Anxiety: An Introduction

Anxiety is your body’s way of signaling that it perceives a threat.

While anxiety is a normal emotion that can help prevent poor decisions, excessive anxiety can lead to uncomfortable symptoms and avoidance behaviors.

Emotional symptoms include worry, feelings of being overwhelmed, disconnection, and irritability or anger.

Physical symptoms can manifest as a racing heart, “butterflies” in the stomach, sweating, restlessness, lightheadedness, headaches, nausea, and even feeling unwell.

Behaviorally, it may lead to avoidance or a desire to escape.

Though avoidance might offer temporary relief, it can have negative long-term effects.

Dealing with Overthinking

Overthinking is a type of uncontrollable worry or rumination that makes your mind feel like it's racing, replaying thoughts over and over again.

Imagine something simple without overanalyzing it. Take a moment to appreciate the trees swaying in the wind or the sheer beauty of the world around you. Life is too precious to squander on unnecessary thoughts that weigh you down.

Instead of dwelling on the worst possible outcomes, focus on how we can acknowledge our feelings in the present moment (a tendency known as catastrophizing).

To break the cycle, recognize when you’re overthinking or feeling anxious—naming it can help you regain control.

If you find yourself stuck in a loop of worries, write them down. This gives you a space to process them, rather than keeping everything bottled up in your mind.

Monitoring: What Have I Given Up for Anxiety?

Reflect daily on the true cost of managing your anxiety.

1) What are you sacrificing to cope with, minimize, or avoid anxiety?

Consider the opportunities you miss to engage in activities that matter to you. What are you exchanging in your efforts to control or manage your anxiety?

What experiences are you letting slip away?

Keep a record of your triggers, concerns, and worries, as well as your physical sensations and thoughts.

Note what actions you took to manage your anxiety and assess the impact of those efforts—did they help?

Calming a Racing Mind

Thoughts are often just assumptions, not facts.

Practice gratitude by listing three things you appreciate. Choose to see your life through a positive lens.

Write down your most frequent worries and fears—this is known as brain dumping. Engaging in emotional writing about specific situations can be one of the most effective ways to soothe an anxious mind.

Find ways to distract yourself.

Opt for healthy foods and drinks.

When your mind loops and spirals into overthinking, it’s easy to become consumed by those thoughts. Ask yourself these questions: Is this true? What do I know for certain? What lessons have I learned from this?

Understanding Panic Attacks

Panic attacks can be thought of as false alarms in our fear response system. While they can be distressing and overwhelming, it’s preferable to experience a false alarm that errs on the side of caution than to have an alarm that fails to detect a real danger.

Important Points to Remember

The primary goal of the brain is to keep you safe. A panic attack represents a misfiring of this system, causing the brain to believe it needs to protect you from danger.

Panic attacks are among the most intense and uncomfortable experiences a person can endure. They can create feelings of vulnerability, fear, and a sense of danger, leading individuals to feel as though they might die. However, it’s important to note that no one has ever died from a panic attack, despite the adrenaline surge it triggers.

These attacks are a natural bodily response that often occurs inappropriately—your body reacts as if there is immediate danger, even when there isn’t.

Panic attacks are an evolutionary mechanism designed to protect us, similar to the instinct to flee from a saber-toothed tiger, even though we aren’t facing such threats today.