asking for reassurance, over-preparing, checking, putting things off or leaving early.
  • Feelings: being on edge, irritable, restless or easily overwhelmed.

For one person, anxiety means lying awake worrying about money, health and family. For another, it centres on being judged, making a mistake or having another panic attack. It is not always visible. Many people keep working and caring for others while everything feels harder.

Physical symptoms can also have other causes. If you have new or worrying symptoms, such as chest pain or breathlessness, see a doctor rather than assuming it is anxiety.

Why do we have anxiety?

Anxiety is part of the body's alarm system. When your brain senses danger, your body gets ready to act. Adrenaline is released, your heart beats faster, your breathing speeds up and your muscles tense. This "fight, flight or freeze" response is fast and automatic. It can start before you have even worked out what is happening.

The alarm is designed to be cautious. That helps when danger is real. But it can also go off in situations that are uncomfortable rather than dangerous, such as speaking in a meeting. It can even react to your own thoughts or body sensations. Seeing anxiety as an over-protective alarm, not a personal weakness, is often a helpful first step.

When does anxiety become a problem?

Feeling anxious sometimes is normal. It becomes more of a concern when it is out of proportion to the situation, lasts a long time, is hard to control or gets in the way of work, study, relationships or wellbeing. Common patterns include:

  • Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD): ongoing, hard-to-control worry about many things, often with tension, tiredness and poor sleep.
  • Social Anxiety Disorder: strong fear of being judged or embarrassed, leading people to avoid social situations. It was the most common anxiety disorder in the Australian survey.
  • Panic Disorder: repeated, unexpected panic attacks and worry about having more.
  • Agoraphobia: fear and avoidance of places where escape or help might be hard, such as crowds or public transport.
  • Specific phobias: intense fear of particular things, such as heights, needles or flying.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) also involve anxiety. They are now grouped separately because they have their own features and treatments. This list is not a way to diagnose yourself. A psychologist can help work out what is going on.

What causes anxiety?

There is rarely one cause. Several things usually combine:

  • Biology and temperament: anxiety often runs in families. Some people are born more sensitive or cautious.
  • Life experiences: frightening events, anxious role models, criticism or unpredictable environments can shape beliefs like "the world isn't safe".
  • Current stress: money worries, health problems, work pressure, loneliness and big life changes.
  • Physical factors: caffeine, some medicines, alcohol and drugs, poor sleep and some medical conditions (such as thyroid problems).

The cycle that keeps anxiety going

Much of what keeps anxiety going is what we do to feel safe. Avoiding a situation, seeking reassurance or over-preparing brings quick relief. So the brain learns to do it again. But the fear never gets tested. Next time, the situation feels just as threatening, and the list of things that feel manageable can slowly shrink.

For example, you might fear that a mistake at work will lead to criticism. So you check your work again and again. You feel relieved for a moment, then the doubt returns. The checking makes sense, but it keeps the fear in place. Treatment helps you notice these patterns and try new responses, at a pace that feels manageable.

How is anxiety treated?

Psychological therapy is the main recommended treatment for most anxiety disorders. Our psychologists often draw on three approaches: CBT, ACT and IFS. Each offers a different way of understanding anxiety, and many people benefit from a combination. Medication can also help some people, especially when anxiety is severe. Talk to your GP or a psychiatrist about this.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT sees anxiety as a cycle of anxious predictions, body sensations and safety behaviours. You might predict "I'll make a fool of myself", notice your heart racing, and then avoid the situation or over-prepare. Those responses bring relief, but they stop you from learning that you could cope. So the fear stays.

In therapy, your psychologist might help you:

  • Map your anxiety cycle, so you can see what keeps it going.
  • Catch and question anxious thoughts, such as catastrophising or mind reading, and find more balanced ways of seeing things.
  • Understand deeper beliefs, such as "the world isn't safe", and where they came from.
  • Face fears gradually through planned, step-by-step exposure, so your brain learns that the feared outcome is less likely, or more manageable, than it expected.
  • Drop safety behaviours, such as checking or seeking reassurance, one at a time.

For example, if you fear blushing in meetings, you might start by making one short comment, then notice what actually happens. CBT is the most researched therapy for anxiety. A large review of trials for GAD found that CBT reduced symptoms compared with usual care, and that the benefits lasted after therapy ended.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT sees much of the suffering in anxiety as coming from the struggle with anxious thoughts and feelings. The harder we try to push anxiety away or avoid it, the more room it takes up in our lives. Over time, life can shrink around the goal of feeling safe.

ACT aims to build psychological flexibility. In therapy, your psychologist might help you:

  • Step back from anxious thoughts ("defusion"), seeing "I'll embarrass myself" as a thought, not a fact.
  • Make room for uncomfortable feelings, such as a racing heart or butterflies, without fighting them.
  • Stay present, using short mindfulness skills to come back to the here and now.
  • Clarify your values: what really matters to you, such as connection, learning or adventure.
  • Take small, values-based steps, even when anxiety comes along for the ride.

For example, you might notice the thought "they'll think I'm boring", feel the nerves, and still join the conversation because friendship matters to you. The aim isn't to get rid of anxiety first. It's to live a fuller life with anxiety having less say. A review of acceptance- and mindfulness-based therapies found benefits for anxiety disorders.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

IFS sees the mind as made up of different "parts", each trying to help. From this view, anxiety is often the work of protective parts. One part might scan constantly for danger. Another might push you to over-prepare, check or please others. These protectors mean well. But when they work very hard, they can take over in extreme ways, with racing thoughts, sleepless nights or avoidance.

Protectors are often guarding vulnerable parts, called exiles. These can carry burdens from earlier experiences: painful beliefs and feelings such as "I'm not safe", "I'll be rejected" or "I can't cope".

IFS also describes a Self: a calm, curious and compassionate core that everyone has. When you relate to your parts from Self, you bring clarity and connection to your inner world, and parts can work together in harmony. In therapy, your psychologist might help you:

  • Notice and step back from the anxious part ("a part of me is really worried").
  • Get to know it: what is it afraid would happen if it stopped worrying?
  • Appreciate its job, which often eases its grip.
  • With its permission, help the vulnerable part it protects let go of old burdens.

As burdens lift, protectors often no longer need to work so hard, and many people feel calmer and freer to choose how they respond.

What you can do day to day

These strategies won't replace treatment for an anxiety disorder, but they can help:

  • Slow your breathing: breathe gently, with a longer out-breath. Stop if you feel dizzy.
  • Move your body: regular physical activity reduces anxiety for many people.
  • Look after sleep and caffeine: a regular sleep routine and less caffeine can lower anxiety.
  • Take one small step: choose one thing you've been avoiding and try a small part of it, rather than waiting to feel ready.
  • Stay connected: talking to someone you trust can help you feel less alone with it.

Supporting someone with anxiety

Listen without dismissing their fears. "Just relax" rarely helps. At the same time, try not to take over. Constant reassurance, or doing things for them, can keep the avoidance going. Instead, say that you can see it's hard, show confidence that they can cope, and encourage small steps and professional support.

Getting support at Invision Psychology

Our psychologists offer therapy for anxiety at our clinics in Rockhampton (2/72 Bolsover Street) and Yeppoon (3/26 James Street), and by telehealth for people across Central Queensland and beyond.

  • You don't need to know which therapy you want. Your first appointment is a chance to talk about what's happening and what you'd like to change.
  • Medicare: with a Mental Health Treatment Plan from your GP, you may be able to claim a Medicare rebate for up to 10 sessions each calendar year. See our fees.
  • NDIS: we work with self-managed and plan-managed NDIS participants.

Make an enquiry or call 07 5641 4888.

If you need help now

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000. For 24/7 support:

  • Lifeline: 13 11 14
  • Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
  • 13YARN (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people): 13 92 76
  • Kids Helpline (ages 5–25): 1800 55 1800

An appointment enquiry is not an emergency service.

About the author

Alex Parkes BPsychSci, GradDipPsych, MPsych, MAAPi
Founder and Principal Psychologist, Invision Psychology. Level 1 trained Internal Family Systems practitioner.

Published September 2026 · Last reviewed September 2026 · Next review due September 2027

This article gives general information based on published research. It is not a substitute for personalised advice from a qualified health professional.

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