With the always-on-the-go, technology-loaded lifestyles we lead these days, I am hearing more and more about an ‘anxiety epidemic’.
Anxiety is not new.
It’s a valued human instinct, felt in various ways, used to alert us to possible dangers; a necessary survival-tool when a fear needs to engage our ‘fight or flight’ response.
However, anxiety is a bit like a credit card – brilliant if used correctly and under control, but, if it is allowed to ‘go rogue,’ we’re in trouble.
Has our fear-response gone rogue, rendering us over-anxious?
To tackle any ‘disorder’ you have to have some understanding of what it is and its effects. I am no psychologist, however, I have a few ideas on why there’s possibly more anxiety around:
Our brains’ bombardment with information twenty-four hours a day is not natural; we are diurnal organisms; we are supposed to be totally at rest and asleep for 8 of our 24 hours.
We were not built to withstand the effects of almost-constant screen-time. Yes, we’ll eventually adapt, however, evolution does not happen overnight. We may evolve faster than our ancestors, but faster in evolutionary terms is not fast at all.
For now, to keep pace with this never-experienced-before-in-human-development explosion of technology in our lives, there has to be a cost: that cost, I think, is being paid with widespread GAD – Generalised Anxiety Disorder.
What is this?
It is a general label the medical and psychological professions have given patients presenting with low-grade, but ever-present, feelings of anxiety, which has gone out of control, affecting their lives negatively.
It’s a spectrum: you can be anywhere along its line, from mildly anxious to all-out terrified and debilitated. The worrying thing is that it is seemingly presenting in younger and younger people.
Anxiety today seems to centre on control, or more correctly, the lack of control, in and over our lives. In a time when we can affect our environments by a myriad of remote devices, the idea that we may not, in reality, be in control at all seems frightening.
Our frenetic lifestyles make us ‘react rather than reason’, which is ironic, as our brains have developed probably at the fastest rate in human evolution in the last forty years or so. Reacting ignites our Amygdalae (the parts of our brains controlling emotions, including our ‘fight or flight’ fear-response) far too frequently. These responses override our higher intellect (right and left prefrontal cortex) that processes the messages our brain receives, allowing reasonable and rational thought, enabling decisions and choices.
We are confusing our brains!
Despite how intelligent we are, we also have become adept at ‘fooling ourselves’; we believe the stories our brains tell us from memories as if they’re facts, rather than what is right there in front of us, in the present.
The amygdala ‘remembers’ fears as a safeguard, so it is thought to be the reason humans have phobias – ‘Bitten by a dog? You’re not going to put yourself in that particular firing-line again….look what happened last time!’ This is good, but not if it’s an ‘always-on’ response.
GAD runs a constant background programme of fear and anxiety in our heads, causing us to be afraid of our own shadows. These shadows are becoming more distinct and taking on ‘real’ properties, rendering us routinely stressed-out, on edge, expecting the worst to happen, as an emotional default-setting.
How we ‘deal’ with this is by desperately trying to ‘have control’ over our surroundings; our environment, families, friends; our actions, others’ actions, our children.
More of our homes now have robotic aids, and this is only going to increase:
‘Alexa? Turn on the lights!’, ‘Siri? Sing Happy Birthday’, ‘Hey Google? Plan my wedding, and while you’re at it, pick up the kids and walk the dog….’
Perfection has become the ‘Holy Grail’, as perfection does no wrong; doesn’t get old; doesn’t get sick.
As humans we are perfectly imperfect, however, we have to endure the constant exhortation to be mindless consumers of all-you-can-eat acquisition, fuelled by always-on technology and the pursuit of instant gratification; while being Insta-ready, popular and cool.
This does not equate with being calm, happy, healthy and fit of mind and body.
So what can we do about GAD?
Well, Buddhist teachings recommend us ‘to let go of control’, as trying to be ‘in control’ is what causes human suffering.
I am beginning to agree.
We may need to lose the idea that we are in control at all…..
Scary, right?
Yes, but what is scarier is the idea that we can outsmart the Universe; Mother Nature herself. Because we can’t.
But is this realisation not going to make us even more anxious?!
No.
Buddhist philosophies say that by relinquishing control we are, paradoxically, calming ourselves down; as we are trusting in the Universe; trusting in the powers of positivity; trusting in our own resilience to be capable of dealing with stuff AS IT ARISES, which will ease anxiety and worry.
The anticipation of the mayhem that could befall us makes us forget to live our lives in joy, contentment and freedom from fear.
Things work out.
We really have no way of knowing how or why. But they do.
And when they don’t? we have options:
We can practice acknowledgement and acceptance.
We can make decisions and choices.
We don’t have to keep fighting with reality; it’s all this fighting that makes us afraid, anxious and stressed-out.
When we are in the grip of ‘panic attacks’, the way we are told to deal with them is to ‘go with them, don’t fight them’; just allow yourself to breath deeply and the wonderful autonomic nervous systems we are equipped with will always, ALWAYS, calm us down, bringing us back into equilibrium.
When we hit ice on the road and the car starts skidding, we’re told to ‘turn into the skid’, not away from it, and the car will finally stop.
Two very scary options but they seem to work.
I have also finally realised that anxiety, packaged in Generalised Anxiety Disorder, is ‘a state of control’:
It is a subtle attempt at keeping you safe as if you are anxious, you cut yourself off; you control your movements; eventually paralysing you from taking actions.
It is just an exaggerated form of your Internal Saboteur – that voice within that tells you not to put yourself in danger. But what this voice (your amygdalae) wants is for you to have zero engagements with the world, as this is the only way, in practice, to assure your ‘safety’.
This, as we know deep down, is not living……
So, by allowing ‘control’ to exit your toolbox of coping strategies, replacing it with ‘going with the flow’ as much as you can, you can start to ‘manage’ your anxiety. The more you do this, the easier it will become.
The world is not as scary as your mind likes to think it is. What we make up in our heads can be so much scarier.
And if reality turns out to be really bad, well, we can do all we can to deal with these situations;
by slowing down, taking our time, becoming aware of our anxieties, their causes and effects
by seeking the help that is always available; don’t try and do it on your own if you are feeling anxious and overwhelmed.
then by engaging in our strengths and resilience to make our lives better and recover.
As Mark Twain said, ‘I have lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened’
Caveat: This is an opinion piece talking about low-grade, general anxiety which can spiral into life-limiting activity. This article is written from a positivity, practical and possibly preventative point of view and is in no way negating, or making light of, acute or chronic anxiety or depressive conditions. WLC.
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