Welcome to anxiety 101! A friend (Samantha!) and I were chatting about the power of anxiety and how it affects lives. So I decided to write a blog about it. Here is some info about anxiety from a therapist’s perspective. (I’m experimenting with writing conversationally, so this might seem incredibly casual—it’s meant to.)
There are SO MANY options for managing anxiety, and what feels most right and effective to you will be your unique remedy. Hopefully, something in this feels helpful.
Rule Outs
Medical reasons and nutrition can be the root causes of anxiety. Let’s first rule both out.
The body has built-in responses to fear and perceived danger. Bless its heart, the body tries o help out by heightening our senses so we can be alert and defend ourselves from potential harm. The physical manifestations of anxiety (e.g., racing heart, difficulty breathing, dizziness, etc.) can feel like or come from real medical conditions. Please see a doctor and share your experience, how often you have it, what it’s like, what it feels like, if it pairs up to a stimulus, and anything you think might be helpful for that professional to know to potentially help you. You could be thinking you’re an anxious person when, in reality, you could have a medical condition that’s causing or amplifying your symptoms.
Additionally, irregular nutrition can heighten or cause symptoms experienced with anxiety. This might sound surprising, but increased anxiety can be caused by restricting or unbalancing your food intake—more on this in a later blog. But if you are eating wonky, you might try this experiment: eat “normal,” well-rounded, regularly, and without deprivation. See if your anxiety chills out.
Anxiety
A basic description of “anxiety” might be this: a feeling or experiencing unease. Worries, doubts, and fears are often viewed as “anxiety.” However, each can be normal, healthy parts of life.
A way to evaluate if there’s a problem with anxiety is to see a mental health professional such as a therapist or psychiatrist. The following can help your provider help you. Describe your anxiety’s severity, frequency, duration, and intrusiveness. How much does the worry, doubt, fear interrupt your life?
Anxiety happens on a spectrum from non-diagnosable mild unease to clinical panic attacks.
Panic Attack
A panic attack is a period of terror. Instead of being isolated to fearful thoughts and doubts, the body also engages in physical responses. In anticipation of potential harm, the body releases all sorts of signals and chemicals to help you to survive what’s perceived as on the way. Ys, we ever-so-privatively kick into fight-or-flight responses. And, there is a third, too. It’s not always spoken about but can also be a legit reaction to intense fear: freeze.
I remember in grad school, they said that the average panic attack is around 10 minutes of terror. In reality, it can be shorter or longer. For the person experiencing that severe mind unease accompanied by physical fight, flight, or freeze responses, minutes can feel like an hour. And no matter which survival instinct your body chooses for you, the result can be a really uncomfortable experience!
How you might experience panic
- You might sense that your heart is racing.
- For some, it can seem that they might be having heart problems or a heart attack. (The heart is nothing to mess around with, and I’d rather see you go to the ER and be told it was a panic attack versus not acting on an actual heart attack. OK?).
- You might think you’re going to pass out, or you feel dizzy.
- You might anticipate that something terrible is going to happen.
- You might experience the sensation of body temp changes (e.g., sweats or chills).
- You might have a need to urinate or defecate.
- Maybe your extremities feel weird, like tingling.
- Maybe you struggle with regulating your breathing.
- You might deal with other physical symptoms.
There’s no standard formula for how you might experience a panic attack. My guess is that you’ll have your own unique combination of a number of these and possibly other symptoms.
Cued vs. Uncued Panic Attack
There are two kinds of panic attacks: cued and uncued.
Let’s say that being around huge dogs triggers “panic” for you. That would be “cued” panic because there is something that activates the intense fear. On the other hand, uncued panic is what I see as even meaner to the sufferer. If I know that I’m going to have a panic attack around a tarantula, I can at least have the comfort of knowing. Whereas if I have an uncued panic attack, it drops in on a person for seemingly no reason and out of nowhere. Some people fear going out in public because they fear being witnessed having an uncued panic attack.
See what I mean? Uncued adds another potential fear on top of fear.
Help for Anxiety/Panic
Research shows that talk therapy and medication are often helpful for calming or managing anxiety. Adjuncts might also include movement and mindfulness.
Therapy
I’m a therapist, so I obviously super believe in this form of help and the transformative nature of it. And your therapist should not make you feel bad about what you think and feel. If they do, a reminder: you have a choice. Go to someone who SUPPORTS you, and you think you might trust at some point.
Medication
Sometimes, we may require a chemical bump through medication, too. Over and over, I have seen people get to become who they have always wanted to be. However, the anxiety hadn’t let them before medications. Though I do not believe that medicine is the frontline solution for all mental struggles, I see good results once the doctor and the person find the right medication for the person. I have seen people finally claim who and how they want to be in the world. It’s like the meds let them practice changing their ways with more ease.
A common worry I hear from people with anxiety is a fear that medication will change them or numb them out. All bodies are different. We just don’t know, but generally, I have not seen that. I have experienced people who wanted to keep most of their anxiety because they appreciated how it helped them. But they wanted to shave off where it got in their way. I think we, me included, sometimes forget that we have a say and a choice with our health. I encourage you to have open and frank discussions with your providers.
MOVEMENT & MINDFULNESS
Movement can help a person’s brain chemistry to better deal with or even get a slight break from the worry. HINT: Pick an activity you enjoy so that you are likely to keep it up. That’s why I didn’t say “exercise.” The “e” word tends to imply movement that is punishing. NO! Seek neutral to pleasant physical action.
Mindfulness (e.g., meditation in its various forms) can help train the person and their anxiety to behave more like the person wishes. Since our brains are not totally set in stone, there’s a lot we can change with practice, insight, choice, desire, and willingness. Maybe try mindfulness practices. If one form doesn’t feel useful, you may need to find a style that is tolerable or enjoyable, and you may need to try it for long enough to see mindfulness practices might help you or not.
Keep going…
This is your journey. Though you may have tried lots of different methods already to change, sometimes it requires more practice (there is no 30-day form a habit type formula—sorry!), a different practitioner, or something else. Who knows what. But please stay open… Take a break if you need it and try again.
More of the life you want is out there and waiting for you. If it’s behind what I call a cling wrap-wall you have not yet busted through, keep open and persistent. Defeat and frustration can become hope and joy. Keep going…
