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ANXIETY
Anxiety that won't switch off: why, and what helps
By Bridie McDougall, Registered Psychologist
If your mind feels like a browser that won't stop opening tabs, you already know how draining anxiety is. It's also one of the most common reasons people come to therapy, and there are well-established, evidence-based approaches for working with it.
Why it won't switch off
Anxiety is your threat system doing its job too well. It's scanning for danger and, helpfully, treating a difficult email the same way it'd treat a snake. The worry feels protective, which is exactly why it's so sticky: some part of you believes that if you just think about it enough, you'll be safe.
What tends to keep it going
Avoidance: dodging the thing brings instant relief and long-term growth of the fear.
Reassurance-seeking that quiets it for an hour, then needs topping up.
“What-if” spirals that feel like problem-solving but aren't.
Poor sleep, which lowers the whole system's tolerance.
What helps
Evidence-based approaches like CBT work with how anxiety actually functions: learning to sit with uncertainty rather than fight it, gently facing what's been avoided, and giving the nervous system real ways to settle. The aim isn't to never feel anxious, it's to change your relationship with the worry over time.