Overcoming Anxiety

What does it feel like?

Anxiety can be defined as disorganised fear and this also serves as a helpful collection of words to describe how it feels. A sort of creeping, underlying fear about things that may or may not happen, a sense of losing control or worry about unpredictable events. Your brain is a prediction machine and accepting that when you brain is struggling to do what it needs to, fear and anxiety can be a logical response.

Anxiety can be deeply or mildly unsettling and uncomfortable. Understanding what is giving you the sensations in the moment by tracing the source and putting a name to it can be super helpful for calming down the anxiety response.

Potential causes and upstream influences… find out what your body may be trying to tell you.

• It can start in childhood. Childhood is a special time to learn to risk assess, self-regulate and develop self-efficacy and self-esteem through problem solving. Through no ill-intentions, many parents in the hopes of reaching 21st century standards are robbing their children of the chance to problem solve and risk assess. It is by fixing the bike yourself, doing chores, falling on the playground and getting back up that we develop a sense of self-efficacy. Confidence and agency are to be gained in all these little opportunities of having to try again and solve problems. Perhaps your big-hearted parents unknowingly did not give you enough of these opportunities in an effort to be helpful. Giving yourself the opportunity to problem solve, persist and do hard things is the ultimate way to gain confidence and efficacy and alleviate anxiety. Knowing you can handle a situation from prior experience and practice is a game changer for mental health! How can you do this?
  – Start a hobby like wood craft or take up a challenge of some other kind that requires persistence and effort.
  – Start a challenging new sport or push yourself in a meaningful way through exercise.
  – Confront a fear. Perhaps this is bungy jumping to get over heights or even rock climbing! Allowing your brain to learn how to risk assess is incredibly helpful for anxiety.

• Modern lifestyles and stress. Stress and busyness can easily lead to overwhelm and a sense of losing control. These feelings are closely associated with anxiety and whilst the ideal world would see us setting more boundaries and dialling back our work load, sometimes this isn’t an option. Stress management and appraisal techniques are therefore helpful for overcoming our modern lifestyles and stress.
  – Change your internal dialogue, that voice in your head, to give more positive evaluations. Example: “Work is busy at the moment but it won’t last forever and I can handle it”
  – Tell yourself it is a challenge that you are up for.
  – Connect with others to laugh and decompress.
  – Exercise regular to blow off steam, increase resilience and feelings of agency.
• Lack of connection and purpose. Sometimes anxiety can be a listlessness or a lack of direction. Having a purpose that serves goal directed behaviour and a channel for effort can be supremely soothing against anxiety. We innately want to feel as though our actions mean something and that our lives have meaning. Developing a purpose and reminding yourself what it is regularly will buffer anxiety.
  In today’s world we have become disconnected from each other. Instead of noticing the smile or the facial expressions of the person across us to sooth our risk assessing brains, we are letting this system rust by relying on social media. Attempt less screen time and deeper connection with those around you to decrease anxiety.
• The hormonal factor
  Progesterone promotes feelings of wellbeing and calm. When this hormone is low (such as in the luteal phase) or deficient for some reason (nutrition, lack of sleep etc), the result can be anxiety. Progesterone can be boosted naturally through supplements like VItex and supported by ensuring you are consuming enough of the nutrients needed to make it in your body such as iron and l-theanine. This will be discussed more in part ten of this series.

Some other helpful practices are:

• Putting boundaries on social media. Try turning your phone off once in a while, checking it less and logging out of social media for extended periods of time.
• Keep a journal so you can gain self-awareness, unwind and understand your feelings better.
• Develop a breath work or meditation practice

Make these swops to nourish your body and decrease the upstream physical causes of anxiety

• Swop caffeine for decaffeinated options.
• Texting for real life interactions
• Sugar for lower GI sweet foods like syrup and small amounts of honey or maple syrup
• alcohol for non-alcoholic herbal mocktails, kombucha, naturally flavoured soda waters, alcohol free spirits

Helpful, natural supplements to support you as you address the route causes.

• Vitex: promotes progesterone activity in the body.
• GABA: down regulates activity in the amygdala (feel centre of the brain).
• Reishi mushroom powder: promotes feelings of calm
• Glycine: down regulates activity in the hippocampus (area of brain responsible for planning etc.).

Further reading and resources

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/men-women/female-health/contents/about

Charis, C., Panayiotou, G., ProQuest  issuing body, & ProQuest  issuing body. (2024). Anxiety Disorders and Related Conditions : Conceptualization and Treatment from Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioral Perspectives. (1st edition). Springer.

Roseberry, K., Le-Niculescu, H., Levey, D. F., Bhagar, R., Soe, K., Rogers, J., Palkowitz, S., Pina, N., Anastasiadis, W. A., Gill, S. S., Kurian, S. M., Shekhar, A., & Niculescu, A. B. (2023). Towards precision medicine for anxiety disorders: objective assessment, risk prediction, pharmacogenomics, and repurposed drugs. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(7), 2894–2912. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-023-01998-0

Sampson, T. D., Maddison, S., & Ellis, D. (Eds.). (n.d.). Affect and social media: Emotion, mediation, anxiety and contagion. Rowman & Littlefield International.