Anxiety

I cannot think of anyone who has never ever had some anxiety in their life. It can be a minor anxiety or a major anxiety that lasts far too long. In therapy terms we can call it the stress response, and stress is perfectly normal. We have inherited the same stress response as our ancestors who had to fight off dangerous animals to survive and eat. To hunt down large animals would take courage, but also a body response. If we need to be on full alert, that means our heart has to work harder to enable us to run if we have to. The natural chemical in our brain called adrenalin kicks in and enables this to happen. Our circulation changes and our eyesight becomes more profound. Once we have killed the Woolly Mammoth our body can return to normal. All in a day's work for primitive man.

In this century the Woolly Mammoth is the office, a supermarket, or factory. We are faced with stresses every day. Driving on the roads can seem a like a hurdle some days, or queuing in a supermarket has challenges for some of us. Just recall the last time you were in a supermarket in a hurry, and the person in front of you is slow, and only reaches for their purse when they have packed away their goods. Or something has to be returned from their goods, and you have to wait until an assistant goes to change it. Ever felt some stress at that point? For most of us we relax when it is our turn and we can leave the supermarket.

What about meetings at work or with the boss? Our stress levels can rise and perhaps stay high throughout the day, particularly if the meeting does not go well. This means our body is on alert for too long, and then we wonder why we feel a lack of energy at the end of the day, or even when we wake up in the morning! It is no wonder you feel tired if you have been fighting Woolly Mammoths for days on end.

The worst case of anxiety is a panic attack. This can happen when you are minding your own business one day and suddenly you feel hot, your heart is pounding, you may feel sick or think you are going to faint. The stress response has been triggered for some reason or another. Usually it is because you have been going through a stressful period for some time, and this panic attack is your body's way of telling you enough is enough. You usually want to respond to the anxiety attack because they are so stressful for you. They leave you feeling drained and afraid. And then of course you begin to worry about when the next one might arrive so you begin the vicious circle of being anxious about being anxious.

Learning how to relax and all the different techniques which can be used can be really helpful, and although it may take some time to get rid of those panic attacks completely, you will start to feel better. Medication can also help, but it does not deal with what is really making you stressful. Even stressful things that happened many years ago and have not been dealt with can create panic attacks much later. It often surprises people how things that have been suppressed can have a way of re-surfacing again.

Learning to relax is not easy. It takes time and effort, but well worthwhile for your health and well-being.