Surely each of us has experienced anxiety at least once in our lives. When you worry, your heart rate will gradually increase, your body sweats a lot, your stomach feels uncomfortable and uncomfortable.
Anxiety is a natural reaction that can happen to anyone.
What is anxiety? Why do we feel anxious?
Anxiety is considered a natural and normal response of the body. This state usually occurs when the body reacts to stress. According to psychiatrists Sadock, Sadock and Ruiz, anxiety is a feeling of fear that is pervasive, vague, and very uncomfortable. This response takes place to an incorrect or unknown threat.
For example, when you start to imagine yourself walking into a wild forest, you will certainly feel fear and discomfort. These feelings are caused by anxiety, insecurity about a dangerous situation or event, such as being robbed, being intimidated, etc. However, this anxiety does not stem from a relationship. specific or known threat. It is created from your own interpretation and perception of possible dangers.
Experts share that, when the body is faced with stress, it will start to produce a certain amount of the hormone adrenaline. This is a hormone that acts on the sympathetic nervous system, it helps you prepare to flee or face an event or threat. At this time, the heart will begin to beat faster, blood pressure will increase, breathing faster to increase alertness and energize the body.
Often, when you are anxious, you will be accompanied by a lot of physical symptoms. Such as:
- Headaches
- Trembling hands and feet, sweating profusely
- Sleep disorders
- Heart rate increases fast
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Feeling of tension all over the body
- Tingling or numbness
- Hot flashes or colds
- Nausea, stomach ache
- I feel like I’m going crazy
- Dizziness, tinnitus, fainting
Harmful effects of anxiety
Worrying too much will affect your health a lot. When we encounter any mental instability, the body will immediately show corresponding symptoms. For example, if you feel nervous about your exam, it will lead to some stomach problems.
Some parts will be affected if you worry for a long time such as:
1. Nervous system
Nervous system is composed of nerves, brain, spinal cord, nerve cells. When you are in a state of excessive and prolonged anxiety, the nervous system will stimulate the production of large amounts of stress hormones. Therefore, when you worry, you will have symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, insecurity, weak limbs, rapid breathing, etc. If the anxiety state is not overcome soon, it will affect to the function and operation of the cardiovascular system, muscle system, blood vessels and many other parts.
Excessive anxiety can have serious effects on the nervous system.
2. Breathing rate
Breathing will be greatly affected if you are constantly worrying about something. When you form negative thoughts, often feel insecure, stressed and afraid, you will tend to sigh, breathe deeply and make the breathing rate become shorter than normal.
Although the increase or decrease in breathing rate will not cause any pain, in the long run, this condition will have a serious impact on health. Many cases can face a variety of respiratory health problems such as asthma, lungs, etc.
3. Muscles
According to research, when you are tired, worried and thinking negatively about a certain issue, the muscles in the shoulders, neck and neck are more likely to become tense. This condition will make you feel severe headaches, migraines, neck and shoulder pain. You can quickly improve them by relaxing, resting, breathing deeply or massaging.
4. Cardiovascular
The heart is the organ most affected if you are constantly worried. If the psychological state is not cleared soon, anxiety persists, it will make health severely affected, the risk of problems such as heart failure, cardiovascular disorders, high blood pressure.
More specifically, in the worst case when you worry too much, the cardiovascular system can also be impaired. This makes you more likely to have dangerous diseases such as atherosclerosis, inflammation of the blood vessels, increased levels of bad cholesterol, in the worst case, you can have a stroke.
5. Blood sugar
Prolonged state of anxiety will cause the level of stress hormone inside the body to increase rapidly. On the other hand, stress hormones can provide the body with energy in the form of blood sugar. When you get rid of anxiety and insecurity, this blood sugar can be eliminated outside. However, if you continue to worry, your blood sugar will build up and increase your risk of diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease or stroke.
6. Weakened immune system
Surely we would not think that worrying will affect the body’s immune system. However, from a medical perspective, really excessive anxiety will make your immune system severely weakened. Because of that, you will be prone to many diseases such as flu, shingles, herpes. This is also the time when viruses and bacteria have the opportunity to invade and affect the body.
7. Affects the stomach
Anxiety is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, or stomach upset. In addition, due to the unstable psychological state, many people will tend to eat erratically, lose their appetite, have no appetite, often skip meals, and eat poorly. This condition, if prolonged, will easily lead to digestive and stomach problems, causing gastric mucosal ulcers.
You will face many stomach health problems if you are constantly worried and stressed.
Especially in times of stress, excessive anxiety, if you cannot maintain a healthy diet, too much fat will cause the stomach to work continuously, forming more acid than normal. often. In many cases, acid reflux can be extremely uncomfortable.
8. Sexual Health
Your sex life will also be seriously impaired if you keep worrying too much. When stressed, fatigue will make you lose focus, no longer interested in activities going on around, including sex.
Excessive anxiety will reduce levels of the male sex hormone testosterone, which greatly affects sperm development. Because of that, the body’s normal reactions as well as sexual needs and sex are also slowed down.
For women, especially women who are in menopause, often excessive anxiety can also cause hot flashes. Many people can also experience menstrual cramps, decreased libido, and inability to achieve orgasm during sex.
Is excessive anxiety a disease?
Anxiety is one of the normal reactions of the body and all of us have experienced it. However, prolonged anxiety can also be a warning sign of a mental health problem.
If you’re constantly feeling anxious, you’re constantly facing the “fight or flight” response. This causes the nervous system to start releasing a variety of stress hormones, typically cortisol. This hormone has the ability to increase blood sugar and triglyceride levels, which the body normally uses as fuel.
Excessive and prolonged anxiety increases the risk of depression.
If there is too much fuel in the blood that physical activity does not use, prolonged anxiety can have many negative effects on physical health. Such as muscle tension, suppressed immune system, digestive disorders, heart attack, coronary artery disease, temporary memory loss.
More specifically, if anxiety is persistent and not well addressed, it increases the risk of developing more serious psychological problems, such as depression. In fact, excessive anxiety is not a disease, but if you do not know how to control your psychological state well, it is completely at risk of turning into a pathology.
Experts say that the body’s response to stress is related to the activity of the immune system, blood vessels, heart and hormone-secreting glands. These hormones will often control many bodily functions, typically brain function and nerve impulses.
Most of these systems interact with each other and are influenced by psychology. That same stress makes you sick, putting you at risk for a host of mental and physical health problems.
How to overcome anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural reaction that everyone will experience when faced with threatening situations or thinking about possible consequences in the future. This state can help us promptly recognize the dangers that are lurking and limit the risks. However, if anxiety occurs frequently and lasts continuously, it will seriously affect health and daily life.
Therefore, you need to know how to control your emotions and prevent your anxiety. Here are some simple ways to help ease your anxiety.
1. Regular exercise
Exercising and moving properly is one of the effective methods to help you control negative emotions, limit anxiety and stress. If you feel anxious about something, try getting up and walking around a few times, practice some yoga movements, meditate for 15 minutes, you will find the spirit to be relaxed and much more comfortable.
2. Positive thinking
Sometimes a lack of confidence, thinking that you won’t be able to do everything well or even mess up everything is one of the causes that cause you to feel excessively anxious. To improve your psychological state better, you need to believe in your own ability, find ways to come up with solutions to help your mind become more positive.
Instead of constantly thinking about failures, encourage yourself to say “I can do it”. Try talking and monologue with yourself with positive, energizing statements so you can visualize a desired outcome. Or sometimes you should also listen to some happy, inspirational music to help stabilize your mood and get better.
3. Chat with relatives and friends
The results of a study conducted in 2014 show that sharing your feelings with someone, especially someone who has experienced and seriously experienced similar situations, helps. you reduce anxiety, stress and feel more positive. So, when you’re nervous, you can meet, call, or text your friends, family, or anyone you trust.
4. Apply relaxation therapy
To control your psychological state well, relieve anxiety and stress, the best way is to know some relaxation therapies. When stressed, heart rate and breathing will become disordered. Therefore, you should learn simple breathing exercises to quickly control the uncomfortable symptoms that anxiety causes.
Besides, you can also relieve the mood in many different ways. For example, soak your feet or take a bath with warm water, listen to music, read books, massage, massage, take care of ornamental plants, play with pets, meditate, drink herbal tea, etc. Choose the right therapy for yourself. suitable and convenient to be applied as soon as you feel anxious or insecure.
5. Take time to rest
Worrying will make you unable to focus on most tasks, instead of trying to do something, take time to rest or, best of all, take a nap to regain positive energy. Sleep plays a very important role in the overall health of each person. Getting quality sleep is an important part of maintaining a positive mental state.
Hopefully the information in this article will help readers better understand the body’s anxiety response and have an effective remedy. In case the anxiety state persists continuously and cannot be relieved, you should also consider seeing a specialist for better support.
