Feeling Anxious About Anxiety

Anxiety

Have you ever felt scared for reasons you couldn’t explain to anyone else? Maybe you felt your chest grow tight, your arms grow numb, and you felt unnaturally aware of your own heartbeat when you normally never hear it. This can be because of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety is extremely common, but sometimes the anxiety doesn’t go away and lasts for weeks at a time. This article will show you simple ways to recognize anxiety and ways to cope with it.

Feeling Anxious About Anxiety

Anxiety can be the worst feeling in the world.

It’s bad enough to deal with a problem once, but anxiety makes you suffer from a problem twice. First when you encounter a problem. Then twice when your body goes into a panic trying to fight an invisible enemy that doesn’t exist and then fizzles out, leaving you exhausted.

Your body responds to a big problem by giving you energy, making your heart race, your forehead sweat, your muscles tight and tense. All of this energy is supposed to help you take action so you can survive.

But people with anxiety disorders have invisible enemies and fears thrown at them at the most random times for seemingly no obvious reason whatsoever.

Their nervous system is overstimulated and given a constant barrage of fight-or-flight situations that never seem to end.

The problem then feeds on itself to grow worse with time.

It ruins your sleep, which prevents your body from healing, which makes it more prone to being unable to deal with problems, which in turn leads to more anxiety.

The cycle of worry gets worse and worse as your body grows more and more tired. Anxious people find themselves living in states of high anxiousness, then complete exhaustion, never finding a moment of moderation and peace.

Do I Have Anxiety?

Ask yourself the following questions.

• Do you ever experience so much worry that you get tired and worn out?
• Do you have problems sleeping because you’re too worried?
• Do you ever experience shortness of breath, heart palpitations, or a fear of dying out of the blue?
• Do you avoid social situations and places because you don’t want to have anxiety in front of other people?
• Do you have to go out of your way to accommodate your anxiety?
• Do you find yourself constantly thinking about the past, present, and future?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then you might have an anxiety disorder.

What Are The Symptoms Of Anxiety?

Anxiety has a huge range of symptoms, here are just a few:

• Indigestion
• Shortness of breath
• Headaches
• Random body aches
• Random numb limbs
• Dry mouth
• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness
• Chest pain
• Back pain
• Having a sense of impending doom
• Excessive sweating
• Trembling
• Feeling weak and tired
• Nervousness
• Feeling panic or terror
• Sleeping too much
• Sleeping too little

How To Cope With Anxiety

The biggest obstacle when managing anxiety is the art of catastrophizing. This is when you imagine the worst-case scenarios for every little thing and over-analyze situations because you’re worried. It’s especially important for anxious persons to allow themselves to fail at relaxation. Failing is not the end of the world. You can fail at something many times before you eventually succeed. Allow yourself to enjoy the process of relaxation without being too worried if you succeed or not.

With that in mind, let’s look at some effective ways to manage your anxiety.

Move Your Body

Low-intensity exercises such as walking can be very relaxing. It’s important to have a safe release valve when you’re anxious. Walking, yoga, stretching, are all great ways to run through the adrenaline when you feel anxious, and your nerves just won’t calm down. Many people feel scared of having panic attacks when exercising, and that’s okay. Choose any exercise that’s within your comfort zone and try to consistently engage in it.

Focus On Sleep

Lack of sleep can exacerbate any anxiety symptoms.

Sleep deprivation changes your glucose metabolism to give you more adrenaline. Make sure to have a night-time routine to wind your body down. Keep away from bright lights at least an hour before sleep, and try some ritual meditation before you sleep to calm your nerves.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Tense your muscles. Tense your muscles when you inhale, relax your muscles when you exhale. Start from your toes. Move through your calves, knees, thighs, buttocks, back, stomach, chest, arms, shoulders, neck, and head.

Practice tensing and relaxing the muscles throughout your body to force your body to relax and trigger your parasympathetic system.

How Can I Treat My Anxiety?

Talk with your healthcare provider.

Anti-anxiety medications and cognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) are effective and safe ways to manage anxiety.

CBT teaches you different ways of thinking and behaving. It helps you understand what your anxious triggers are, how to react to them, and how to control your worries.

Anti-anxiety medications such as benzos and beta-blockers can help you calm down as you seek therapy to fix the root of your problems.

If you or someone you know has an anxiety disorder, you can consult Kaiser Insurance on our 24/7 advice line for guidance.

This advice line guides you through all your options so that someone in your specific position can receive the best possible care.

Our facilities in Aurora are open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for appointments.

Click here to view our anxiety therapists accepting new clients.