How to cope with anxiety?

Anxiety is a psychological state, and it would be logical to assume that it manifests itself mainly in emotional or mental disorders, and physiology has nothing to do with it. However, there is a direct link between anxiety and bodily ailments.

It is useless to fight your brain, but it is quite possible to negotiate with it. The fact is that anxiety “hides” in everyday habits. Whether going to teen patti real cash game every day or being regularly late for transportation. Oddly enough, our brain takes them as a kind of reward, a positive reinforcement, and therefore refuses to part with them.

Before trying to change something, you must identify your nervous habits. Only after that can you gradually convince your brain that there is nothing of value in them and create a new behavior model.

Everyone will probably name a few physical signs of anxiety:

• Chills or trembling;
• redness of the skin;
• increased sweating;
• nausea;
• rapid heartbeat.

However, those who suffer from a chronic anxiety disorder, including panic attacks, phobias, and general or social anxiety, experience more persistent symptoms, even when there is no reason to worry.

These conditions resemble severe illnesses, but many are unaware of their true nature. Instead, they worry that they have a heart condition, chronic migraines, or other health problems. Consequently, the anxiety escalates into neuroses and lingering stresses.

Physical symptoms.

Dizziness

A person falls into a half-fainting state as if the ground is slipping from under his feet and he is about to fall. It most often happens in a crowd or an open space. People become anxious as soon as they feel a slight faint. They are afraid of stumbling, falling, or fainting in a public place, which makes them even dizzier and increases their anxiety.

These fears often develop into a desire to avoid anything that may cause the symptom, including physical activity and strong impressions.

Chest pain

When frightened or shocked, acute chest pain is usually accompanied by a rapid heartbeat and intermittent breathing. Similar sensations occur with a heart attack, so many people fear for their lives. They call an ambulance and get frustrated with doctors when they don’t find clinical signs of a heart condition.

Meanwhile, in a study of 150 patients complaining of chest pain, 59% showed signs of an anxiety disorder. Another study confirmed that people who suspected they had a heart attack were found to have anxiety far more often than the cardiac disease.

Headaches.

Tension or “tension headaches” and migraines often indicate an anxiety disorder, although the primary factors vary.

 

• Sleep disturbances. Most often, insomnia and other sleep problems occur against a background of nervous tension: anxious people are constantly not getting enough sleep, which can provoke a migraine.
• Lack of serotonin. This neurotransmitter regulates our emotional state. When it is deficient, mental disorders develop, including anxiety. When serotonin levels drop drastically, blood vessels constrict, and the headache begins.
• General stress. In stressful situations, muscles tighten involuntarily, and if this condition lingers, the body responds with a headache. In addition, emphasis is considered the most common cause of migraines.

Digestive disorders

According to medics, the reason is that nerve fibers connect the intestines and the brain. Therefore, anxiety instantly signals to the gastrointestinal tract and manifests in somatic illnesses. When nervous or anxious, many feel a fluttering feeling in the stomach or mild nausea.

However, chronic anxiety manifests itself with more severe ailments:

• abdominal cramps;
• diarrhea or vomiting;
• constipation;
• appetite disorders;
• peptic ulcer disease;
• irritable bowel syndrome.

The fear that vomiting or diarrhea might happen in public is morally depressing and increases anxiety. Moreover, prolonged GI dysfunction interferes with everyday life and leads to severe personality disorders.

Difficulty breathing.

In a state of anxiety, it is difficult to breathe. It manifests in various ways, from hyperventilation and rapid breathing to choking and shortness of breath. These symptoms are usually erratic. They may recur in stressful situations, danger, or nervous excitement. For example, people often feel like they have forgotten how to breathe during a panic attack. These feelings are very frightening and exacerbate anxiety disorder.

Numbness in the limbs

Anxious people describe this sensation as a tingling sensation in the numb palms, forearms, calves, and feet. It is how the body responds to general overstimulation. In response to the threat, the body reallocates resources: blood drains from the extremities and rushes to more critical organs, such as the heart.

In addition, numbness and tingling can be caused by hyperventilation. When breathing frequently and deeply, the blood becomes over-oxygenated, and the carbon dioxide level drops below normal. As a result, blood vessels narrow, and blood stops flowing to areas the body does not consider critical.

Chronic pain of unclear origin

Studies showed that 45% of patients with chronic pain suffered from an anxiety disorder. In addition, this group was found to experience more intense pain and complained more often about life.

These same people were also less tolerant of pain and were more likely to be caught in an excruciating cycle of multiple symptoms:

• felt depressed and worried that the pain would get worse;
• refused to do anxiety-reducing exercises because they feared they would be in pain;
• concerned that another attack would cripple them.

In addition, it has been noted that highly anxious people who have long suffered from chronic pain often develop depression.

Consequences of anxiety

Anxiety’s emotional and physiological manifestations result from the body’s “fight or flight” response. Once the body enters this mode, hormone levels spike and trigger anxiety mechanisms.

Although anxiety serves the vital purpose of preparing to face external threats, if the body is in “fight or flight” mode too often or for too long, health problems begin to occur.

Medical research has proven a direct link between prolonged anxiety and several diseases:

• heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases;
• hypertension;
• irritable bowel syndrome;
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory pathologies.

Helpful therapies

People experiencing physiological manifestations of anxiety work with a psychotherapist who helps identify and overcome its likely causes. Specific therapies, including cognitive-behavioral and exposure therapy, teach skills to reduce anxiety in everyday situations.

In addition, therapists may offer:

• Breathing exercises to deal with hyperventilation;
• Coping strategies and lifestyle changes to control headaches;
• relaxation techniques to relieve muscle tension;
• stress management techniques to prevent psychosomatic illness.

Because the physiological symptoms of an anxiety disorder are much the same as serious illnesses, it is highly recommended that you see a specialist doctor first. Especially if you are not sure about the causes of the malaise, and only after ruling out medical problems, go to a psychotherapist.