Anxiety

Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried. Stress and anxious feelings are a normal and common response to a situation where we feel under pressure such as a job interview or sitting an exam, and they usually pass once the stressful situation has passed, or ‘stressor’ has been removed.

Severe or continual anxiety can occur for a longer period of time and anxious feelings, thoughts and/or physical symptoms are more severe, distressing and interrupt daily life. The anxiety can be linked to a specific stressful event but sometimes the reason can appear unknown.

Disordered anxiety often typically falls into one of the below categories:

• Generalised anxiety
• Social anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Obsessions and compulsions
• Phobias and fears
• Stress and burnout
• Separation anxiety
• Selective mutism

Complex Trauma

Complex trauma describes both children’s exposure to multiple traumatic events—often of an invasive, interpersonal nature—and the wide-ranging, long-term effects of this exposure. These events are severe and pervasive, such as abuse or profound neglect. They usually occur early in life and can disrupt many aspects of the child’s development and the formation of a sense of self. Since these events often occur with a caregiver, they interfere with the child’s ability to form a secure attachment. Many aspects of a child’s healthy physical and mental development rely on this primary source of safety and stability.

Post Traumatic Stress

When people experience or witness a traumatic event or repeated events such as physical violence, emotional or verbal abuse, death or serious injury or sexual assault they can sometimes develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress or meet the criteria for a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Symptoms of post-traumatic stress may also arise when there is a threat that these events will happen, even if they do not actually end up happening.
Post traumatic stress can also occur through learning that a close family member or friend was exposed to trauma. Repeated or extreme indirect exposure to trauma can also lead to PTSD symptoms, for example, paramedics and other medical staff repeatedly witnessing horrific injury or death.

Common symptoms of PTSD include:

• involuntary, repeated and intrusive memories
• distressing nightmares
• flashbacks to the trauma
• feeling intense distress and extreme physical anxiety when exposed to anything that reminds the person of the trauma (such as sounds, smells or particular people)
• Attempting to avoid any thoughts or feelings about the trauma
• Avoiding any external reminders of the trauma (for example, places, people, activities or conversations about what happened)
• Easily startled
• Hyper-vigilance and hyper-arousal
• Sleep disturbance
• Problems concentrating

Addiction is a brain disorder characterised by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli despite adverse consequences. Addiction involves a number of psychological and social factors, as well as a biological process which is generated by repeated exposure to an addictive stimulus.

Alcohol and other substances.
Drug use is a common behaviour with many people using legal or illegal substances in their daily lives.  The use of legal substances (such as caffeine, alcohol and tobacco) is the most common type of substance use. 
Alcohol and other drugs can affect the physical, psychological, mental, social, financial and legal wellbeing of the user and others. The use of any substance which affects the mind has the potential to cause harm, and the likelihood of harm occurring increases with greater amounts used.  People tend to choose substances that help them in some way, such as increasing pleasure, or decreasing emotional or physical pain. Alcohol and other drugs act directly on the brain and can seem to be predictable and effective ways to change how a person feels, at least in the short-term.
Alcohol and other drugs are often associated with important social rituals such as celebration, socialising, relaxation, healing, spirituality and commiseration. In some groups, clubs or communities, alcohol or other drug use can be seen as part of belonging to the group. Some people find their alcohol or other drug use becomes problematic, because the harm associated with it outweighs the apparent benefits.

Substance use may be a problem when someone:
• has difficulty meeting responsibilities at home, work or school
• has tried unsuccessfully to cut down or quit.
• uses more than they intended despite wanting to stop
• has recurring problems with health, safety, relationships, finances or the law through their substance use
• needs the substance to cope with everyday life or particular experiences
• organises other events or needs around their substance use
• needs increasing amounts of the substance to have the same effect
• feels sick or moody without the substance, but feel normal when they use again
• find themselves using as a way to maintain friendships or relationships.

Gambling

Many people enjoy gambling, whether it is at the pokies, betting online, or purchasing a lottery ticket. However, for some people, gambling can stop being a source of occasional entertainment and become a serious problem.
The term ‘problem gambling’ is most commonly used to describe an individual’s inability to control the amount of money and/or time spent gambling which results in negative consequences for their social, family, and work.

Gambling may be a problem when the similar situations occur as for substance use (as listed above).

 Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character. Everyone’s personality is unique. Personalities develop throughout life and include both biological and environmental factors. Most people are flexible enough to learn from past experiences and to change their behaviour when needed. Someone with a personality disorder, however, finds it much harder to control their behaviour. They may experience extreme thoughts and feelings leading to trouble coping with day-to-day life. They may act in ways they can’t control, and struggle to relate to situations and people. As a result of these challenges, people with personality disorder often experience significant problems and limitations in their relationships, social lives, work and schooling.
Everyone has their different personality quirks. In fact, personality disorders aren’t diagnosed until 18 years of age because our personality is in constant development up to that age. For people with personality disorders behaviour is often extreme  and, usually, they’re unable to adapt to or change it.

Grief describes the body and mind’s response to the loss of something or someone. People can experience grief in response to a range of different losses. Experiences such as the death of a loved one, a relationship break-up, the loss of a job, loss of a sense of safety or predictability, or the death of a pet can all lead to grief reactions.

Individuals’ grief reactions vary greatly depending on the nature and circumstances of the loss, their personality and temperament, their support system, their culture, their religion and their overall beliefs and assumptions. Pre-existing mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety can also impact the way in which someone experiences grief.

Often family are the most important people to you so relationship problems can be considerably distressing and can lead to negative emotions such as anger, sadness and anxiety. Family problems can also lead to stress, exhaustion, confusion, feeling isolated or alone, lack of concentration and difficulty eating or sleeping.
All relationships and families go through difficult times, and experiencing occasional problems and conflict in personal relationships is normal. However, sometimes these problems can become overwhelming.
Signs of family and relationship problems
• Frequent arguing
• Disagreements
• Breakdown in communication
• Angry outbursts
• Avoidance
• Physical conflict

People spend a lot of their time at work, which can lead workplace issues to become a common source of stress. Due to different roles, expectations, and personalities, certain workplace issues may cause negative psychological symptoms. Perceived stress in the workplace has been associated with a higher prevalence of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Workers may find that discussing their workplace stress or challenges with a trained mental health professional is helpful to them both professionally and personally.

Common Workplace Issues

• Interpersonal conflict
• Communication problems
• Gossip
• Bullying
• Harassment
• Discrimination
• Low motivation and job satisfaction
• Performance issues
• Poor job fit