Anxiety 101

What is anxiety? What is the fight or flight response? Should I take medication? 

Anxiety is a very natural response your body has to stress, we all need some level of anxiety, after all, that’s what has kept us alive for millions of years depending on our beliefs.  This stress response is also known as the fight or flight response. It’s when your body’s natural instincts kick in to save your life. It’s designed to help you fight off danger, freeze if necessary or run away (flight). The problem is that sometimes we get into this mode for a perceived danger rather than actual danger, and then it most commonly does us no good. In fact, in many cases, it actually makes things worse. 

 You see we all have this “alarm” in our bodies. But sometimes that alarm can become so sensitive that it goes off when there is not a real threat. Have you ever burnt something in your oven and the smoke detector started going off? What is your first instinct? Take out the batteries, smash it with a baseball bat? Well the problem is our eyes, therefore our brain doesn’t see any fire so we become preoccupied with the way to make it stop which puts us in a frantic mode and willing to do whatever it takes to make it stop regardless of the outcome, like spending $25 on a new smoke detector. However, if we do see smoke/flames then our brain jumps into survival mode and we usually jump into action, whatever that may look like because that is what is needed. 

Of course, some of us have hardwired smoke detectors so we have to ride it out, and just like our “fight or flight” response, we learn to become desensitized to it so we can make an accurate assessment and act accordingly. If there is no fire, we rationally think about opening the windows, doors, or turning on the fans to clear out the smoke and make the stupid thing shut up. I speak from experience, I have hard-wired smoke detectors on my vaulted ceilings and they’re SUPER SENSITIVE! 

So, what does anxiety look like? Well, it varies from person to person and there are many biological reasons these things happen because as cavemen we didn’t have the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the part of your brain behind your forehead that helps you problem solve and think rationally. Our pupils dilate which sometimes makes us feel dizzy, confused or as if things just aren’t real. Sometimes our heart races which means blood is pumping to our fighting muscles, we sweat to keep our bodies from overheating, sometimes our fingers/toes go numb or are tingly because blood is pulling away from limbs so we don’t bleed out. How many of you experience anxiety, anger, or other strong emotions that don’t make sense or you don’t even remember? That’s because your fight or flight response is telling your PFC to go offline because it’s not needed. If you take time for the feedback loop you could die. 

So, it’s important to learn how to manage our anxiety before it gets to the point where we can’t use our rational brain; our PFC goes offline. We need to accurately assess situations before we do something that gets us or someone else hurt, or we spend a lot of time and/or money going to the ER only to be told you’re not actually having a heart attack. 

How is anxiety treated? Well, there are conflicting opinions on the cause of anxiety but I am a believer in it being a learned behavior. If we grew up in a household of anxious individuals, we learned that the appropriate response to various situations is anxiety. This makes us predisposed to anxiety. I am not talking PTSD here, although that is an anxiety disorder, its causes are much different. However, if you grew up in a household of anxious individuals your PTSD symptoms will most likely be heightened.  

The good news is that since it is typically a learned behavior, it is a behavior we can un-learn. This often looks like a variety of coping skills to keep stress and anxiety low like mindfulness, meditation, assertive communication, setting boundaries, challenging negative thoughts/core beliefs, and education to normalize your symptoms. If your anxiety/panic is very specific, exposure or prolonged exposure can be helpful as well. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and/or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are all great forms of treatment to help manage anxiety. However, if your anxiety is so high that you aren’t able to keep access to your PFC you may need medication such as a central nervous system (CNS) depressant often in the form of allergy medication. Sometimes medications like Xanax are prescribed but should only be taken on occasion and for a short period of time, it is a highly addictive substance that should not be used on a regular basis. Anti-Depressants as discussed in last week’s blog can also be helpful for managing anxiety. 

Another form of treatment when anxiety is so strong that your PFC may go offline is a form of treatment called Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). It is important though to find a well-trained and experienced clinician as traditional EMDR starts focusing on your Top 10 Trauma’s and often starts with the most Traumatic. So, if you don’t have someone who is well trained and in-tune with you, your PFC can very easily go offline making the session pointless and sometimes even causing additional trauma. I personally use EMDR in my practice, my approach is a bit different though. I was trained in what is referred to as S.A.F.E. EMDR, which stands for Somatic and Attachment-Focused EMDR. It not only focuses on big T’s (what most people think of as traumatic events) but also little t’s (attachment disruptions, situation anxieties, etc.) which can cause everyday anxiety. S.A.F.E. EMDR focusing on attachment disruptions, somatic symptoms (the sensations you feel when you are anxious) and starts at what we call the Touchstone Memory, or the first time you can recall a similar feeling. if you have any questions regarding EMDR feel free to reach out to me via email.

As you can see Anxiety is a very complex diagnosis, everyone’s symptoms and experiences differ. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment process so a combination of things is important, do what works for you. As I stated in my blog last week about medication, there is no shame in it, sometimes it’s what you need in order to be able to do effective long-lasting work. And in case you didn’t read it, I once had a patient in one of my Anxiety classes refer to medication as a bridge over water helping you to get from one point to another, and then you can decide what to do from there. 

I hope you found this blog helpful and that it may have given you some insight and perspective as to the best ways to treat your anxiety. Or helped you gain more understanding of what someone in your life may be experiencing if they’re experiencing anxiety or panic. If you have any specific questions feel free to reach out to me at Colleen@ScatteredPotential.com, subscribe to my blog or my newsletter by filling out the form below. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you’re wanting more information regarding medication, reaching out to a psychiatrist and/or your doctor would be a better option. 

Check out my resources page as well for helpful information regarding the management/better understanding of yours or someone else’s anxiety.