Anxiety - Why Tho?

A variety of things can cause anxiety. Some are obvious such as a toxic work environment or relationship troubles. Some aren’t always so clear such as a slight change/interruption in routine or poor sleep. Anxiety can manifest in a multitude of ways, depending on the person and the situation. It can be simply feeling stressed out or it can develop into a paralyzing panic attack.
Most Americans feel anxiety every now and then. It can be tough when you are in a situation that is causing you anxiety that you are unable to remove yourself from. A toxic work environment is one of those examples. Typically we can’t just quit a job because it’s causing us excessive stress. When we are in situations such as these we need to find ways to manage our anxiety in order to live as peacefully (and as healthy) as possible.
Anxiety is the mind’s response to what it perceives as a dangerous situation. Our brain’s job is to keep us safe. Our amygdala, specifically, uses fight/flight/freeze to keep us out of harm’s way. Unfortunately it also still thinks we are cavemen. Because of this, our ego often sends messages of panic to our body and brain when we are actually okay. Understanding why we feel anxious is the first step to working on processing or overcoming anxiety. Over the next few weeks I will talk about specific tips and suggestions to help you overcome the various levels of anxiety you may encounter from time to time (or all the time).