Anxiety
It was a beautiful late Spring morning in back in 1993 as I stood in the phone box. I was sweating, my heart was racing and I my breathing was shallow. It was as if some invisible entity was giving me a bear hug. Yes it was that time of year again – exam time – anxiety. I was about to sit my finals at University. My whole life came down to these few short weeks. Failure would mean the end of everything, or so I thought.
“Just take a deep breath, go for a walk, clear your head and focus on this moment.” The voice on the end of the phone said.
“Thanks Mum” I replied, as the anxiety lifted almost immediately.
Can we really alleviate anxiety immediately? Well yes and no, I will explain later on.
What is Anxiety?
First, what is Anxiety? As you know anxiety is an unpleasant feeling. Subjective, unreal threats cause anxiety. They can be threats that are imagined or of the future. Anxiety is common, but not normal. It is the fear of something that does not exist. Anxiety is not real fear. Real fear is a natural reaction to real and immediate threats. We need fear to survive; it helps us to avoid injury or death. Anxiety produces the same effect for no reason; failing an exam will not kill you or injure you. I can assure you of that. It will mean very little to you in the years to come.
You see it is all the fault of the Amygdala. This is a structure in the old mammalian part of the brain, which has evolved to keep us out of danger. If there is perceived danger, it will set off a chain of events that releases chemicals to prepare our bodies for the danger and to make us feel bad, so we are sure to act. That would be fine if the danger signals were brief and spaced apart, like for our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Its bad news today with our crowded 24/7 lifestyles, not to mention 24 hour news broadcasters scouring the planet looking for some bad news to pipe into our living rooms.
Everyone knows anxiety is on the increase. Modern living is a stressful. Social media, emails, the want-everything-now mentality, all this breads dread. There is also so much choice about the simplest thing that this can paralyse us. Think about buying a toothbrush in your local supermarket; the choice is mind blowing.
What causes Anxiety?
Anxiety can be about anything and there are different degrees. The most serious is that we will meet with impending death. There is no obvious threat, but an underlying dread that we could die. Psychologists call this existential anxiety.
Then there are anxious feelings of a medical nature where one believes they are going to become ill or meet with some accident. Again there would be no clear reason why this is so.
My bout of anxiety all those years ago, I now know was about performance. This can be anything that involves you have to demonstrate your worth. For example sitting an exam or doing your driving test. Then there could be ongoing performance anxieties about money or your job. It can be even about keeping up appearances.
Social Anxiety
Another very common type of anxiety is stranger or social anxiety. Humans are social creatures but we have evolved to be careful with strangers until we can judge if they are a threat to us. It will also cause us to conform to the group and avoid confrontation. Where this becomes debilitating is when it stops us from functioning in today’s society. In business and sales, this could manifest as avoiding new business development. In social situations, it can stop us from enjoying parties or approaching a potential life partner.
There may also be hidden reasons from deep in childhood that can cause anxiety. Childhood competition with siblings is an example, when competing for mum’s attention. This can give an unconscious message of loss and competition, which later causes underlying feelings of dread. I’ve even read some literature in which the very act of being born and leaving the womb can give us an underlying base line of anxiety, well into adulthood.
Finally, some of the substances we take can act as stimulants, which can mimic the feelings of stress and anxiety. Things like smoking and drinking too much caffeine.
Back to 1993.
So there I was about to sit my final exams. I was up all night, fuelled by caffeine and cigarettes (I used to smoke back then) worrying about what might happen if I failed an exam. All it took to calm me down was fresh air, exercise and a sense of perspective.
How to stop anxiety.
What can you do if you are suffering from the effects of anxiety?
First, STOP whatever you are doing.
STOP.
Whenever you feel anxious, turn off the TV. Put the phone on silent. Come away from the computer or whatever device is on. If you are in the car turn off the radio. Limit the information coming in.
Next, BREATHE. Properly breathe from the diaphragm. Deep lung-fulls of fresh clean air. One quick check to see if you are breathing correctly is to see if your stomach goes in and out.
Then live in the now. What this means is stop thinking about the future. Mentally rewind back to today, then now. If your are feeling overwhelmed, just deal with what is here now immediately in front of you. See later on how to live in the here and now.
Stop and Breathe
So to answer the question whether we can stop anxiety immediately, just stopping what you are doing, breathing properly and focusing on the present moment will go a long way to alleviating the symptoms. It is from this place of centredness that you can now begin to address the issues.
If there is a particular thing you have been anxious about. Will it matter in 100 years? Will it really matter next year? If you do fail your test or exam, will it really matter in the scheme of things? You can always re-sit.
You can do many things for anxiety. I thoroughly recommend a daily practice of meditation. It helps with psychological health in many ways. This is another book on its own. Start meditating for a couple of minutes and build up, would be my advice.
Chemicals
Consider weaning yourself off caffeine. Go slowly with this, as cold turkey can be just as bad. Perhaps go from coffee to tea. Then later tea to decaffeinated tea or herbal tea. Obviously if you do smoke, it goes without saying, just quit.
Try herbal remedies like St John’s Wort
As I said before there may be some deep-rooted issues that need to be addressed. Be reassured though, things like therapy can help. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Hypnotherapy do work and I would suggest you consider these.
Before we move on, I will leave you with this thought. Imagine that anxiety is a huge mountain in your life, blocking your progress. As you stand at the foot of the mountain, it casts a large black shadow. You cannot see anyway past it. Now imagine getting into a car, perhaps you are the driver. As you drive away from the mountain, you notice in the rear view mirror you start to get some perspective. The mountain starts to get smaller and smaller until you can see it all. Stop and turn to face the mountain. Perhaps you can now see a path round it or even a tunnel through it. Perhaps there is an airport nearby and you can fly over it.
In the same way as you gain some perspective, some anxieties become insignificant. Other anxieties disappear altogether. Those that remain you will manage as they become easier and easier.