Anxiety is a weight that holds you down daily if not properly cared for and managed. Imagine having to walk around daily wearing a weighted vest. Over time, you may start to feel irritable, sweaty, tense, fatigued, and overwhelmed. You may have difficulty concentrating as your mind is focused on the weight you are carrying. You will start to shake, have difficulty breathing, or feel pain in your chest from the weight. The weight may stop you from doing things you enjoy because you are tired and unmotivated. Now imagine yourself as a balloon weighted down. You’re swaying in a light breeze, hoping to one day touch a cloud. Once the weight is released, you begin to float freely and as high as you want.
Anxiety can be very helpful at times when you need a little extra motivation (healthy anxiety). When you have a test coming up that you need to study for, anxiety can give you the push you need to open the books. Anxiety can keep you out of dangerous situations by increasing your awareness of your surroundings. This is the mind and body’s way of communicating whether you should or should not do something. Anxiety is a normal response to stress or disturbing situations. However, anxiety left untamed can get out of control without awareness. Symptoms become a disorder when they significantly impact one or more areas of your life and last several weeks to months (unhealthy anxiety).
Some common issues that lead to anxiety are unresolved issues/emotions, limiting beliefs/self-doubt, negative perspective, feeling stuck, toxic/unhealthy relationships, avoidance, feeling obligated/not saying no, putting values/excitement to the side, lacking direction, and imbalance.
Statistics
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 19.1% of adults in the United States were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in the past year with 31.1% of adults being diagnosed at some point in their lives. (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder) It is suspected these numbers are much higher as many people do not report their disorders and symptoms or seek help.
General Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety is just a word. We use this word to describe sensations in our body and behaviors we experience following a thought, event, or trigger.
Physiological Symptoms of Anxiety
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
“He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
