The Anxiety Series
Part 2
Think About It...
Anxiety has, for me been for better or worse an epic challenge. It's my greatest friend and my greatest adversary. It's a friend that left unfiltered would control me in every way. It would keep me wrapped in a warm blanket warning about potential threats, real, exaggerated and even imaginary. Is it trying to help or hinder? Is it keeping me safe or is it limiting my potential?
To find the answer we need to look deeper... Like every emotional state, everything starts in the brain. The sole organ in the body controlling all the others. So why would the brain want you to feel anxious, why would it take the trouble to meticulously orchestrate a chemical ballet within your brain, led by a cast of hormones and neurotransmitters, especially when only facing an imagined threat?
Let’s look at the brain's core objective: Survival. Survival is paramount: keeping us alive is the ultimate goal of the brain. Everything it does – from processing sensory information to controlling bodily functions to making decisions – ultimately serves this purpose.
What happens when we face a clear threat (such as seeing a bear approaching in the distance while you are enjoying your picnic in the park)? Your body instantly pumps out two key players: adrenaline and cortisol. These stress hormones act like a turbo boost, preparing your body for fight-or-flight. Adrenaline boosts your heart rate, increases blood flow to muscles, and dilates pupils, maximising your physical readiness. Cortisol, the "stress hormone," elevates blood sugar levels for quick energy and suppresses non-essential functions like digestion, directing all resources towards escape. In this scenario, it’s easy to see how anxiety might be one of the main reasons human beings ever made it this far.
But this is 2024, right? Bear attacks on picnickers are not something most people encounter often if ever, so where and why is anxiety still required?
Enter our alarm system, “The Amygdala”, your brain's fear centre. When it perceives a threat, it releases chemicals that make you feel anxious. The intensity and duration of this chemical dance depend on two factors: your genetic predisposition and your environment. Some people have naturally higher levels of stress hormones or sensitivity to these chemicals (neurotransmitters), making them more prone to anxiety. Additionally, environmental triggers like chronic stress or even caffeine intake can amplify the anxious response. If these chemicals get to a high enough level a person can experience what’s known as trauma, a level of terror that can leave you unable to move and in some cases collapse.
The passage of time and reflection are often enough for these feelings to subside. But left unchecked it can take hold of a person and distort reality to the point that It feels like you're going to die. Physical symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweating, shortness of breath, and trembling mean it's not uncommon for people suffering anxiety to believe they are having a heart attack. This is because anxiety can cause you to feel detached from reality and unable to control your thoughts or emotions. You may feel like you're watching yourself from a distance, or like you're in a dream that you can't wake up from. It can be difficult to breathe and can cause you to feel like you're suffocating. You may also feel like your thoughts are racing and that you can't focus on anything. Ultimately, it feels like you're going crazy. You may feel like you're losing control of your mind, to the point that making basic decisions like choosing what clothes to wear becomes impossible.
The symptoms of anxiety can be severe. Experiencing thoughts that are distressing and feelings that can be overwhelming can leave a person in a high emotional state where logic and rational thinking can be hard to find.
In the next part, we will look at how people cope and deal with this experience. How it can disrupt their lives and the best ways of managing a flare-up before it becomes a crisis.
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