In today's fast-paced world, it seems like everyone is dealing with stress and anxiety. But did you know that anxiety is a natural response that helped our ancestors survive?
Even now, some level of anxiety can be useful, keeping us from doing reckless things. This article will explore the roots of anxiety, why it sometimes feels overwhelming, and how you can manage it to build resilience.
What is the fight or flight response?
An essential part of anxiety is the "fight or flight" response, triggered by our sympathetic nervous system. It's our body's way of preparing us for action in stressful situations.
Imagine facing a wild animal in the ancient past; this response would help us decide whether to fight it or run away. However, in our modern lives, not every stressor is a life-or-death situation.
For example, getting a stressful email or an overdue bill doesn't require us to run or fight. However, we can still feel our heart pounding, our breathing is fast and shallow, our stomach hurts, or we feel dizzy. This is because stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, are coursing through our body and inducing the fight or flight response.
This mismatch between our stress response and the situation is called Mismatch Theory and it can leave us feeling overwhelmed and in a constant state of anxiety.
How does trauma impact our stress response?
Memory plays a crucial role in activating the fight or flight mode. If we've experienced trauma, our brain is more likely to think the trauma is happening again, leading to anxiety and panic.
Trauma, such as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), can result in hypervigilance, which is a feeling of always being on guard and expecting something bad to happen. This heightened state can lead to insomnia, nightmares, and other sleep problems.
What can I do to be less anxious?
The good news is that there are many effective ways to better manage our body’s stress response, reduce our anxiety, and take our performance to the next level.
Simple practices like taking slow, deep breaths, especially diaphragmatic breathing (also known as belly breaths), can shift our body into "rest and digest" mode (the parasympathetic nervous system). This is where relaxation, healing, and renewal happen.
Using a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) model, we can challenge anxious thoughts and change behaviors in order to reduce anxiety over time. This helps to boost our resilience by enabling us to bounce back when we feel stressed.
When addressing PTSD and other trauma, support from a clinical psychologist can provide specialized guidance and therapy tailored to your needs and symptoms. For help overcoming the symptoms that are causing you to feel anxious, consider seeking help from a clinical psychologist, or scheduling an individual virtual therapy session with me.
In the workplace, executive coaching and corporate training events on topics such as burnout recovery can help improve performance and stress resilience, while decreasing overall workplace anxiety. For individual support addressing everyday stressors, overcoming mental blocks like imposter syndrome, and taking your work to the next level, contact me to get started with executive coaching. If you would like team- and company-wide support, contact me to discuss suggested educational topics.
Anxiety may have its roots in our evolutionary past, but we don't have to be slaves to it in the modern world. With the right strategies and professional guidance, you can effectively manage stress and anxiety, building resilience to face life's challenges confidently.
Whether it's through therapy, coaching, or group training, there are options available to help you on your journey to a less anxious and more resilient you.