Is Your Anxiety Reaching the Red Zone?

This chart canhelp you decide whether you have high levels of anxiety (the “Red Zone”). If you find that you are mostly in the green zone, you can still benefit from learning about the tools to manage anxiety on this website, as they are also great for general stress management.

Everyone can benefit from these tools at some time, now or in the future.

Green Zone	Yellow Zone	Red Zone
Spending some time buying books and reading about newborn care Chatting on online forums Some occasional concerns and calling health care providers for reassurance	Spending an increasing amount of time checking the baby’s body, breathing, and behaviour for any signs of irregularity Researching possible things that could go wrong Regularly worrying about problems with the baby Having some difficulty stopping the Internet searches Regularly calling health care providers for reassurance	Spending an hour or more a day checking the baby and researching possible things that could go wrong with the baby Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep because of worries and anxiety Noticeable difficulty with carrying out daily routines or getting along with loved ones Seeking constant reassurance from loved ones and health care providers Feeling tense and on edge
Feeling a little increased anxiety when travelling far from home, either alone or with your baby	Occasionally feeling panicky when walking alone with your baby and worrying about having a panic attack Preferring to travel with someone else if possible Strong desire to stay at home with baby	Experiencing frequent panic attacks Constant worries about having another attack and the possible consequences of the attack (fainting in public, having a heart attack) Avoiding places, activities, or situations that may bring on an attack
Being a bit more careful about food, diet, and exposure to chemicals Avoiding touching things in places where there may be a lot of germs (such as a doctor’s waiting room) Washing hands a bit more frequently	Being very vigilant about chemicals and diet Not eating out because you are unsure of food safety in restaurants Throwing out most or all of old cleaning and cosmetic products	Intrusive and constant fears that germs may come in contact with your baby Wearing gloves out of the house Not shaking hands with others Spending an hour or more a day scrubbing hands Constantly disinfecting
Concerns about whether or not you are a good mom Reading a few parenting books	Frequent worries about what others will think of your parenting abilities Some self-doubt and thoughts that other moms know more than you do	Avoiding going out to places where other moms are because of worries that they will think that you shouldn’t be a mother Regularly assuming that others are thinking poorly of you and that you do not meet their standards Not asking for help in order to not appear incapable, even when you feel exhausted trying to do everything on your own