Anxiety is a natural response to stressful events or situations that we go through. While it is common to experience it, it’s not the easiest to get through. There comes a point in each person’s life when they will experience anxiety. For a lot of people, anxiety is only fleeting. It happens before a big presentation at work or a job interview. Or it can happen when you are worried about how you will do on a test in school. It can happen for any number of reasons. But typically, after the situation is over, anxiety goes away, and life returns to normal, except for those who aren’t that lucky. There is no break from anxiety for people suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The anxiety, instead of going away, stays. And unlike the examples above, anxiety doesn’t have to occur for any specific reason.

Why Does Anxiety Happen?

Anxiety is the learned response from our ancient ancestors. The brain developed it to deal with life or death situations. Used to stay alert and vigilant in dangerous situations, anxiety helped them stay alive. But now? We don’t have these dangerous situations that occur to us—but our bodies remember and hold on to this response.

How Does Anxiety Affect The Brain?

1. It Affects Important Brain Functions

We have certain brain functions that are vital to our well-being. The prefrontal cortex, for instance, is the area of the brain that helps us solve problems and make sound decisions. The amygdala is the part of the brain that helps process threatening situations or things we fear. So when anxiety happens, it weakens the connection between these two areas. As the amygdala tells the prefrontal cortex, “Danger! Danger!” even when there is none, the prefrontal cortex doesn’t connect that there isn’t one—causing anxiety to stay with us or happen.

2. You Experience More Stress

Because those two areas of your brain are disconnected, your brain doesn’t understand how to respond to stress. So even when no “real” situation causes this response, your nervous system gets even more stressed out. So instead of being able to think rationally through things, your nervous system reacts negatively, causing more stress and anxiety. It’s a literal vicious cycle.

3. Your Nervous System And Brain Causes You To React With Symptoms

Everything is kicked up into high gear when you are experiencing anxiety. And when your brain isn’t thinking rationally (through no fault of your own), it’s feeding into the anxiety cycle, causing your nervous system stress. It’s called the nervous system for a reason, after all! With everything being so keyed up, this is when anxiety symptoms start happening. It’s common to experience a racing heart, stomach knots, or so many other symptoms. How each person feels when they get anxiety may not be exactly the same, but the root cause is.

What To Do When You Are Experiencing Anxiety

Having anxiety is truly awful. It’s a very upsetting experience, especially when you can’t attribute it to anything. But is there anything you can do to help it? Absolutely. Anxiety is hard to deal with but not impossible to treat. It’s one of the most treatable mental health issues. There are many ways you can treat anxiety; it’s just a matter of finding what works best for you. Some common techniques are:

• Deep breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Journaling
• Yoga

All these can be super helpful when you are anxious and can calm your nervous system down. But, it is important to get to the root causes of what makes you anxious all the time. And the best way to do this is to speak with a licensed therapist. As a licensed therapist, I can not only help you pinpoint what is causing anxiety but also help you find the most effective treatment. Anxiety therapy is useful for both the short-term and the long-term, so reach out today to learn more.