ANXIETY
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling that we all experience at some times. It is a word that we often
use when we are feeling nervous, tense or uncomfortable. When we are feeling
anxious we can often have a number of uncomfortable physical sensations such as ;
•Fast heart beat
•Tight muscles
•Sweating
•Shaking or Trembling
•Feeling out of breath
•Headaches
•Nausea
In addition to physical sensations we normally experience worry and sometimes we can feel this is out of our control. Usually we jump from one thought to another and can experience lots of different worries about different things. We often avoid doing things when we feel anxious because we are worried about what will happen. Anxiety is normal and is experienced by everyone, however at times we can feel that this has become unmanageable and challenging. This can have a big impact on your life.
Our anxious feelings are as a result of something called the ‘Fight or Flight’ response which is our inbuilt survival instinct that is triggered during a situation we perceive as threatening.
What is Fight or Flight?
Like all other animals, human beings have evolved ways to help us protect ourselves from dangerous, life-threatening situations. When you feel under
threat your body releases hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which help physically prepare you to either fight the danger or run away from it.
These hormones can:
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•make you feel more alert, so you can act faster
•make your heart beat faster to carry blood quickly to where it’s needed most
Then when you feel the danger has passed, your body releases other hormones to help your muscles relax, which may cause you to shake. This is commonly called the ‘fight or flight’ response – it’s something that happens automatically in our bodies, and we have no control over it. In modern society we don’t usually face situations where we need to physically fight or flee from danger, but our biological response to feeling threatened is still the same. (Mind, 2017).