Slaying the Beast of Anxiety — Part One
Anxiety! Oh, my goodness! Who needs this mess? Not today. Y’all, anxiety can be a beast. But we cannot let it stop us from doing what we need to do, and that’s what we’re gonna talk about today.
My name is Dr. K, and if you’re new to me, I’m a psychiatrist based in the Southeast. And my aim is to post helpful and relevant information about mental illness and how we can engage in habits to promote a healthy headspace that results in healthy behavior.
And today my goal is to start tackling that beast of anxiety. Now, in one of my previous talks, we defined anxiety as a feeling of dread or worry in the face of a threat that has not or may never happen. Now, let’s look at the first part of this definition a little closer — a feeling of dread or worry. It’s a feeling y’all. A feeling. That’s all. Are we gonna let our feelings hold us hostage? No sir. No, we will not. And let’s look at the second part of the definition — in the face of a threat that may not or may never happen. Y’all — it’s a threat. Not a thing that we know for sure is going to happen. A threat. Seriously, are we gonna let a potential threat paralyze us? No. No, we will not. But this is what we are going to do. We are going to use our feelings as a source of information. Emotions are there for a reason. And you will hear me say this a lot. Emotions are a rich source of information. But they cannot dictate our behavior. They can inform our behavior, but we can’t let our feelings or emotions boss around. You just can’t. Or you will find yourself missing out on all the goodness that life has to offer. And you’ll fall short of all that potential that’s buried on the inside of you. And we can’t let that happen. You’ve got to become your best version of you. And today, we got to figure out how to keep anxiety from preventing that best version of you from presenting itself to the world.
Okay, so today we’re going to work through the first part of what I call the enemies of anxiety. So, here we go:
The first way to combat anxiety is to handle your biology. Say, what? Dr. K, what do you mean handle your biology? Well, this is what I mean. Unfortunately, some people may be biologically wired to be more anxious. For example, everybody else at a small dinner party looks chill, but you feel like you’re the only somebody in the room that’s ‘bout to have a mini stroke. Your palms are sweaty. Your heart is racing. You can’t hardly breathe. And you hope to God that you don’t do something embarrassing. I’m gonna tell you from experience that there’s probably a biological component to that. It may be that anxiety runs in your family. Or it may be that you were exposed to some traumatic experience during childhood that now’s got your biology hotwired for anxiety. Or it could be that you have an underlying physical condition like thyroid problems that make you feel more anxious at baseline than other people without the illness. If that’s the case, it may help you to have some medication to keep that mess from running and ruining your life. And what I mean by medications is stuff like Prozac or Zoloft or Lexapro or Celexa. You may be like, well Dr. K, I don’t wanna take medications. Medications are not for me. And I’d be like, okay. If that’s what you want. But, in my experience, mental health conditions that have a huge biological component warrant biological treatments like prescription medications. There are also other ways to positively affect your biology — consistent exercise, over the counter remedies for anxiety like supplements or essential oils, acupuncture — and all kinds of alternative therapies. Oh, wait — there’s something else I need to tell you about biological treatments for anxiety. A quick and clean way to biologically tamp down your anxiety level doesn’t require medications at all. All it requires is breathing. Yep. It’s that simple. When anxiety levels go up, people tend to breathe rapid, shallow breaths. But baby, that ain’t gonna work. That’s only going to make your anxiety levels higher. So, what you want to do is deep breathing exercises. You wanna take slow deep breaths where you feel your chest or belly fill with air then slowly blow it out through your nose or your mouth — whatever works better for you. When you take slow deep breaths, your brain releases something GABA. This is a chemical that can make you feel more relaxed.
In either case, my point is this: biological problems warrant biological solutions. Otherwise, you may miss your mark as far as managing your anxiety. If your anxiety seems to have an important biological component — it runs in the family, you’ve got an underlying health condition that makes you anxious, or you’ve got a childhood history of trauma that’s got you primed to be anxious — then I’d suggest you get with a mental health professional or your primary care doctor and discuss biological treatments for anxiety. Alright, that’s gonna end our first session from the series ENEMIES OF ANXIETY. I hope it’s been helpful. However, as always, keep in mind, none of the content that I present here should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified mental health provider.
Folks, let’s make it our business to understand mental illness and those who struggle against mental illness. I’m Dr. K, and this has been Mental Health | Plain Speak. And remember, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
