Collaborative Post
Think your anxiety is your fault? Then think again. In most cases, it has nothing to do with the person experiencing it. It’s an unconscious defence mechanism from childhood working overtime.
What Is Anxiety And Where Does It Come From?
To understand anxiety, you have to travel back through evolutionary history and ask, what survival advantage does it offer?
Anxiety is a pretty unpleasant feeling. It’s the emotional equivalent of physical pain – something you’d prefer to avoid if at all possible.
Most creatures show signs of anxiety when they perceive danger. Deer will prick up their ears and stand perfectly still if they suspect a predator is in the area. Hedgehogs will curl up into a ball, using their spines as a defence until it is safe to unravel.
Humans don’t have those extreme kinds of responses to prevent threats from predators. But we do have the capacity to plan. Our brains will often produce anxiety if something we’re about to do threatens our health or survival. It’s why you feel nervous when crossing a gorge or approaching a group of strangers down a darkened alley.
That’s healthy anxiety. That’s the kind of protective anxiety you want in your life. It’s transitory and it keeps you safe.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
The Problem With Today’s Anxiety
Unfortunately, there’s another kind of anxiety which isn’t helpful and actually makes your life worse: chronic anxiety. It occurs even when you’re not in any physical danger.
But where does it come from?
You have to realise that people are not just machines reacting to their environments. Instead, we’re complex animals that are also able to react to past threats. We remember things and then carry these memories with us consciously throughout our lives.
It’s that unconscious sense of danger that produces anxiety. We don’t know why we’re sweating profusely or feeling dread in the pit of our stomach sometimes, but we just do. Usually, it is because of some kind of learnt trauma in childhood that wasn’t our fault. We learned that we always needed to be on edge, ready to face dangers. And we carry that into our adult lives.
Solutions For Your Anxiety
So what can the average person do to resolve their anxiety? Are there any solutions?
Some people choose to restore the balance of their mind with CBD oil drops. These tend to bring the body back into homeostasis, which can have beneficial knock-on effects on the mind.
Other people approach the problem differently by first creating an account of their traumatic experiences and then convincing themselves that they now know enough so that the same thing won’t happen again.
When you were a child, you didn’t have the knowledge or experience to avoid the dangers around you. But as an adult, you have the wherewithal to avoid dangers that you might face in the future.
Still, when it comes to emotional or psychological challenges, recognizing potential risks isn’t always as straightforward. In such cases, reaching out for professional guidance can make a difference. Support from organizations like Serenity Mental Health Centers and similar others can help individuals better understand their mental health and take proactive steps toward resilience and well-being.
Anxiety isn’t always something you have to live with. With the right approach, people can overcome it and go on to lead happy and healthy lives. Banishing it completely isn’t the goal. But living with it pointlessly is a great tragedy.