Anxiety

Anxiety can be an ordinary response to uncertainty, a persistent difficulty or part of an anxiety disorder. Substance use, withdrawal and the search for relief can complicate how it feels and how it is understood.

Anxiety often concerns what might happen. It can bring worry, bodily tension and an urge to avoid something that feels difficult or unsafe. Occasional anxiety is part of life. An anxiety disorder involves more than feeling nervous, and a distressing symptom does not establish a diagnosis by itself.

Alcohol or other substances may seem to ease anxiety, while also contributing to later difficulties. Anxiety can occur during substance effects, withdrawal or alongside an independent condition. These possibilities can overlap. Knowing when a symptom appeared helps assessment, but does not settle its cause.

New chest discomfort or breathlessness should not automatically be called panic. Chest pain with breathlessness, sweating or light-headedness, or severe difficulty breathing, needs emergency medical help. Sudden confusion needs immediate medical help.

If you may act on suicidal thoughts, cannot keep yourself safe, or have seriously injured yourself, contact emergency medical help in your area now. If you are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm without immediate danger, contact a health professional or local mental-health crisis service promptly.

Someone who may be physically dependent on alcohol should seek medical advice before abruptly stopping or sharply reducing drinking. Regular benzodiazepine use can also lead to physical dependence, including when prescribed. Changes need advice from the prescriber because abrupt stopping or rapid reduction can cause dangerous withdrawal.

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