Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. Natural response? Great!
That sounds normal, right? Stress? Well, we all have stress.
Unfortunately, it is not that simple.
Anxiety is a trigger response that can be mild or severe. Often more intense and shorter-lived as in an anxiety attack. Any “phobia” can cause anxiety in the instant where you face such circumstances. From claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), arachnophobia (fear of spiders). Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian (Fear of long words – check it out! Even that word causes me stress 😊).
Frequent anxiety attacks can lead to chronic depression and the formation of habits that exclude you from society, hold you firmly in the grip of unhappiness, despair, and a sense of hopelessness.
Common symptoms may include some or all of the following:
- You feel restless, wound-up, nervous, or on-edge
- You have a sense of impending danger, panic, or doom
- You have rapid breathing or shortness of breath
- You feel tired
- You can not concentrate on the task in front of you
- You are irritable
- You have difficulty controlling feelings of worry
- You experience sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, restlessness, or unsatisfying sleep
- You have an increased heart rate, sweating, or trembling
- You experience excessive worrying or feelings of dread
- You have headaches, backaches, or other muscle pains
There are many techniques that help with Anxiety here are a few to normalize the symptoms.
- Take a time-out
- Practice the 3 by 3 method
- Proper nutrition
- Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can aggravate anxiety and trigger panic attacks
- Get enough sleep
- Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health
- Take deep breaths
- Understand the root cause of the anxiety
- Talk with a counselor
It is important to realize that all these feelings and symptoms can be helped. You CAN live a life free from anxiety and feel more positive and at peace in the day-to-day choices you make.