Anxiety
Find relief from anxiety
We will all experience anxiety at some point in our lives.
Anxiety essentially alerts us to a perceived threat of some kind. It is an experience designed to keep us safe.
It is more about the future than the present though, focusing on what might happen...the what if's, rather than what is actually happening.
When we experience anxiety, we may feel a sense of unease, have thoughts that something bad may happen and we can experience different physical symptoms too; a tight chest, unsettled tummy, nausea, tingling skin and palpitations being just a few.
If feelings of anxiety are particularly strong, or persist for a long time, it can be a distressing and overwhelming experience.
Stressful Experiences
It is natural to experience anxiety in response to common stressful experiences, such as taking a driving test, sitting exams, interviews, starting a new job, giving a presentation etc.
Some people will experience more anxiety than others, but symptoms usually settle and disappear after these events have passed...the threat to us is no longer present.
Other stressful experiences that can be common triggers are health concerns, adjusting to change, bereavement and loss, fluctuating hormones, medications, skipping meals, financial or housing difficulties, working too many hours, caffeine, alcohol and conflict.
Sometimes, everyday experiences such as shopping, socialising with friends, visiting specific places or experiencing certain smells may trigger anxiety.
This can be confusing for us if we don't understand why?
Difficult or traumatic childhood experiences can also be triggers for anxiety in adulthood.
The level of stress we experience in a situation will depend upon how we perceive it, what it might mean to us, along with our ability to manage it.
Fear or Anxiety?
Although there are overlaps in how symptoms are experienced, fear does differ from anxiety.
Fear is experienced when there is a clear, defined threat, rather than a sense of vague, potential danger.
'Fight', 'Flight', 'Freeze' , 'Fawn'
Our body's natural response to the stress of any threat, actual or perceived, is to activate the sympathetic nervous system so that we can escape or survive the danger.
We may experience fight, flight, freeze or fawn responses.
We do not get to consciously choose our response and we may also experience more than one.
Once we start to recognise our own stress responses, we can learn how to work with these.
Back to Safety
Our parasympathetic nervous system switches off the alert and we gradually move back to a place of feeling calm and safe when we recognise that there is no threat present.
Slowing things down, bringing our attention to our bodies, to all of our senses, especially our breathing, is an effective way of grounding and soothing ourselves.
Going for a walk in nature, mindfulness, talking to someone who can offer us empathy and compassion are also excellent ways of helping us to regulate ourselves.
Feeling Stuck
If we are experiencing long term, chronic stress, we may find that we feel stuck.
This can lead to our sleep patterns and even our immune systems becoming negatively affected.
We may recognise avoidance behaviours such as comfort eating or drinking too much alcohol, mindlessly scrolling through social media, avoiding going to certain places etc.
Some avoidance behaviours may feel like self-care in the short term, but they actually reinforce anxiety and can ultimately add to our stress levels even further.
Trauma
If we have experienced a traumatic event, it can naturally take a few weeks, maybe months for our responses to settle.
If symptoms are not decreasing after approx 4 weeks, or they only begin to be experienced after this time, it is useful to check in with our GP to discuss the potential of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).