Anxiety

Episode 2 Anxiety Your body feels wired. Your chest is tight. Your mind won't stop spinning. But nothing's actually happened. So what even is anxiety? Anxiety is just a nervousness. It's your brain's alarm system firing. Even when there's no clear danger, it can often show up in us like a racing heart or a tight chest. Nausea or restlessness. And people who've experienced heightened levels of panic attack often express that they feel like they're having a heart attack. This isn't you being dramatic. It's your nervous system misfiring. Your body thinks that you're in trouble, so it prepares for flight, fight or a freeze. Even if you're just laying in bed, sometimes anxiety can creep in slowly. But at other times it comes in like a wave. And often we don't even realize how long we've been living inside of it. Maya's moment of anxiety comes at 2 p.m. in the office. She's writing an email and feels her heart pick up. She rereads the same sentence again and again, worrying she'll say the wrong thing and her brain says, don't mess this up. Nobody around her sees it, but she's spiraling. Jordan feels his anxiety hit at a soccer game, his kid's soccer game, because he forgot to bring the snacks, but he laughs it off. But later on, it begins to eat at him and he tells himself he's just tired. But really, it's self-blame. Looping quietly in the background. These moments don't look like panic attacks, but they take a toll and over time they make joy harder and rest almost impossible. Anxiety for us is like a smoke alarm. It's meant to protect us, but sometimes it's triggered by burnt toast and not an actual house fire. In therapy, a technique that can be used would would be called a grounding technique. And this is where you would use one of your senses at a time and you would identify something. Pause in name. So you would say one thing that you can see. One thing that you can touch. One thing that you can hear, one thing that you can smell, and one thing that you can taste. And it's meant to bring you back to your body and out of the spiral. Another small step that could be taken. Instead of asking yourself, why am I so anxious, ask, what might my body be trying to protect me from right now? It's a curious thing anxiety, because it can happen to anybody and at any stage of life. Anxiety often comes from the brain's overactive threat detection system. It's trying to keep you safe, but when it's always on, it can create more distress than danger and therapist. They sometimes call this hypervigilance, and it's a state of constant scanning for potential threat, even when there's none present. It's common in people who've experienced trauma or even chronic stress. Understanding this doesn't fix everything, but it helps make the experience less mysterious and definitely much less shameful. Again, thank you for being here. This was louder on the inside because looking fine doesn't mean feeling fine. Corrie ten boom said worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.