Help with anxiety: how Wobble works for anxiety, and the other UK routes

Where can I get help with anxiety in the UK?

The first places to get help with anxiety in the UK are free: NHS Talking Therapies, your GP, the NHS Every Mind Matters site, and charities such as Anxiety UK and Mind. In England you can refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety, including panic disorder and social anxiety, without speaking to a GP; you need to be registered with a GP and aged 18 or over, or 16 or over in some areas. You may be offered guided self-help first, a workbook or online course based on CBT with a therapist's support, and then a course of CBT or another talking therapy if things do not improve.

Your GP is a route anywhere in the UK, and the one to use if you are not sure about referring yourself. For generalised anxiety, the NHS says a GP will usually suggest talking therapy before prescribing medicine. Self-referral to NHS Talking Therapies is for England; in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, ask your GP what is available near you.

Which charities help with anxiety?

Charities that help with anxiety include Anxiety UK and Mind, which both publish information on anxiety online and run a line you can call. Anxiety UK is a charity run by and for people with lived experience of anxiety; its infoline is 03444 775 774, and members can get therapy from £20 a session, based on household income. Mind's Infoline, 0300 123 3393, open 9am to 6pm on weekdays in England and Wales, can tell you about anxiety, treatment options and where to get help near you. For self-help, the NHS Every Mind Matters site has short CBT techniques, relaxation exercises and a free Mind Plan built from five quick questions. Self-help like this suits working on anxiety at your own pace. What it cannot give you is a person's view on your own situation, and that is where a therapist comes in.

Can Wobble help with anxiety?

Wobble can help when anxiety is getting in the way of your day to day and you are not in crisis. You tell a qualified, registered UK therapist what is going on, in your own words, and they record you a personal video about your situation, usually within hours: what they understood, practical guidance, and one clear next step. A Wobble can be about any of it: worry that will not switch off, overthinking, anxiety at work or in a relationship, anxiety at night, panic attacks or health anxiety.

Wobble is the paid option, and it sits next to the free routes above, not in place of them. It does not diagnose, it does not replace a course of CBT where you need one, and it is never an AI: every video is recorded by a therapist. Your first Wobble is £9.99, usually £14.99.

What do I send in a Wobble about anxiety?

You answer seven short questions, one at a time, in your own words, and they suit anxiety because they ask about the pattern as well as the feeling:

• What is on your mind: the worry, the panic, the thing you keep coming back to.
• How it is affecting your day to day: sleep, work, focus, relationships, mood.
• One moment in the last seven days when it felt hardest, such as a panic on the train or a night lying awake.
• What you are putting off or avoiding because of it: calls, meetings, the doctor's, going out.
• The exact thought that feels hardest when you are struggling.
• The one thing you usually do to cope, such as checking, asking for reassurance or keeping busy.
• What you would most like your therapist to help with.

Then there is an optional step to add anything else, in writing or as a voice note. A line or a paragraph for each question is plenty, and those answers are what the therapist works from.

What will the therapist say in the video?

The therapist's video, five to seven minutes long, covers three things every time: what they understood from what you sent, practical guidance, and one clear next step you can take that day. For anxiety, the guidance might be how they see what sets the worry off and what keeps it going, what tends to help, and what to watch for. The next step is small and specific, something to try before the next hard moment.

Therapists do not diagnose, so the video will not tell you whether you have generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder or anything else, and it will not tell you whether a physical symptom is serious. Where it is appropriate, the therapist signposts: to your GP if something needs medical assessment, to NHS Talking Therapies or a private therapist if a course of therapy would help you more, or to urgent services if anything you wrote needs them.

Can Wobble help with panic attacks and health anxiety?

Yes, a Wobble can be about panic attacks or health anxiety, as long as you are not in crisis. For panic, you might describe the last attack, where it happened and what you now avoid, and the therapist responds to that pattern. The NHS says talking therapies and medicine are the main treatments for panic disorder, and in England you can refer yourself for CBT; a Wobble can sit alongside that. If you cannot tell whether shortness of breath or another symptom is anxiety, see a GP.

For health anxiety, a Wobble therapist is not a doctor and will not check a symptom or tell you it is nothing. What they can respond to is the worry itself: the checking, the searching and the asking for reassurance that the NHS describes as part of health anxiety. If your health worries are stopping you living a normal life, or self-help is not working, the NHS advice is to see a GP.

Should I use Wobble regularly for anxiety?

Using Wobble regularly makes sense when anxiety is a pattern rather than a single bad week. For many people anxiety comes back in familiar shapes, the same worries and the same moments, and a Wobble a week or a fortnight gives you a regular check-in with a qualified therapist and a small next step each time, building up over the weeks. The plans are priced for it: two Wobbles a month for £19.99, or four for £34.99, which is £8.75 each. Or use it once, when something comes up. Wobble does not replace ongoing therapy, and if your therapist thinks a course of therapy would help you more, they will say so in your video.

Can I use Wobble while I wait for NHS Talking Therapies?

Yes, you can use Wobble while you wait for NHS Talking Therapies, and alongside treatment once it starts. Stay on the list, or keep the appointment with your GP, and send a Wobble for the days in between: a hard morning, a panic you did not expect, a decision you have to make before you next see anyone. You can take what the video says into your next appointment. If your GP has prescribed medicine for anxiety, a Wobble does not change that; questions about medicine go to your GP or pharmacist. Wobble works before therapy or alongside it, never as a reason to drop NHS care you are already getting.

Who is Wobble not for?

Wobble is not for anyone in crisis, and it is not for people who need to sit with a therapist for an hour at a time. If you are in immediate danger or having thoughts of harming yourself, call 999 or go to A&E, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option, call Samaritans on 116 123, free, any time, or text SHOUT to 85258. Wobble is for people who are struggling but not in crisis, and a short safety screening sits in the same flow. It is also not the place for a diagnosis, a prescription or a medical opinion on a physical symptom: those belong with your GP. You need to be 18 or over to use Wobble.