It’s a word we hear all the time these days, but what is anxiety and where does anxiety come from?
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is the brain’s protective mechanism that fires up whenever we’re in danger.
We all have a part of the brain (the amygdala) that was originally used to help us in dangerous situations – like fleeing from lions or fighting enemies. It’s there to help us survive.
Life now, for most of us, isn’t as dangerous. But the fight or flight mechanism still exists. It just gets a little confused sometimes, between a real threat and what we imagine to be a threat.
When we imagine something that might happen – a ‘what if’ scenario – a chain reaction begins (the stress response). In the brain, the amygdala causes a surge of cortisol and adrenaline, in readiness to protect ourselves from an attack. The brain doesn’t know we’re only imagining. It thinks the threat to our survival is REAL.
- Digestion pauses, causing a sickly feeling and sometimes stomach tension, pain and bloating. This interruption stops food from moving at the usual pace through your body, resulting in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other issues
- Blood diverts to the muscles (so you’re ready to run), which in turn causes inflammation
- Breathing quickens, causing shortness of breath and making asthma symptoms worse
- The heart races, sometimes feeling like palpitations
- Blood pressure rises
- The body sends oxygen to the liver to release glucose (because you need a sugar spike to give you energy to fight or flee)
The body is now in a heightened state of awareness. You might notice your skin chills, and your senses are heightened. All of these effects enable you to perform more strenuous activity than usual, for survival. This is great when you are in REAL danger. But not so much when there’s actually no real threat or danger – that’s what we call anxiety.
Afterwards, the parasympathetic nervous system steps in2 to help your body recover to its usual state. But if you worry a lot, there isn’t enough time to do this before the stress response is triggered again.
Because of this, stress and anxiety are the underlying cause of so many physical conditions3, like heartburn, indigestion, headaches, fatigue, weight gain, and skin problems.
In 2023, 60% of UK adults4 experienced anxiety that interfered with their daily lives. It can affect anyone and if it’s affecting life significantly, an anxiety disorder may be diagnosed.
Where does anxiety come from?
Genetic studies have shown some people are more prone to anxiety than others, but rather than there being one gene for anxiety, there are many tiny genetic variations that cause someone to be susceptible – and these overlap into other conditions too5
Childhood influences are strong in anxiety – whether it be through divorce, emotional abuse, inconsistent attention, or growing up with anxious parents
It really is a combination of nature, nurture and circumstance.
Often, medication is prescribed, but this doesn’t deal with the anxiety itself – the reason why we are worried in the first place.
The root of anxiety sits in the subconscious mind, where we hold our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Let’s use a simplified example….
Supposing you have a belief that potatoes are poisonous…
You’ll do everything you can to avoid eating a potato. That’s easy enough!
But then, the fact that potatoes are used in many dishes in restaurants, will cause you to worry about coming into contact with a potato in real life.
So you’ll avoid going to restaurants. But then, your mind will start thinking about all the other times you may come into contact with a potato…..like when your friends are eating a packet of crisps (and they might touch you after!)…..or you might eat a can of soup that has potato as an ingredient, without realising!
Each time you think about the ‘what if’s’, the stress response is activated.
So you go on medication to help your body avoid going into stress response.
Surely it’s easier to tackle your belief that potatoes are poisonous? Then you won’t need the medication and your body won’t keep going into fight or flight mode!
That’s where hypnotherapy comes in – tackling the belief itself that causes the anxiety. And there might be many.
Not only do we tackle the beliefs that cause anxiety, we also strengthen the parasympathetic nervous system, so it can help your body recover more quickly after an episode.
It’s like training your brain to help you in the best way possible.
Are you ready to tackle your anxiety?
References:
Chu et al (2024) Physiology, Stress Reaction. StatPearls publishing, accessed online 05/07/2024: {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541120/}
Anxiety Care UK, accessed 05/07/2024: {https://anxietycare.org.uk/the-biological-effects-and-consequences-of-anxiety/#:~:text=In%20simplistic%20terms%2C%20the%20sympathetic,to%20return%20to%20peacefulness%20again}
Mind Charity, accessed 05/07/2024: {https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/signs-and-symptoms-of-stress/}
Mental Health Foundation Statistics: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/about-us/news/new-research-reveals-anxiety-gripping-uk-many-people-struggle-cope
Are there anxious genes? Morris-Rosendahl, D.J. (2002) Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 2002 Sep; 4(3): 251–260