Anxiety and breathlessness
Anxiety is a natural response which we all experience at times and helps us remain safe. It can become a problem when we are getting an anxiety response to situations which are not in themselves threatening, you might call them ‘false alarms’.
When we feel anxious, a chain of automatic events occurs in our bodies that prepares us for action. This reaction is often called the fight or flight response and can be traced back to our need for survival in the past. We will look at fight or flight later.
The mood thermometer is a simple visual way for your patient/client to express their level of anxiety at any given time. They can use the colours or words to help them describe how they are feeling. This can be used along with a mood diary to look for any patterns of mood change.
Download the thermometer for your own patients:
