Anxiety Symptoms And The Two Ways To Address Them
Anxiety Symptoms, unlike symptoms of depression and sadness, are expressed physically more so than mentally. With stress and anxiety the body is the greatest indicator, far more than the mind. Symptoms a can be less than normal energy, but usually by more than normal energy such as fidgeting and repetitive walking and not being able to stay in a relaxed posture, either sitting or standing. Feeling on edge, uneasy, looking out of windows and walking around or intense movements are common. It is characterized by not being able to sit still. Below are more links on Depression and Stress Symptoms Anxiety Symptoms Body Awareness If we need to know our stress and anxiety levels, then look at our bodies. This excessive activity can be irritating to others, who are constantly telling us to, 'Settle down and relax.' Over time we may have learned to ignore our bodies, and we may not be aware that we are in an anxious and stressed state. We may appear serene and peaceful, but our body posture and physical activities may tell a far different story. Body posture and body language never lie, and with practice we can become aware of how we are feeling by sensing how our bodies are feeling. In the martial arts we call this ability, 'feeling our bodies through our bodies.' Anxiety Symptoms and Social Effects Fidgeting and nervous energy are not the only physical symptoms of stress. Anxiety and stress can be expressed as digestive troubles, food addictions and trouble sleeping. Also we may have excessive sweating or cold extremities, which themselves cause social stress as we are reluctant to shake hands or wear clothing that shows sweat. Tendency to blush or increased clumsiness also can be symptoms, all physical. Anxiety Symptoms the Snowball or Avalanche Effect There are some mental symptoms of stress as well. One of the damaging characteristics of these mental symptoms of stress and anxiety are that they tend to recycle in a loop and therefore increase the damage of their effects as they grow more intense. How this works is when we feel stress, we may lose ability to think of things to say, and as we become more tongue-tied, our stress and the tongue-tied symptom escalate. This escalation can go off the scale and we feel we are losing it. It only takes one episode to make us lose our nerves entirely. This increases probability for the next episode because we are now looking for symptoms of stress in this particular area, and expecting another escalation. Anxiety Symptoms and Layering As with all psychological symptoms, symptoms of anxiety can happen in an hierarchy, and there can be primary and secondary symptoms. A primary symptom might be sweaty and cold hands, a second level symptom might be overeating, and a third level symptom could be loneliness from withdrawal socially. The longer we have anxiety the more second and third level symptoms we will experience. Stomach ulcers and sleep deprivation would be third level anxiety symptoms, as would some addictions and relationship problems. Singular occurrences of anxiety are not of themselves damaging, and some anxiety is fun; that is why we ride roller coasters. However cumulatively, anxiety can be very damaging to our physical health, and will lower our self confidence and damage our self esteem over time.
Relief from Anxiety Symptoms from Two Angles Since we know that most of anxiety symptoms are manifested in physical form, we can seek relief with physical applications likewise. By becoming more aware of our bodies, our postures and gaining an awareness of our body language, we can learn to tell the instant that stress and anxiety are starting to accumulate. What we will find as we develop this self awareness skill is that anxiety and stress will collect in certain areas of our bodies, as in our forehead, neck, back or in some area of muscles, as in our stomach, or shoulders. We can relax those areas with massage and stretching movement to physically relax those muscle groups, which in turn will relax us mentally, at the same time. One of the strongest remedies is physical touch by another person. Having a loved one touch us in non-threatening, non-sexual contact is what we call 'tactile stimulation.' This type of loving touch causes a host of positive biological changes in our bodies, as it releases endorphins which heals and gives our brain a sense of well-being and security. Similar to that is the act of petting our dog or cat, or holding a teddy bear or other stuffed animal. Talking to our pet or stuffed animal is also therapeutic, and contrary to popular belief, are a sign of mental health rather than an indicator of being insane. Talking relieves anxiety symptoms because it is a form of expression and release of energy, both of which are good. Anxiety Symptoms Finding the Cause No amount of massage, touch, and reassurance will remove the cause, so that will be the other angle of attack. Remember above where we said talking to our pet dog or cat, or stuffed animal relieves the anxiety. We can go farther along that same road to begin talking about what we feel inside from our past and how we feel about the causes of our anxiety and stress. You will be surprised how much wisdom can come to us from a talk with a teddy bear. It will not happen at first, but as we talk, we will develop an access to feelings and memories deep within, which are where the cause is. We may have to deal with some self esteem issues and face fears or anger that we are ashamed of. Teddy bears, dogs and cats make great psychiatrists in many cases. The more we sense and openly respond to our anxiety symptoms rather than ignore them, the more we feel in control, which is anxiety reducing. Deep inside we all know the causes of our anxiety. We may have unresolved dilemmas from our past which we lack understanding, so trying to forget about them has been our only choice. The way out of our situation is to feel our symptoms, and focus on 'why,' which is the cause. The original source of our stress has left along time ago, but the dynamic of failure is still with us to this very day. We can find what it was years ago that put the seed of insecurity in our minds, and see it as irrational today. With help from others who love us, and a lot of work on our part, our answers will come.
Leave Anxiety Symptoms and go to Symptoms of Depression and Isolation
|
