What is anxiety?
Anxiety is the body’s response to perceived threat or danger. During this reaction, certain hormones like adrenalin and cortisol are released, speeding the heart rate, slowing digestion, shunting blood flow to major muscle groups, and changing various other autonomic nervous functions, giving the body a burst of energy and strength. Originally named for its ability to enable us to physically fight or run away when faced with danger, it’s now activated in situations where neither response is appropriate, like in traffic or during a stressful day at work. When the perceived threat is gone, systems are designed to return to normal function via the relaxation response, but in our times of chronic stress, this often doesn’t happen enough, causing damage to the body and anxiety begins.
Anxiety can last just a few hours or instead become a permanent state that ultimately diminishes quality of life. In such cases, anxiety relief, or methods of reducing and eliminating anxiety, should be sought directly. Popular methods include but are not limited to cognitive behavior therapy, self-guided meditation or chemical means. Studies have shown that at least some people respond to each of these treatment options, although there is not yet a universal "cure" for anxiet there is much you can do to help.
So what's going on in my brain?
Your Amygdala is in trauma - When we encounter a situation that we interpret as stressful, this is teaching the Amygdala in our brain to be hypersensitive. This conditioning arises unconsciously without a person actually realizing it is happening. From then on, the Amygdala continually over-stimulates the sympathetic nervous system directly.
i.e. “I feel stress in my body, I feel anxious” we then tell ourselves “something must be really wrong with me to feel this way”. This in turn is feeding the Amygdala incorrect signals. The Amygdala over-stimulates the whole brain, keeping many brain circuits in a state of hyper-arousal. This adversely affects the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin and dopamine. (mood altering chemicals).
Our brains are amazing aren't they! So what can we do about these anxious thoughts? click here.
Anxiety can last just a few hours or instead become a permanent state that ultimately diminishes quality of life. In such cases, anxiety relief, or methods of reducing and eliminating anxiety, should be sought directly. Popular methods include but are not limited to cognitive behavior therapy, self-guided meditation or chemical means. Studies have shown that at least some people respond to each of these treatment options, although there is not yet a universal "cure" for anxiet there is much you can do to help.
So what's going on in my brain?
Your Amygdala is in trauma - When we encounter a situation that we interpret as stressful, this is teaching the Amygdala in our brain to be hypersensitive. This conditioning arises unconsciously without a person actually realizing it is happening. From then on, the Amygdala continually over-stimulates the sympathetic nervous system directly.
i.e. “I feel stress in my body, I feel anxious” we then tell ourselves “something must be really wrong with me to feel this way”. This in turn is feeding the Amygdala incorrect signals. The Amygdala over-stimulates the whole brain, keeping many brain circuits in a state of hyper-arousal. This adversely affects the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin and dopamine. (mood altering chemicals).
Our brains are amazing aren't they! So what can we do about these anxious thoughts? click here.