You might have heard friends or family describing themselves as anxious, but what does this mean? Often described as worry, anxiety is a bodily function that makes us aware of potential danger. Think of it as your own personal warning system – we all have anxiety.
When we feel anxious, the brain releases specific chemicals (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol) throughout our body. Blood flows from our fingers and toes to our major organs, our breathing rate increases, our muscles tense and our pupils dilate.
There are lots of reasons why someone might experience anxiety – This might be something young people from armed forces and veteran families experience right now because of exams, parental deployment, uncertainty in Ukraine, and much more.
Whatever the reason may prove, it’s important to understand how anxiety affects our bodies and how to reduce anxiety levels when we need to.
That’s why it’s important to understand how anxiety can affect our bodies and how to reduce anxiety levels when we need to.
Did you know Forces Children Scotland has lots of helpful information, advice, and downloadable resources on its Your Mind Matters Hub to do just that?
Your Mind Matters Hub
If you’d rather speak to one of our team about anxiety or another mental health and wellbeing topic, all you have to do is click the button below to get in touch.
Talk to usGillian is our Wellbeing Worker for your Mind Matters, who describes how we can help to better understand and enhance mental health and wellbeing.
Did you know there’s lots of downloadable resources about anxiety on our Your Mind Matters Hub?
Find out moreMental Health Awareness Week encourages everyone to share their experiences of anxiety, as well as advice and helpful tips on how to reduce its levels.
If you are a young person from an armed forces and veteran family, there are lots of different ways to get involved –
One way is to share your story via your social media channels, using the hashtags #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek and #ToHelpMyAnxiety.
Another way is to share your story to help other young people from the armed forces community through a podcast, video, blog, or whatever you’re comfortable doing.
You can also get involved to co-produce mental health and wellbeing resources, speak up for young people when it comes to mental health and wellbeing topics, and much more.
Get involved