Anxiety in Australia: How to Tell If It's Time to See a GP

Normal worry is proportionate, time-limited, and tied to a specific concern. You worry about a meeting, the meeting happens, the worry passes. Clinical anxiety lasts longer than the situation, scales beyond proportion, and does not switch off when the trigger is gone.

Three rough markers can help you tell the difference:

• Duration. Worries that fade within hours of the issue resolving are usually within the normal range. Worries that persist for weeks, or move from one topic to the next without resolution, are worth discussing with a clinician.
• Functioning. If anxiety is interfering with sleep, work, relationships, or the things you used to enjoy, the threshold for getting professional help is met.
• Predictability. Anxiety that arrives without an obvious trigger, or that wakes you at night with a racing heart and no cause you can name, is a strong signal to book a consultation.

Self-diagnosis is not the goal here. The point is to recognise the signals that warrant a conversation with a GP. An honest five-minute history with a clinician is the right next step.

Anxiety disorders are not one condition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), recognises several distinct presentations. The most common in Australian primary care include:

• Generalised anxiety disorder. Persistent, excessive worry across multiple areas of life that is difficult to control and lasts at least six months.
• Panic disorder. Recurrent panic attacks, often without an obvious trigger, plus ongoing worry about the next attack.
• Social anxiety disorder. Intense fear of social situations and being judged or scrutinised.
• Specific phobias. Disproportionate fear of a particular object or situation, such as heights, flying, needles, or blood.
• Health anxiety. Persistent worry about having or developing a serious illness, often despite medical reassurance.

There is also significant overlap with depression. Many patients we see experience anxiety and low mood together. That overlap matters for treatment planning, which is why a GP assessment takes a wide view rather than treating the most obvious symptom in isolation.

Anxiety lives in the body as well as the mind. Many patients arrive at a consultation describing physical symptoms and only realise the underlying connection during the conversation.

Common physical signs include:

• A racing or pounding heart, sometimes felt in the throat or chest.
• Shortness of breath or a sense of not being able to take a full breath.
• Sweating, trembling, or a churning stomach.
• Persistent muscle tension, often in the jaw, shoulders, or neck.
• Headaches, especially tension-type headaches.
• Sleep disturbance: trouble falling asleep, waking in the early hours, or non-restful sleep.
• Gut symptoms, including changes to appetite, nausea, or irritable bowel patterns.
• Fatigue that does not improve with rest.

These symptoms are real. They are not 'in your head' in any dismissive sense. A GP assessment also rules out physical contributors such as thyroid issues, anaemia, or cardiac causes that can mimic or worsen anxiety symptoms. That is part of why a clinical assessment is more useful than self-diagnosis.