Anxiety/Depression
Everyone worries from time to time/ All people, young or old, experience anxiety at one time or another in their lives. Anxiety is a normal human emotion that is actually helpful when it directs our attention to actual threats, alerts us to what we care about, motivates us to solve problems and triggers us to take productive action. However, when some of the aspects of anxiety get exaggerated or distorted we see healthy anxiety become dysfunctional. In unhealthy anxiety there is an increased threat vigilance that attention gets hijacked, and an increased estimation of threat. There is also an over-reliance on avoidance choices rather than proactive coping and an over-reliance on rituals that take the place of true problem solving – like, “If I wear this shirt I’ll be safe”. Finally, unhealthy worry becomes relentless/all encompassing, impairing and gets in the way of effectively living life.
Anxiety Children
Anxiety is a healthy human emotion that helps us detect danger and protect ourselves. We are all equipped with the fight or flight response. We need that little voice inside our brains that reminds us that the pot is too hot, that we shouldn’t run in the street, or that danger is imminent. Yet, for children who have an anxiety disorder, anxiety is triggered by routine activities, is disproportional and over time inhibits the child from actively engaging in normal daily activities.
Adult Anxiety
A worried mind is a very loud mind; it practically screams out for help the minute an unexpected trigger hits. “Go ahead and panic” it whispers and eventually yells over and over again. The body responds in an instant with anxiety symptoms such as shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, stomach discomfort and dizziness. That is how it feels when panic sets in.
We are all equipped with the fight or flight response an evolutionary based reaction to actual danger that has kept human beings alive for centuries. However when the fight or flight response is triggered excessively either as a result of misinterpretation of discomfort as danger or habitual automatic responses to threats it can lead to health problems.