So you have been beaten down and defeated from anxiety and you are ready to face it head on. The first thing you need to do is understand what’s happening when you’re having a panic attack.
Fight-or-Flight
When you find yourself in a stressful situation, your nervous system responds by releasing stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, which leads to an increased blood pressure, your muscles tighten and you start breathing heavy. This is what happens in a fight-or-flight response, which is natures way of preparing you to either fight or flight. Situations like this can often lead to panic attacks since your body doesn’t know how to properly respond.
Triggers
Triggers are often things that lead to panic attacks.
Traumatic situations such as being diagnosed with terminal illness or even getting fired can trigger anxiety. This trigger can be extremely powerful due to the immediate feeling it can cause.
Medications
Medications like certain foods may trigger anxiousness, since there are ingredients that may increase your blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about any medications prior to taking them, since they can increase your anxiety levels.
Caffeine
Drinking coffee can be the best thing to get you through your day, but it also makes those with panic disorder or social anxiety disorder more anxious. If you don’t have a big speech or have a relaxing day ahead of you, a cup of joe could be fine, but you may want to cut back your caffeine intake the days you want to avoid a stressful situation.
Your Diet
Food can affect your mood. Eating a balanced meal is critical for several reasons. It provides you with nutrients and levels your blood sugar levels. A drop in your levels can result to shaking hands and a rumbling stomach. It can also lead to feeling more nervousness.
Anticipatory Anxiety
Your are out of your mind. It’s true. Your mind is like a processing chip of a computer and negative thoughts or experiences can cause you to have anticipatory anxiety. That is the fear of what’s to happen. You might have had a horrible experience with a presentation, which causes you to focus on your bad experience vs. your presentation. Relearning to change your focus can help in situations like these.
Financial Purposes
Debt can cause anxiety. Unless you come from wealth, you will experience some type of financial stress in your lifetime. It may be college debt, children, cars, mortgage, or unemployment.
Social Settings
New environments and new people and really anything unfamiliar can be scary whether your a child or adult. Not everyone was gifted with making small talk and that could trigger some anxious feelings.
Conflict
Fight-or-Flight can often kick in when you end up in a situation of conflict. Sometimes small disagreements, even if professional can come off abrasive. A disagreement can trigger feelings of a direct attack, where it really has nothing to do with personal feelings. Speak with a therapist to manage your mental health and work through your feelings in situations like this.
Public Speaking
It’s true that most people would rather be dead in a casket than give the eulogy. Jerry Seinfeld referenced that in one of his standup, but it’s true. Most people do not like speaking in front of audiences. It’s terrifying. If your job requires this, it’s suggested to practice. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations to crack the fear of this. You obviously wouldn’t want to be the keynote speaker at a conference to start, but perhaps start with smaller teams, church groups, or guest speaking in small classes. Practice makes perfect, so the more you do, the better.
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