Procrastination may be the reason you’re reading this post, but the reason you’re procrastinating in the first place might actually be anxiety.
It took me a long time to start writing today: first, I had to check all three of my email accounts, Twitter, Instagram, text my dad about something I remembered, get a glass of water, then check my email again. My procrastination habits are what’s keeping me from taking over the world, I’m pretty sure. I’ll figure it out as soon as I Google what year Julia Child was born.
For those of us who have a habit of procrastinating, especially when it comes to something important, it might be more than just ‘goofing off.’ The urge to procrastinate is connected to a “fight or flight” response in our brains, per an article in Quartz at Work on how anxiety is stopping us from finishing important projects. The procrastination is the “flight” response in action. Here are some ways to figure out if you’re anxious—not lazy—and then get out of the hole.
Recognize the symptoms
Maybe you’re feeling relaxed and enjoying a day of ignoring laundry or other chores—great! That’s probably not anxiety. Psychologist Andrew Rosen, founder and director of the Center for Treatment of Anxiety and Mood Disorders in Delray Beach, Florida, told Quartz at Work that you can tell it’s anxiety if you’re spending a lot of time rationalizing your behavior or even dismissing the thing you’re supposed to do as meaningless:
Humans are remarkably creative when it comes to finding ways to avoid that bad feeling, be it procrastination (“I’ll do it tomorrow”), diversion (“I’ll just check Twitter first”), or self-sabotage (“You know what? It’s a dumb idea anyway.”) This last one is particularly popular among analytical or cerebral types who may not even realize the extent to which their hyper-rational reasons for abandoning a dream are influenced by fear.
If you are spending a lot of your procrastination time up in your head, justifying why the thing you have to do is stupid, it might mean you’re not really comfortable with avoiding it.
Examine your justifications
As long as you’re procrastinating, do so in a way that can fight back the anxiety. If you’ve been making up lists of reasons why you can’t do something, take that list and make it into a new list—one that examines the legitimacy of those justifications. Robin Yeganeh, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, had a great exercise for that:
“We often get in the bad habit of choosing actions that are more comfortable over behaviors that are good for us based on ‘reason giving,’” Yeganeh said. “For example, ‘I work hard so I shouldn’t have to do X’ or ‘I am too tired to make progress on X.’ I would suggest listing all the reasons for not engaging in higher priority behaviors and then challenging the credibility of each reason. Decide if these rules have led to successes in life or if they need to be upgraded in favor of success-oriented reasons for making decisions.”
This is a gentle way to face what you’re doing: avoiding responsibilities. It might be enough to snap you out of it, so you can move on to what actually needs to get done.
Examine your feelings
At the heart of all this is the reason why you’re feeling anxious in the first place. If you’re cleaning under the fridge to avoid a project that might lead to a promotion, there’s probably something deeper going on, according to psychologist Leslie Connor:
Every success comes with tradeoffs—more exposure, more pressure, less freedom—and ignoring worries about those can come back to bite us.
“If we only connect with the affirming feelings, and push down the ambivalence or fears, they will come out. But sometimes they will bang on the door,” Connor said.
And then there is the big one: the fear of failing.
If you’re finding this is a constant issue in your life, you might need to speak with a therapist about your anxiety, because no one should have to live in this state no matter their obligations. But, for some, acknowledging fears and anxieties might be a start to breaking the cycle of procrastination.
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Examine your feelings
At the heart of all this is the reason why you’re feeling anxious in the first place. If you’re cleaning under the fridge to avoid a project that might lead to a promotion, there’s probably something deeper going on, according to psychologist Leslie Connor:
Every success comes with tradeoffs—more exposure, more pressure, less freedom—and ignoring worries about those can come back to bite us.
“If we only connect with the affirming feelings, and push down the ambivalence or fears, they will come out. But sometimes they will bang on the door,” Connor said.
And then there is the big one: the fear of failing.
If you’re finding this is a constant issue in your life, you might need to speak with a therapist about your anxiety, because no one should have to live in this state no matter their obligations. But, for some, acknowledging fears and anxieties might be a start to breaking the cycle of procrastination.
“Walking around and offering kindness to others in the world reduces anxiety and increases happiness and feelings of social connection,” says Douglas Gentile, professor of psychology at Iowa State University. “It’s a simple strategy that doesn’t take a lot of time that you can incorporate into your daily activities.”
Researchers tested the benefits of three different techniques intended to reduce anxiety and increase happiness or well-being. They did this by having college students walk around a building for 12 minutes and practice one of the following strategies:
Loving-kindness: Looking at the people they see and thinking to themselves, “I wish for this person to be happy.” Students were encouraged to really mean it as they were thinking it.
Interconnectedness: Looking at the people they see and thinking about how they are connected to each other. It was suggested that students think about the hopes and feelings they may share or that they might take a similar class.
Downward social comparison: Looking at the people they see and thinking about how they may be better off than each of the people they encountered.
The study, published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, also included a control group in which researchers instructed students to look at people and focus on what they see on the outside, such as their clothing, the combination of colors, textures, as well as makeup and accessories. Researchers surveyed all students before and after the walk to measure anxiety, happiness, stress, empathy, and connectedness.
WHICH TECHNIQUE IS BEST?
The researchers compared each technique with the control group and found those who practiced loving-kindness or wished others well felt happier, more connected, caring, and empathetic, as well as less anxious. The interconnectedness group was more empathetic and connected. Downward social comparison showed no benefit, and was significantly worse than the loving-kindness technique.
Students who compared themselves to others felt less empathetic, caring, and connected than students who extended well wishes to others. Previous studies have shown downward social comparison has a buffering effect when we are feeling bad about ourselves. The researchers found the opposite.
“At its core, downward social comparison is a competitive strategy,” says coauthor Dawn Sweet, a senior lecturer in psychology. “That’s not to say it can’t have some benefit, but competitive mindsets have been linked to stress, anxiety, and depression.”
The researchers also examined how different types of people reacted to each technique. They expected people who were naturally mindful might benefit more from the loving-kindness strategy, or narcissistic people might have a hard time wishing for others to be happy. The results surprised them somewhat.
“This simple practice is valuable regardless of your personality type,” says coauthor Lanmiao He, a graduate student in psychology. “Extending loving-kindness to others worked equally well to reduce anxiety, increase happiness, empathy, and feelings of social connection.”
US VS. THEM
Social media is like a playground for comparisons: he makes more money than I do; she has a nicer car. While the study did not look specifically at social media, Gentile says the results demonstrate that comparison is a risky strategy.
“It is almost impossible not to make comparisons on social media,” Gentile says.
“Our study didn’t test this, but we often feel envy, jealousy, anger, or disappointment in response to what we see on social media, and those emotions disrupt our sense of well-being.”
Comparison works well when we are learning something or making a choice, Gentile says. For example, as children we learn by watching others and comparing their results to ours. However, when it comes to well-being, comparison is not as effective as loving-kindness, which consistently improves happiness.
To be honest, it seems as though anxiety has become a bit of an umbrella term, effortlessly manipulated and thrown to and fro in order to describe, explain, and defend our perpetual—and ever-increasing—feelings of stress, worry, or nervousness. (We’d also like to throw in the impending sense of doom, but that feels a tad dramatic.) Of course, all of these feelings are serious and are often symptoms or side effects of anxiety or other mood disorders, but in our stressed-out society, we’ve also gotten to the point where we use anxiety as a Band-Aid term to describe whatever negative feeling or emotion is currently ailing us. (We’re guilty too!)
However, true anxiety is a very real, very prominent disorder, and the rate at which its growing in the United States is alarming, to say the least. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the United States, affecting 40 million adults (or 18.1% of the population) every year. Additionally, as Time reported just one year ago, Americans are becoming increasingly anxious. A poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) indicated 39% of 1000 adults surveyed reported are more anxious than they were at the same time the previous year. Another 39% identified as feeling equally anxious, and only 19% felt less anxious.
According to experts like Care/of Scientific Advisory Board’s Jeffrey Gladd, MD, and NYC-based Neuropsychologist Sanam Hafeez, you should always consult a trusted health professional first and foremost if you think you are struggling with anxiety or an associated mood disorder. That said, certain lifestyle factors and/or the strategic addition of certain vitamins or supplements can play a powerful roll in the management of anxiety in a more natural and homeopathic way. Nixing unhelpful habits like smoking or coffee dependence may help reduce anxiety, while increasing helpful antidotes like meditation, exercise, or even CBD might also be helpful.
We wanted to take a deeper dive into the realm of vitamins and supplements and how they might be able to ease anxiety, so we asked our experts for their takes on the topic and which vitamins, adaptogens, and minerals they personally recommend for those struggling with anxiety or other mood-related symptoms.
“With most vitamins, consistency is key,” explains Gladd. “Taking vitamins regularly is the best way to ensure that your body has what it needs to respond to external stressors on a daily basis, and the most promising research on adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha and Rhodiola suggests that they’re most effective over a longer period of time, so incorporating them into your long term routine is the best way to test out their adaptogenic properties.”
Gladd also adds that recommended doses can differ depending on the product (and your individual needs!), so make sure you’re only shopping high-quality options that are reputably sourced from trustworthy companies that pay attention to research and follow their guidelines for dosing on the package. Ahead, the 10 best vitamins and supplements to take for anxiety. Keep scrolling!
“Magnesium is an excellent supplement for anxiety and is often called nature’s Valium or the original chill pill,” says Hafeez. And interestingly, due to changes in the American diet (like fewer whole grains and more refined flours), many of us—roughly 75%, in fact—are deficient in the mineral, which, of course, doesn’t bode well for the simultaneous rise of anxiety and stress.
“Magnesium is mostly known for its ability to produce energy, but it also plays a vital role in the brain by forming solid neurological pathways that promote good communications between the brain and the body,” says Hafeez.
“One way magnesium counters stress is by binding to and stimulating GABA receptors in the brain,” she continues. “GABA is a primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, one that puts the brakes on brain activity. When GABA is low, your brain gets stuck in an overly excited state, and it becomes impossible to relax.”
According to Hafeez, when our bodies are under stress, we naturally create stress hormones, inciting a domino effect of physical effects which actually use up our stores of magnesium. If you’ve been experiencing muscle tightness or cramping, Hafeez says you might be deficient and should check in with your trusted health professional. And if you choose to supplement, she quotes the recommended magnesium dosage in the United States is between 310 to 320 milligrams for women and 400 to 420 milligrams for men.
While we’re on the topic of the relationship between magnesium and GABA, Hafeez says supplementing with the latter can also be a beneficial way to support and manage anxiety. As she explains, Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GAMMA) is an amino acid and neurotransmitter in the brain, and when there’s a shortage, our anxiety levels can take a nose dive. Not good.
“According to a 2015 review, supplements with GABA may help replace lost GABA, though more research is still needed. I recommend supplementing between 500 to 750 milligrams, and doses may be split across multiple tablets or pills or taken as a once-daily antidote. Again, we recommend checking in with your own health professional before ever beginning any type of new supplement or vitamin regimen.
If you’re familiar with adaptogens, by now you may have heard of their queen bee, ashwagandha. According to certified health coach, herbalism practitioner, and plant-based nutrition expert Stepfanie Romine, who I spoke with last year, adaptogens have actually been used for centuries in countries like China and Russia, representing the ultimate way to “bridge the gap between medicine cabinet and kitchen” within the holistic wellness world. One of their greatest claims to fame is the management of anxiety.
“Adaptogens help the body adapt to both environmental and psychological stresses,” Romine explains. They have a nonspecific response in the body, ultimately supporting all major systems including the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems.”
Additionally, scientific research has correlated adaptogens with improved adrenal function—the category’s main and perhaps most beloved benefit. As Gladd explains, ashwagandha is an adaptogenic herb that’s been used traditionally in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries to help support stress and focus. Recent research has shown that ashwagandha’s adaptogenic properties help protect the body from feelings of overstress to keep the body in balance and focused.”
“Known as the ‘golden root,’ Rhodiola has long been used in both Siberian culture and traditional Chinese medicine to help support stamina, particularly when the body is exposed to stress,” Gladd says. “More recently, research has shown that Rhodiola can help promote higher energy and overall feelings of well-being by supporting the body’s natural response to stress. Paired together with ashwagandha, this can be a supportive combination to use for thriving in the face of stress.”
As Gladd explains, probiotics are commonly used to help support our digestion and immunity woes, but few people know they’ve also been studied for years for their impact on the brain and emotional health.
“There are definitely direct connections between stress and digestive health, and the healthy bacteria found in probiotic supplements can help keep things in balance,” Gladd tells us. “In addition to this, increasing research highlights the connection between a healthy gut and cognitive health.”
When it comes to healthy fats, a high-quality fish oil supplement is one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting your daily dose. And recently, more and more research suggests a fish oil supplement can help support decreased anxiety and increased emotional health.
“Research shows that in addition to supporting heart health, fish oil contains specific omega-3 fatty acids that can also impact mood,” Gladd shares. “Omega-3s are the support beams of the brain and nervous system, so taking fish oil regularly can help provide support for healthy cognitive function during stress.”
On a more personal note, I first discovered 5-HTP (and its relation to the management of anxiety) while reading The Archetype Diet, a highly personalized approach to eating designed by nutritionist and cognitive behavior specialist Dana James, MS, CNS, CDN. After you take an in-depth quiz to find out which of four archetypes you are, James details a customized lifestyle strategy outlining the best approach to eating, exercising, and supplementing your body in order to reach optimum health. James recommended 5-HTP among three other supplements, but I’d actually never heard of it, unlike the others she suggested (magnesium, digestive enzymes, and a B complex).
In her book, James explains, “5-HTP is the precursor to serotonin, the feel-good transmitter. This can help improve mood.” She goes on to recommend starting with a 50-milligram daily dose right before bed, and after I began doing so regularly, I truly did experience a noticeable downtick in my anxiety and some depression I had been experiencing. But as I keep mentioning, just because this supplement has been touted for anxiety relief and it worked for me doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits-all anxiety cure, so please make sure to discuss 5-HTP’s potential with a trusted physician before taking it—especially if you’re on an anti-depressant. (You can read my full article and review here!)
“Lysine—also called L-lysine—is an amino acid and one of the building blocks of your brain’s chemical messengers called neurotransmitters,” Hafeez explains. “Studies have shown that people taking L-lysine supplements as natural remedies for anxiety had reduced symptoms of anxiety and reduced levels of stress hormones. L-lysine is commonly found in meat, fish, and beans, and is also sold as an oral supplement.”
In a nutshell, and according to Hafeez, B complex supplements contain all of the pivotal B vitamins that our body craves in order to function at its optimum level, many of which, she tells me, are vital to a healthy nervous system.
“B vitamins may also help improve symptoms of anxiety and depression. You’ll want to talk with your doctor, but on average, the recommended dosage will range from 300 milligrams to close to 500 milligrams.
“Low energy and fatigue can contribute to irritability and stress levels, cites a helpful article we found on the Care/of website. “This is why the B vitamins, which are well-known for keeping energy levels high and improving cognitive performance, can have a positive effect.” According to the article, research suggests regularly popping a vitamin B complex can help raise energy while simultaneously decreasing stress. Plus, as discovered by clinical trials, this strategic grouping of vitamins may even be able to diminish “personal strain,” and depressed feelings triggered by high-stress environments.
Another recommendation from Hafeez, L-theanine (an amino acid naturally found in green tea, black tea, and certain types of mushrooms) might also help reduce symptoms associated of anxiety, and research backs up her claim.
According to a report we found from Medical News Today, L-theanine might impact the activity and concentrations of certain brain chemicals, including both serotonin and dopamine. Both of these chemicals can affect our mood, sleep, emotional well-being, and cortisol—a steroid hormone that helps our system cope with stress. A change or imbalance of any of the above can alter our mood, anxiety, or stress, so it’s thought that supplementing with L-theanine might help balance out the levels of these certain factors.
You may experience anxious thoughts, but physically, anxiety lives in your body. Everyone is born with a predisposition towards occasional anxiety — a form of self-preservation — but with time, some people do become more anxious than others. Dealing with chronic anxiety is multifaceted, but figuring out how anxiety exists in both your mind and body can be really helpful towards understanding these issues on a deeper level.
Anxiety is meant to be hard-wired. It is a natural way humans have protected themselves throughout the course of evolution. But different people have different thresholds for anxiety, and different bodies process these feelings differently. You may even look back on your past and realize that your adult anxiety has been becoming more and more hard-wired over the years, as you’ve learned the specific ways you personally respond to stress.
“Each time we experience stress and don’t manage it, it builds in our body,” Kristen Fescoe, clinical program manager at Resility Health, tells Bustle. “Over time our bodies become wired for stress and anxiety. Every time we experience day-to-day stressors our bodies exhibit this hard-wired response of fight or flight.” Because of this, anxiety can build up over time.
Understanding whether or not you’re more hard-wired for anxiety than most, however, isn’t that difficult. According to mental health professionals, there are multiple ways to tell.
Here are seven signs your body may be physically wired for anxiety, according to experts.
1Difficulty Focusing Or Concentrating
Andrew Zaeh for Bustle
When your body is predisposed to anxiety, you may struggle with attention issues a bit more than most. You may not have a clinically-diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but you may find that concentrating is a bit harder for you than others — especially when you’re stressed.
“One of the most common signs that you are hard-wired for anxiety is having difficulty focusing or concentrating,” Fescoe says. Finding coping mechanisms for anxiety that work best for you can help you struggle with this issue less.
2You Struggle With Sleep
Mladen Zivkovic/Shutterstock
Bodies that are physically wired for anxiety may have more trouble than others when it comes to relaxing at night. So if you struggle with both anxiety and sleep, this may be the missing link.
“You may also find that you have trouble sleeping, whether it be falling asleep, staying asleep, or not feeling rested after you are able to sleep,” Fescoe says. This isn’t to say, however, that sleep issues are incurable. Both therapy and medication can help you deal with your nighttime symptoms of anxiety.
3You Have Stomach Problems
Ashley Batz/Bustle
Anxiety and the gut are deeply connected. So if you can correlate bouts of stomach upset to moments of stress in your life, you may be predisposed to anxiety.
“Many people living with high levels of stress and anxiety experience stomach issues of all sorts,” Fescoe says. Both mental health professionals, as well as physicians, can help you deal with these unpleasant symptoms.
4You Were Socially Anxious As A Child
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Not all signs of anxiety being hard-wired in your body actually show up in your body. Sometimes it requires a little digging into your past to understand why you may experience these feelings.
“When you’re young, your brain has a lot of myelin, the substance that turns neurons into superconductors,” author and professor Loretta Breuning, PhD, tells Bustle. “Any neurons you activate repeatedly when you’re young get myelinated. So any social pain you anticipate when you’re young gets wired in.” If you had a childhood where socializing was difficult, then, your brain may automatically react to social situations with fear. Therapy can help with this.
5You Have Back Pain
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For people who are physically wired for anxiety, back pain is pretty common. Holding tension in your back and neck is a natural reaction to long periods of stress.
“Many people who experience muscle tension and blame everything from prolonged sitting to poor posture, but this is one of the most common physical signs that your body is hard-wired from anxiety,” Fescoe says. Of course, multiple issues can cause back pain, but if you deal with anxiety, there’s a chance there’s a link between the two issues.
6You Get Headaches Often
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Headaches, like many chronic health problems, have a variety of causes. But if you get anxious often, and have headaches, there may be a correlation in your physical wiring.
“Chronic and irritating headaches [… are] a telltale sign that your anxiety level is triggering a physical response,” Fescoe says. Making sure you talk to your doctor about both your physical and emotional symptoms is important.
7You Have Been Rewarded For Being Anxious In The Past
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If your anxiety leads to perfectionism, which leads to success in school or extracurriculars as a child, then you may have developed a physical hardwiring for anxiety as an adult.
“It is useful to know how your anxiety habit got built,’ Dr. Breuning says. “Sometimes people get rewarded for being anxious in one way or another.” Anxiety you feel now can be traced back to this.
Since everyone is physically wired to experience anxiety to some degree, the goal is not to cure yourself of anxiety itself. Finding healthy coping mechanisms and physical relief from the more uncomfortable symptoms is a worthy goal as you strive to attain more balanced mental health.
We may have outgrown our fear of monsters hiding under the bed, but nighttime anxiety continues to keep many of us awake long past lights out. According to the American Psychological Association, 43 percent of Americans say stress has caused them to lie awake at night at least once a month. So is there a way we calm our anxious minds, and get to sleep more quickly?
That’s a question Jared Minkel, assistant professor and director of the adult behavioral sleep medicine program at Brown University, answers in this video from Happify.
“One of the most common difficulties with getting to sleep is people just can’t turn their minds off,” Minkel says. “You might be tired and sluggish all day, but you lay down in bed and all of a sudden your mind just starts going and won’t stop.”
If that sounds familiar, here are four ways you can quiet the mind and sleep soundly:
Four Ways to Soothe Nighttime Anxiety
1. Encourage positive distractions
Focusing all your attention on how you can’t get to sleep will only make sleep more difficult. Instead, Minkel recommends distracting yourself with “interesting and engaging imagery,” involving as many as your senses as possible.
For example, close your eyes and picture a nice beach—can you hear the crashing of waves? Feel the sun on your skin? Taste the salt from the sea?
“These kinds of images can then transfer into dream content, so keep it pleasant and positive,” Minkel says.
2. Allow worrisome thoughts
If you’re unable to sleep because you’re fixated on something stressful that’s happening the next day—like a big presentation at work, or a confrontation with a family member—it’s common to want to push those thoughts from your mind. However, doing so may hurt more than it helps.
“Not only will you start to think about these things again, now your arousal will be higher, too,” Minkel says.
Rather than trying not to think about what’s worrying you, he recommends considering what comes after the big event. Remembering the mundane tasks that follow something stressful—like cleaning up your meeting space after the presentation, or going grocery shopping after you’ve seen family—can help you recognize that the panic will pass.
Remembering the mundane tasks that follow something stressful—like cleaning up your meeting space after the presentation, or going grocery shopping after you’ve seen family—can help you recognize that the panic will pass.
“Keep going until the stressful part is over and you’re back into your normal life,” Minkel says. “Don’t just replay the worst parts over and over.”
3. Practice nightly mindfulness
Often when we’re wide awake worrying, we’re focused on something that’s happening in the future. In those cases, mindfulness can be a powerful antidote as it directs your attention towards what’s happening in the present.
“You can always focus on your breathing, but it may also be helpful to focus on a physical sensation like how warm and soft your blankets feel,” Minkel says.
“Anything that helps you focus your attention on something that’s happening right now, rather than something that might happen in the future,” he says.
4. Focus on gratitude
Finally, focusing on the good can evoke pleasant emotions and help soothe you to sleep.
“For example, rather than thinking what might go wrong, try to focus your attention on something you’re looking forward to,” Minkel says. “You can also think of something that happened during the last day or two that you are grateful for.”
It can also be comforting to think of a positive person in your life, or nice deeds other people have done for you.
“Feeling fortunate or grateful for that person can reduce worry and help you sleep,” Minkel says.
When anxiety hits, those of us who have experienced it in its various forms may feel an array of things: a racing heart, hot and cold flushes, tightening of the chest, excessive fear, tension, and restlessness. And while there are myriad ways of finding support and treating anxiety (trust us when we say that your doctor knows a thing or two about anxiety conditions), new research suggests that three simple words may make all the difference when you’re feeling frazzled.
In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers investigated whether trying to calm someone when they were feeling anxious was, in fact, doing as much good as it was believed to be. From the study, the researchers found that channelling the anxious energy to deal with the exact thing you’re feeling nervous about is the key to overcoming it. And this comes down to repeating one three-word mantra. As reported by Stylist, the three words are, “I AM EXCITED.”
Come again?
“I find that an overwhelming majority of people believe trying to calm down is the best way to cope with pre-performance anxiety,”Alison Wood Brooks, author of the study, explains. “I investigate an alternative strategy: reappraising anxiety as excitement.”
“Compared to those who attempt to calm down, individuals who reappraise their anxious arousal as excitement feel more excited and perform better.”
It’s worth noting that during this study, this mantra was measured against performance anxiety — so, getting anxious or nervous about, say, public speaking or having a confrontational conversation with someone — something that involves using plenty of energy.
The idea is that these three words will help you embrace the task at hand, turning fear into excitement. This is something that isn’t applicable to feeling anxious at night, as this is a period when you should be resting, not running on excitement.
Anxiety is something that is being more and more talked about in American culture. On average, one in four people will suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point, and another 25 percent of the population will experience less severe symptoms.
So the next time you’re feeling anxious before a big meeting or presentation, why not give these words a try? And if you’re going through something that requires a different approach, check out these tricks for reducing stress and stopping anxiety in its tracks.
This article was originally written by Ellie Mcdonald. For more, check out our sister site, Now to Love.
Most of us are familiar with the dry mouth, racing heart and knotted stomach that are the hallmarks of feeling anxious. Usually this is a fleeting response to danger and uncertainty. In some people, however, the state of high alert won’t switch off. Their anxiety becomes so draining it is impossible to leave the house or function in daily life.
One woman feels agitated and lightheaded each morning when she wakes. She worries about the accidents that might befall her if she travels to work, but also about what would happen if she had nothing planned for the day. Another avoids work, friends or even walking her dog in case it triggers another panic attack. One man finds it difficult to pick up the phone for fear he will mash his words and be misunderstood.
These are real cases of people who have sought help for their anxiety. Their experiences aren’t unusual. Anxiety disorders – including generalised anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety and phobias – are the most prevalent mental health problem in the US and Europe, and a growing number of reports from other regions suggest they could be a global concern. In the West, they cost healthcare systems more than $40 billion each year. On average 1 in 6 of us will contend with an anxiety disorder at some stage in our lives – women more than men.
A new collection of some of the best, recent New Scientist articles on mental and neurological health to highlight World Health Day
The damage is real. Anxiety disorders have been linked to depression and increased substance abuse, particularly of alcohol. A recent study found that men who have anxiety disorders are twice as likely to die from cancer as men who don’t, even when factors such as drinking and smoking are taken into account.
So what is the cause of all this anxiety? Is there more of it about, and what is the best way to tackle it?
How much anxiety is normal?
Anxiety is a natural response that evolved over millions of years to make us more vigilant and prime our bodies to flee danger. But feeling anxious because you heard a noise on a dark street isn’t the same thing as having an anxiety disorder. “The key thing we look for in the clinic is whether anxiety is interfering with a person’s day-to-day life, or causing them a lot of distress,” says Nick Grey of King’s College London.
To clinical psychologists like Grey, “maladaptive beliefs” are a hallmark of anxiety disorders and are often used to diagnose the type of anxiety someone has. In social anxiety disorder, the most common anxiety disorder, you might believe that blushing will result in people laughing at or shunning you. People with this type of disorder experience persistent and overwhelming fear before, during and after social events.
If you have panic disorder, you might assume that you are having a heart attack if your heart starts to race. The physical symptoms of anxiety – a pounding heart, difficulty breathing, feeling dizzy or flushed – will then come on in a rush. Everyone can experience such panic attacks from time to time, but in panic disorder the attacks are regular and become a source of anxiety themselves.
Other maladaptive beliefs are less specific. Generalised anxiety disorder is characterised by chronic worrying about a range of different events or activities, for at least six months. If you have this condition, the belief driving your anxiety could, for example, be the feeling it’s your job to take care of other people, or that you have responsibilities that you must meet at all cost. To decide who to refer for further treatment, doctors might use a tool called the GAD7 test.
“Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health problem in the west“
Are we more anxious than we used to be?
The Roman politician and philosopher Cicero was among the first to define anxiety as an illness, in the 1st century BC. Our current medical definition dates to 1980, when the American Psychological Association estimated that between 2 and 4 per cent of people in the US had an anxiety disorder. Today, some studies suggest it’s more like 18 per cent in the US and 14 per cent in Europe.
Such figures have led some to conclude we are in the midst of an anxiety epidemic, fuelled by factors such as economic anxiety, social media and the rise of the 24-hour society. The reality is more complex. The apparent increase is probably due to changes in diagnostics over the years, which make long-term comparisons difficult. “I think we are becoming more stressed and that has to do with having a lot of demands on our time,” says Jennifer Wild of the Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorder and Trauma in the UK. “But if you’re looking at the prevalence of anxiety disorders, they haven’t gone up.”
There is tentative evidence to support this conclusion. For instance, Olivia Remes and her colleagues at the University of Cambridge found little overall change in the number of people around the world affected by anxiety disorders between 1990 and 2010. Their meta-analysis, published earlier this year, found that roughly 1 in 10 people experience anxiety at any given time, and about 17 per cent are likely to experience it at some stage in their lives.
Remes found that adults under the age of 35 were disproportionately affected by anxiety. Similarly, Borwin Bandelow and Sophie Michaelis at the University Medical Centre in Göttingen, Germany, found evidence that the prevalence of most anxiety disorders peaks in 18 to 34-year-olds before dropping off again. Specific phobias were the exception, peaking in 35 to 50-year-olds.
Even if the overall prevalence of anxiety disorders hasn’t increased, anecdotal evidence suggests that the type of anxiety people are experiencing is changing. When Nicky Lidbetter, chief executive of Anxiety UK, joined the charity 20 years ago, the majority of queries they received were from people with panic disorder or agoraphobia, an extreme fear of open spaces. “Nowadays it is health anxiety [hypochondria] and social anxiety,” she says.
What causes the symptoms of anxiety?
Although we are still a long way from fully understanding what is going on in an anxious brain, recent studies offer some insights into why anxiety seems to take over in some people. Central to it all is the amygdala, a brain region that processes our emotions and triggers the release of the hormones responsible for the fight-or-flight response.
The amygdala is linked to parts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex that process social information and help us make decisions (see diagram). During bouts of everyday anxiety, this brain circuit switches on and then off again – but Oliver Robinson at University College London and his colleagues have shown that in people with anxiety disorders it seems to get stuck in the on position. “We think it might be amplifying negative information in your surroundings to make sure you pay attention to it, and triggering a fight-or-flight response so you’ll run away,” says Robinson.
Studies suggest that fear memories stored in the amygdala prime us to respond to threats we have previously experienced. This response is normally kept in check by a parallel circuit: in healthy people, inputs from the prefrontal cortex can temper our learned response and even overwrite it with new memories. Occasionally the system fails, however. Psychiatrists have found that war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder – a kind of anxiety disorder – have abnormally low levels of activity in their prefrontal cortex, and unusually high levels in their amygdala.
Ultimately, an overactive amygdala appears to hype up the familiar symptoms of the fight-or-flight response by stimulating a network of hormonal glands and brain regions called the “HPA axis” – causing rapid heart rate and breathing, a dry mouth, shaking and tense muscles. The fight-or-flight response also has less obvious effects, like slowing digestion and making us more susceptible to pain.
Understanding these interactions will help design better treatments. For instance, Robinson’s circuit switches on when levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin are low, which could explain why a class of antidepressants known as SSRIs can reduce anxiety levels: they increase the availability of serotonin in the brain. “Maybe serotonin is applying the brakes to this particular circuitry,” says Robinson.
Are some people naturally more anxious than others?
Do you calmly navigate life’s bumps or agonise at every turn? Psychologists have long argued that people have innate dispositions that explain how we act, one of which is neuroticism – or proneness to anxiety. A recent study of more than 106,000 people identified nine regions of the genome that seem to correlate with neuroticism. Some of these contain genes previously linked to anxious behaviour, such as CRHR1, which regulates release of the stress hormone cortisol. The same gene has also been associated with anxiety-related behaviour in mice, and panic disorder in humans.
Philippe Lesprit/Picturetank
Some people are therefore naturally more prone to anxiety. But even if you are a natural-born neurotic, this doesn’t mean you will develop an anxiety disorder. “Having a high level of dispositional anxiety is a risk factor for developing an anxiety disorder, but you can be highly anxious and completely healthy,” says Marcus Munafo, a behavioural neuroscientist at the University of Bristol, UK.
Your age (see “Are we more anxious than we used to be”) and sex are factors at play. Population studies show that women are about twice as likely to develop an anxiety disorder as men. In part, this may be down to hormones and their influence on the brain. The surges in oestrogen and progesterone that occur during pregnancy, for instance, have been linked to obsessive compulsive disorder, an anxiety-related condition. Remes points out that there may be other explanations too, such as the fact that women tend to cope with stressful situations differently. “They worry a lot more about what’s going to happen, which can increase their anxiety,” she says. “Men tend to take a more problem-focused approach.”
“Being a natural-born neurotic doesn’t mean you’ll develop anxiety disorder“
What’s the best way to tackle an anxiety disorder?
If you have an anxiety disorder, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is likely to be the first recommended treatment. Considered the gold standard in treatment, it aims to address the maladaptive beliefs that drive your anxiety. Once they have been identified, CBT helps you challenge them. “If someone is worried about blushing, we might put blusher all over their face and make them have conversations with people to see that they generally don’t even notice,” says Wild. “For panic disorder, you might get someone to run up and down the stairs, to show them that even if they do an extreme behaviour, they aren’t going to have a heart attack.”
A shortage of therapists has spurred the development of online delivery of CBT. In a pilot study of 11 people with social anxiety disorder, Wild found that nine of them responded to online CBT and seven achieved remission, although it is too early to say if this is better or worse than face-to-face therapy.
Therapy isn’t for everyone, however. Some people don’t respond well to therapists or analysing their own behaviour. In this case, a second line of attack is drugs, which can redress chemical imbalances in the brain.
Several studies have shown that people with panic disorder and generalised anxiety disorder tend to have lower levels of a neurotransmitter called GABA, which is thought to help the amygdala filter out unthreatening stimuli. Blocking GABA production in rats has been shown to trigger anxiety-like symptoms.
Benzodiazepines, a class of common anti-anxiety drugs which includes Valium, work on this system but are highly addictive. Doctors may feel more comfortable prescribing antidepressants, says Lidbetter. These can help with the physiology of anxiety as well as the secondary symptoms, which often include depression. However, Lidbetter believes that this is a field that needs to move on. “We need a new benzodiazepine-type drug – something which isn’t addictive,” she says.
Exercise can help with day-to-day anxiety and is a helpful additional strategy for people with anxiety disorders. It triggers the release of mood-boosting endorphins, and forces you to concentrate on something other than your own thoughts. Then there’s diet. A team led by Phil Burnet at the University of Oxford has found that taking a fibre-rich supplement to encourage the growth of beneficial gut bacteria for three weeks caused people to pay more attention to positive words on a computer screen and less attention to negative ones. Upon waking each morning, the volunteers also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood. “We saw a small but significant effect on the underlying psychological mechanisms that contribute to anxiety,” says Burnet.
Modern life may be packed with events outside your control, seemingly designed to foster anxiety and self-doubt. The important thing is to recognise the symptoms and do something about them.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Worry…”
At one point or another, you’ve probably met someone who identifies as “a social drinker” — you may even identify as one yourself. People drink casually for a host of reasons: to help them unwind, because they enjoy the taste, and even as a “social lubricant” to help feel less awkward and make socializing a little easier. While there’s nothing wrong with responsibly sipping some wine or beer at a party, alcohol also has the potential to be misused, particularly when it comes to dealing with social anxiety. A new study found that social anxiety disorder may be linked to substance use disorder, and specifically alcohol use, that weren’t reflected in other types of anxiety disorders.
Lots of people feel nervous when meeting someone new or entering new social situations, but social anxiety disorder is distinguished by a constant fear towards a variety of social situations where the person “is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others,” the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) writes. A person with the disorder may be anxious about embarrassing themselves to the point where it interferes with their ability to live their life, and NIMH estimates that roughly 12 percent of American adults experience social anxiety disorder in their lifetime. The new research, published in the journal Depression and Anxiety, focused on understanding how the disorder might affect an individual’s relationship with alcohol and their drinking patterns.
Ashley Batz/Bustle
Researchers interviewed roughly 2,800 adult twins, assessing level of alcohol consumption and mental health factors including panic disorder, specific phobias and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder. People with the disorder were associated with a higher risk for potentially developing alcoholism later in life, while the other studied anxiety disorders didn’t appear to be risk factors. Alcohol abuse also had the most significant link with social anxiety disorder.
This link is significant because of how it could affect treatment for both disorders. “Many individuals with social anxiety are not in treatment. This means that we have an underutilized potential, not only for reducing the burden of social anxiety, but also for preventing alcohol problems,” study author Dr. Fartein Ask Torvik said in a statement. “Cognitive behavioral therapy with controlled exposure to the feared situations has shown good results.”
Cognitive behavioral therapy, otherwise known as CBT, is a type of psychotherapy that helps patients by altering patterns of harmful and unhelpful thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. The therapy largely focuses on solutions that help patients question and confront “distorted cognitions and change destructive patterns of behavior,” according to Psychology Today, as well as to develop coping skills. It’s been proven effective as a treatment for a several mental health issues, including anxiety disorders, depression, and eating disorders.
Based on the study results, treating social anxiety and helping prevent it with therapies like CBT could potentially have the benefit of limiting alcohol abuse in patients. The relationship the study pinpointed between excessive drinking and social anxiety suggest further research on the topic is necessary, especially if people are drinking to deal with their mental health instead of seeking mental health treatment.
If you or someone you know is seeking help for substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP(4357).
According to the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), 13.2% of people have experienced a panic attack. If you know someone who suffers from them frequently, it can be helpful to better understand what they are. Attacks can last between five and 30 minutes, with symptoms including rapid breathing, sweating, a racing heart, shivering and feeling sick. The NHS, MHF, the mental health charities Mind, Time to Change and No Panic have resources available.
Stay calm
“If you’re having a short, sudden panic attack, it can be helpful to have someone with you reassuring you that it will pass,” Paul Salkovskis, professor of clinical psychology and applied science at the University of Bath, says in official advice from the NHS. It is important to ride out the attack and not look for distractions; just remaining calm yourself can provide comfort.
Be reassuring
Panic attacks can be highly distressing; some people describe feeling as if they are having a heart attack or that they might die. It is important to reassure the person experiencing an attack that they are not in danger. The symptoms, attributable to the body’s fight or flight response, typically peak within 10 minutes.
Encourage deep breaths
Encourage the person to breathe slowly and deeply – Mind advises counting out loud or asking them to watch while you calmly raise your arm up and down. The NHS and No Panic also publish guides to calming breathing exercises.
Be careful not to be dismissive
Your “don’t panic” may be well-intentioned, but try to avoid any potentially dismissive language and phrases. As Matt Haig, author of the best-selling Reasons to Stay Alive, puts it: “Don’t belittle them. They’re among the most intense experiences you can go through.”
Try a grounding exercise
“One of the symptoms of panic attacks can be feeling unreal or detached,” says Martin Antony, a psychology professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Grounding techniques, or other ways to feel connected to the present, can be effective – Mind suggests focusing on the texture of a blanket, smelling something with a strong scent – and even stamping your feet.
Ask them what they need
People can often feel exhausted after a panic attack. Gently ask them if you can get them a glass of water or something to eat. (Caffeine, a psychostimulant, is best avoided, as is alcohol.) They may be feeling shivery or too hot. At a later point, when they have recovered, you might like to ask them what they find helpful during or after an attack.
Parents worry that their daughters constantly seem pressured and stressed. Turns out, most are. Studies show an alarming increase in anxiety and stress experienced by girls starting at age 10 and through college.
If you have a daughter, you know: They are under enormous pressure to do well in school, to be socially engaged and accepted, to look good—anyone of which can at times cause what feels like crippling stress or anxiety.
According to new Pew Center research, 7 in 10 teens see anxiety and depression as a major problem among their peers ages 13 to 17. Pew notes, “Girls are more likely than boys to say they plan to attend a four-year college…and they’re also more likely to say they worry a lot about getting into the school of their choice.” The Center’s research confirms “a larger share of girls than boys say they often feel tense or nervous about their day (36% vs. 23%, respectively, say they feel this way every day or almost every day).”
Adding to and percolating beneath those stressors are worries about bullying, drug addiction and alcohol use, relationships with boys, and, understandably, school shootings and what feels like a constant barrage of negative news. For young girls, many of whom are prone to overthinking a situation or incident, the pressure can feel relentless.
Ask any young lady you know and she may tell you she feels anxious at a party or she’s stressed by a disagreement she had with her best friend. She might be terrified by a speech she has to give in class or a test she doesn’t feel prepared to take. Or, she could be nervous about what she will see the next time she opens Snapchat or Instagram. She might be stressed or anxious about an upcoming athletic competition or musical performance, or what to do about a boy who is pursuing her (or isn’t).
If you have a daughter, you have to be asking yourself, “How can all this stress and anxiety be good, even beneficial?” As a parent in the trenches and the recipient of the outbursts, meltdowns, sulking or silent treatment, you have to also be asking yourself, “How can I help effectively?”
Stress and Anxiety are “Fraternal Twins”
Your daughter may hate feeling stressed or anxious; she may see these strong responses only as a plague. But, they’re not necessarily a bad thing. It’s important to first understand how stress and anxiety play a role in anyone’s day-to-day functioning. Although stress and anxiety often merge in people’s minds and are used interchangeably, parents can help their daughters use both to their advantage.
Know that these “negative” emotions and the body’s natural response to protect itself, can actually be harnessed for good. Lisa Damour, author of Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls refers to stress and anxiety as “fraternal twins…they are both psychologically uncomfortable.” She defines stress as “feeling of emotional or mental strain or tension;” anxiety as “the feeling of fear, dread, or panic.”
Because stress and anxiety have become epidemic for young girls doesn’t mean stress and anxiety can’t be helpful—even good—especially if we reframe them as tools for moving in the right direction, instead of bad feelings that hold us back. Damour makes these points to keep in mind as you assist your daughter:
It might be easier to run away at the first sign of stress or anxiety. But, by teaching our daughters to face stressful situations, we help them build resilience.
Stress and anxiety are byproducts of stepping out of one’s comfort zone. Operating beyond their comfort zone helps girls grow, especially when taking on new challenges.
Analyzing an anxiety-producing situation with daughters helps them better evaluate if they are over reacting to how bad it is or underestimating their ability to deal with it.
Dr. Damour documents just how profound and weighty that pressure is at the same time she delivers strategies to alleviate the pressure. She reassures parents that stress and anxiety can be a positive to help girls learn to take upsets and setbacks in their stride.
Transition Time Needed
In guiding your daughter, Dr. Damour recommends you think of your daughter’s brain as a snow or “glitter” globe turned upside down. The adolescent brain needs time for the “snow” to settle before it can think straight.
Once a parent understands how the adolescent brain functions, it is easier to allow your daughter transition time before rushing headlong into “bailouts” or making comments that are unproductive. This approach is valuable in the middle of an immediate “crisis.”
The transition time may be when your daughter races home after school, clearly upset, and heads to her room. Give her the space she needs and when she emerges discuss the situation or predicament she feels she’s in and options she might have. Allow her to complain, then ask her what she thinks might help…or happen. The goal is have her understand that her stress or anxiety is in Damour’s words, “only a thought or only a feeling.”
As we know dismissing her fear or avoidance isn’t the right path, strive to help her brainstorm her own solutions. Ask for ways she thinks she can handle or solve the problem. You will be surprised at her ability to figure it out with your composed guidance.
It’s Not About Rescuing Your Daughter
As parents our first instinct is to bail out our daughter. And, considering how strong these anxious emotions can feel, it’s natural to feel compelled to swoop in and save the day. We want nothing but comfort and painlessness for our children. This, however, can lead to a parent becoming a crutch. We may make an excuse so she doesn’t have to take the test she says she can’t pass, or have her stay home from a party because some friendship drama may be afoot, or even let her skip out on a recital or a play rehearsal or performance she committed to, all to protect from these endlessly stressful or anxiety-provoking situations that have created a meltdown.
Who hasn’t at times been at a loss in how to help? In her book, Dr. Damour offers parents a roadmap to step in and alleviate some of the pressure, but not in ways that parents are prone to believe are helpful.
Helping her avoid a situation will likely make the problem worse. Avoidance is only temporary relief. At some point, she’s going to have to face the test, face the boy, talk to her friend, join the conversation on Facebook, or perform in a recital or on an athletic field.
Instead of rushing to smooth the path to whatever a daughter’s conflict, drama, or worry of the moment, in most situations, parents can pause and lead them through it. Realize it’s better help to step back, calm their own alarm system, and encourage your daughter to find alternatives, think about what might happen, and come up with solutions she feels that can handle or execute. Guide her to form long-lasting habits that empower her to handle her stress and anxiety instead of trying to erase it altogether (which, as we know, won’t happen).
Tamping Down Perfectionism
Gently steer your daughter away from perfectionism if she leans in that direction. This is one common route to anxiety in the first place. The idea of being perfect particularly doing well in school is a toxic pressure that both society and parents place on their daughters, Dr. Damour points out. It’s time for parents to help their overly stressed daughters pull back on the time and intensity she may be devoting to academics.
Under Pressure not only helps calm parents but also gives them the tools to be supportive when daughters face obstacles. The work done now will help build resilience for the inevitable upsets they will face in the future. I highly recommend this book.
