Anxiety is a common natural reaction to a potential threat or fear which you haven’t experienced before. While common it places your body into a heightened state of awareness and when felt, it can make you feel on edge and fearful of the situation at hand. Due to the normality of anxiety that the body feels when faced with a potential fearful situation, it’s not an issue until you begin to feel anxiety frequently and often over irrational objects or situations that you normally wouldn’t be scared of or for no apparent reason at all.
If you’re experiencing anxiety or you know someone who is, this guide will give you the details of what actually happens in the mind of someone who is anxious and also steps you can take to help you through it. Let’s take a look.
How the brain works during an anxiety attack
There are several different parts of your brain which are key components in anxiety production. These key areas of the brain are the hippocampus and amygdala. Almond shaped in size, the amygdala is located deep within the brain and works by processing sensory incoming signals. It also works on interpreting these signals as well. When a threat is evident, the amygdala alerts the other parts of the brain that there’s a threat. This then triggers the anxiety response.
In the centre of the amygdala, emotional memories are stored and play a role in anxiety disorders. These memories play a major role in severe anxiety disorders that have a distinct fear such as flying, spiders, dogs or snakes for example. The hippocampus is the area of the brain that translates threatening events into memories which trigger an anxiety attack each time a person is faced with a threat from a previous time in their life.
Anxiety invokes a fight or flight response, the same that’s seen when someone experiences stress. When anxiety is triggered it causes stress hormones such as cortisol to enhance your heart rate, reflexes, speed, and circulation. Anxiety is always associated with apprehension, fear, and dread and is a deeper level of response than just a normal reaction to stressful situations. The problem is when anxiety persists or becomes a serious disorder such as in PTSD or in panic attacks, the brain fires on a continuous fight or flight loop which can interfere with a person’s way they function in everyday life.
Steps to support you getting over your anxiety
The steps you take to overcome your anxiety depends on how long you’ve had it and what triggers it. Some steps to help you get started on your road to recovery are:
- Seek professional help – Anxiety can be a serious and ongoing issue that without professional treatment can cause you to become debilitated in your everyday functioning. Seek professional help from a doctor, counsellor or psychologist. If necessary, a doctor can prescribe you anti-anxiety medication. A psychologist on the other hand can help you to work through any emotional past events that may be triggering the anxiety such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, grief, a traumatic experience or life changing event. It may also feel like there is no past experience that is causing your current anxiety, but talking to a professional will help support your journey through anxiety in any case. If living in Ireland here are links to find accredited therapists in your locality: iacp.ie, iahip.org and counsellingdirectory.ie
- Get support from home – It’s also important to surround yourself with friends and family that are supportive of you and aware of your anxiety. Don’t be afraid to share it with those who love you the most and that you can trust. Extra support through this challenging time is important. Keeping your anxiety a secret will not help you in the long term, so please do share your experience with loved ones.
- Eat and sleep well – Eating well is important. Try to cut down on junk food and high processed foods, opt for healthy options which contain essential nutrients. While sleeping can be difficult for someone who has anxiety, it’s important to try to get as much rest as possible to help the body recover after an anxiety session. If you have problems getting to sleep, try to listen to music, read a book, try meditation, breathing techniques to help you sleep, a warm bath or watch a quiet TV show.
- Try meditation – Meditation is great for helping you to relax during an anxious period. For beginners to meditation, it may take a while for you to retrain your brain but it is totally possible and everyone can do it. You could start with even just 3 minutes a day, and build it up. Meditation can be a simple as sitting on a chair, back straight, hands on your lap and focusing your mind on your breath, then when distracting thoughts come and take you away from your breath (which happens everyone) then you just bring your focus back to your breath, the inhale and the exhale. You could also focus on a specific visualisation such as an image you find calming, a flower, a candle, looking at a tree or the sea etc. as focusing on the breath can be difficult for some people with anxiety. Explore and find what works for you. Meditation is a powerful tool to help calm the mind and the nervous system.
- Reduce stimulants – When you’re dealing with anxiety, it’s important to work on reducing stimulants such as caffeine and alcohol which speeds up your body. The more stimulants you place into your body, the more anxiety you’ll feel, instead opt for water and healthy drinking habits.
- Slowly count down from 100 – When you’re in an anxious state, try to count down from 100. Counting down from 100 can help you to reduce your anxiety because you’re concentrating on something else. Even if you’re calmer half way through, continue to count down until you reach number 1.
- Try to practice Mindfulness throughout the day – Practicing mindfulness supports you in becoming more aware of your thoughts, along with supporting you to be more present in your day to day life, meaning you are not worrying about the past or stressing about the future as much. Try the 4 week starter Mindfulness course on A Lust for Life here.
- Learn your Triggers – Depending on what causes your anxiety, it’s important to try and recognise your triggers so you can better understand them. Some triggers you may be able to avoid, while others you may be able to work through them with professional help until you’re no longer afraid of them anymore. This will help you to cope better in real life.
Conclusion
Anxiety can be a scary and uncomfortable feeling that many people experience right around the world. It’s important to realise that anxiety, while common, doesn’t have to be your life. By understanding what happens in your mind and seeking out professional help soon after your anxiety has started, you have a better chance of feeling better before it takes over your life. Do you or someone you know live with anxiety on a daily basis? If so, take action today and get the help you deserve.
For more information on Janice’s work go to Psychologists Southern Sydney