Causes and Effects of Anxiety

Anyone can be a victim of anxiety. Even if it is unpleasant, anxiety can be beneficial in some cases. Anxiety can be beneficial in times of danger and emergency, allowing you to react fast.

If you’re concerned about situations that aren’t harmful, it can be a problem. An example of anxiety is feeling so anxious you cannot even cross the street to enter a shop.

Anxiety Versus Fear

Anxiety is a psychological disorder in which a person’s feelings of anxiety, unease, suspense, or worry are provoked by uncertain situations. Anxiety refers to stressful feelings concerning an unknown, dispersed, uncertain, or frequently unexplained sort of danger or threat.

Because the anxiety-inducing event is unknown, the person is unsure how to react. The person’s actions may not be consistent with the actual threat. Anxiety is frequently accompanied by a significant social component. Most of our anxieties depend on how others perceive us as social creatures and how they may criticize us.

Fear, on the other hand, is a strong biologically adapted physiological or behavioral reaction to the appearance of a specific stimulus. Fear is a “call to action,” which refers to the need to move quickly (run, freeze, or fight) in response to a real threat.

Fear and anxiety are thought to have adaptive significance for the organism, with evolution favoring these emotions to aid in the detection, identification, and adaptive response to potentially harmful conditions in the immediate environment.

Anxiety is frequently associated with fear, and anxiety can also be the outcome of fear. Repeated anxiety can produce fear emotions. Genetics, neuroanatomy, and psychophysiology could all play a role in revealing primary distinctions in anxiety and fear in upcoming the future.

Causes of Anxiety

Anxiety is something that everyone goes through at some point in their lives. Anxiety, according to Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan, is what distinguishes us from other humans.

Your genes, early family experiences, continuous stress, medical issues, and drugs and stimulants you take all have a role in whether or not anxiety becomes a chronic illness that interferes with your life. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

Genes

Anxiety can be a product of your genes if you’re born as a very volatile, and reactive person. Panic attacks may be an indication that your body is overreacting and releasing adrenaline into your system.

This might cause racing, shallow breathing, and copious perspiration as your body prepares to fight or run. Chemical reactions that flood your body aren’t the result of an actual threat. The adrenaline generated during panic episodes is quickly absorbed by the liver, and the attack quickly ends.

Childhood Experiences

Childhood experiences can contribute to anxiety disorders. Experiences such as when your parents are critical or too cautious, if you were abandoned or neglected, if one or both of your parents were alcoholics, or if you suppressed feelings and self-confidence can cause anxiety.

Cumulative Stress

Anxiety disorders can be induced by a stressful lifestyle as well as the accumulation of stress over time. An unhealthy lifestyle such as avoiding exercise, eating junk foods, and sitting passively on a regular basis can lead to anxiety.

Similarly, continuous heavy smoking can also lead to anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, generalized anxiety, and agoraphobia. If you have obsessive-compulsive tendencies, it’s likely that your serotonin levels are altered. It’s probable that low amounts of gamma-aminobutyric acids are to blame for generalized anxiety.

Effects of Anxiety

Anxiety comes in a variety of forms. Your ability to perform will be influenced by the level of discomfort you are experiencing.

Anxiety is a positive habit in balance. It has the potential to add value. You wouldn’t be able to conduct a clear conversation or accomplish any of your goals if you do not have it. Mild anxiety allows you to learn to be calm. Sleeplessness, restlessness, and irritability are all symptoms of mild anxiety.

As your anxiety level rises, your perception of the world around you will deteriorate. You may notice sweating in your hands and underarms, an increase in your pulse and respiration, frequent urination, tension headaches, weariness, and increased muscle tension. You may speak more quickly or slowly than usual.

You stop paying attention to the important things and filter out the fear when you have severe anxiety. Learning is tough at this level of anxiety, and your attention span is short. You have no idea what is going on around you.

Your heart rate may increase, and you may notice a lot of sweat. Your upper chest may feel heavy, and your lips and mouth may be dry. You might stammer or speak quickly and loudly in a high-pitched tone. You may tremble, shiver, or maintain a stiff posture.

Panic attacks are the most severe form of anxiety. You may feel out of control, suffer panic episodes, and have a sense of disconnection from reality. Anxiety turns into anger when it reaches an extreme level. Despite anger being an undesirable expressive feeling, it helps to keep your anxiety in control.

You can get rid of anxiety by keeping yourself away from a hectic busy schedule for example canceling appointments and meetings, going to bed, or watching entertaining TV shows. If you do not take corrective action at the right time then physical symptoms such as increased blood pressure, headaches, and diarrhea may seem.

What Keeps Anxiety Conditions

Although numerous factors might contribute to anxiety, the following are the most common and easiest to change:

Avoidant Behaviors

If you avoid situations that make you anxious, your anxiety will not go away. It doesn’t make the problem go away. It’s simple to keep worrying and wasting energy in an attempt to ignore the issue. By taking baby steps towards the problem or thing, you might learn to conquer your anxieties.

Negative Self Talk

We all speak to ourselves. It can be so subtle and automatic that you aren’t even aware of it. Self-talk can be both positive and negative. Normally, anxiety-provoking self-talk is negative.

Stop questioning yourself like this: “What if my panic episodes get worse?”, “What if it occurs again? “What if they think I’m insane?”. This style of conversation makes you feel more apprehensive and worsens your anxiety. Using positive and encouraging messages can help you modify your negative self-talk.

Mistaken Beliefs

Negative self-talk is a result of these false beliefs. If you believe this, you can persuade yourself and others that you are losing control. If you think life is supposed to be difficult, you might think it’s strange when things go your way or you’re offered assistance.

If you believe the world is hazardous and that people can’t be trusted, you’ll live a life of distrust and avoid taking the chances necessary to overcome anxiety.

Denying Feelings

Avoiding anger, frustrations, grief, or enthusiasm can make you feel more anxious. Perhaps you’ve noticed that expressing or releasing your anger makes you feel calmer and more relaxed. It’s a fantastic method to calm down.

Inadequate Assertiveness

Assertiveness permits you to express yourself to people in a courteous and honest manner. If you aren’t vocal, you may become reserved or irritable. It’s possible that you believe it’s inappropriate to express your needs and desires for fear of hurting another individual. It can cause resentment or imprisonment, both of which can cause anxiety.

Muscle Tension

Tight muscles can affect respiration, heartbeat, digestion, circulation, cognition, and all other physiological functions. When your body is tight, your mind can race. When you relax your muscles, your mind will calm down and slow down. The easiest technique to relieve anxiety is to relax your muscles. Vigorous activity or deep muscular relaxation can help you stay calm.

Lack of Self-Nurturing

Parent neglect, overprotection, and negative criticism can lead to a deep sense of insecurity. You do not have trustworthy care as a youngster if you grew up in this type of family. You don’t learn how to love and care for yourself either.

The adult responsibilities imposed on you are likely to make you feel nervous and overwhelmed, which might worsen your anxiety. The only way to learn to be a responsible adult is to learn to nurture your “inner kid.”

Poor Nutrition

Caffeine and soda use, fast food, junk food, sugar, food additives, and eating while doing other things can all contribute to anxiety. Eliminating caffeine from your diet, especially caffeine included in over-the-counter drugs, is an excellent approach to minimizing anxiety.

Stressful Lifestyle

Poor time management skills, an unwillingness to grieve losses and changes, smoking, drinking, or using drugs can lead to anxiety.

Absence of Purpose

We are all spiritual beings. If you have lost or never found a purpose in your life, you may experience boredom and anxiety.