So much is said about the question of anxiety and its profile has certainly been raised recently. However, it can be misunderstood, feared and unfortunately still comes with some stigma! Isn’t anxiety something ‘weak’ people suffer from? Well guess what, no it isn’t! All of us experience some levels of anxiety at certain times in our lives and we are all vulnerable to its power over us. How come you may ask? Well let’s have a quick and very simple look at what it actually is.
Basically anxiety is the brain’s survival mechanism and, as such, is intended to be attention grabbing. Fundamentally simplifying the process means imagining our brains constantly on the look-out for threats to our safety and survival. These threats can be thought of as triggers and they are very individual to us all. In other words what makes me anxious may not make someone else anxious and visa versa.
As soon as a threat is detected the brain sends a message via the sympathetic nervous system to the adrenal gland to pump the hormone adrenaline around the body (along with some other stress hormones) to prepare your body to run away, stand and fight or perhaps freeze. This is a physiological response to stress causing a range of reactions such as increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased blood glucose levels and problems with your digestive system.
Now if you are a sportsperson and say you are about to run 100m in a competition, you will need plenty of adrenaline pumping around your body to prepare it to run or if you are a boxer to prepare your body to fight. Once you have reached the finish line or fought several rounds in the ring, you will have used up all the adrenaline and your body can return to its normal state. However, when we are faced with threats generally we do not need the adrenaline and are not using it up so our bodies are flooded with it. In other words too much adrenaline in the body is what causes the physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety, of which there are many – some more obvious than others.
Too much adrenaline is all anxiety is I hear you asking?? – well no but it is the main culprit causing anxiety to feel so awful and at times utterly overwhelming. Furthermore over time and constant stress, the sympathetic nervous system can become overdeveloped and hypervigilant, increasing the risk of experiencing anxiety more often and more intensely. At the same time the parasympathetic nervous system (the calming, restorative side of the system) can become underdeveloped and less likely to manage to switch the brain off or balance our wellbeing.
What to do!!!!!!
First up – Learn not fear anxiety but rather accept it as a natural process. Take on board that whether we suffer from anxiety or not is nothing to do with any sort of strength of character but know that we are all vulnerable and will experience it in our lives. Also begin to believe that there is plenty that we can do ourselves to at least manage our levels of anxiety and the symptoms it creates.
Secondly learn to recognise our own triggers and our symptoms which will vary wildly – there are a lot of different physical and psychological symptoms, some more obvious than others. Seek help in doing this, as not always easy.
Thirdly do something!!! Learn some tried and tested coping strategies. Introduce exercise and regular relaxation into your life, as well as have a check on your diet – are you having a lot of daily caffeine and/high sugar drinks? Develop an emergency ‘toolkit’ of anxiety busting techniques that work for you and practice them. Some of these include slow and deep breathing, muscle relaxation exercises, grounding techniques using all your senses and listening to music/meditation apps or simply getting outside into nature!
Finally I believe that trying to develop an ‘I can do’ attitude, despite feeling anxious, is very important and not falling into the mind-set of ‘owning’ our anxiety. I believe that by saying ‘my anxiety’ brings it very close to you and gives a sense of helpless inevitability to its power. How about adopting the language that says ‘there is that anxious thought again or that symptom is ‘just anxiety’. Give it a try and good luck!