Our brains create anxiety to protect us from dangerous situations. This is part of the fight, flight and freeze mechanism that is so important for situations where you may be in danger. Unfortunately, chronic worry and anxiety is due to our brain interpreting non-life threatening situations as dangerous. This can happen for many reasons. Sometimes it’s a result of previously being in dangerous and traumatic situations which heightens your brain’s responses to stress. Sometimes it’s because of Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS) which counselors call cognitive distortions. These ANTS are often exaggerated ways of thinking about a situation as worse than it really is. Have you ever had thoughts using words such as “always”, “never”, “this is a disaster” or “I’m never going to…” These thoughts set your brain in action to try to deal with the “disaster” by increasing adrenaline and cortisol (your stress hormone that activates you). If there is no actual threat where you need to run or fight, those chemicals remain in your body making you feel anxious and worried. A counselor trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help you notice your automatic negative thoughts and reframe them to be more accurate which helps your brain to stay calm or become calm.
You may not realize it, but even the foods we eat, or don’t eat, can change our brain and make us feel anxious. Scientists have discovered that there is a direct connection between the stay of our gut and the state of our brain. Ninety percent of our neurotransmitters, which are chemicals our brain uses for various functions such as keeping us calm and happy, are created in the gut. If our gut microbiome is out of balance then our brain chemistry is out of balance. One way this happens is when the foods we eat lack the nutrients our brains need to create those neurotransmitters. This is often the case with ultra-processed foods and fast foods.
Here are 5 tips for Managing AnxietyBREATHE Any state that lowers oxygen will trigger fear and panic. This can happen when we don’t sit with good posture or when we become stressed. Sitting up allows you to fill the lower part of your lungs, increasing oxygen to your brain. Taking slow deep breaths from your belly will also increase oxygen in your brain and will calm you down. One helpful, stress reducing way to breathe is called “box breathing”. Take a breath in, to the count of 4-6 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds and that breath out, as if you are blowing through a straw, for 6-8 seconds.
Don’t Leave: If you try to escape the uncomfortable feeling, you will teach your brain there is something to fear and the anxiety will increase long term.
Grounding Techniques: Look around the room and name 5 things you can see, touch and smell. Try saying your ABC’s backwards, practice your multiplication tables.
Nutritional Interventions: Eat plenty of fiber, good fats, such as avocado, olive oil, and grass-fed butter, and protein with each meal, reduce sugar, simple carbs like white breads and pastas, reduce or eliminate caffeine and alcohol. Drink plenty of water.
Write down your thoughts: If your thoughts are distorted, talk back to them. For example if you automatically think “This is a disaster!”, reframe that to something more neutral and realistic such as “This is going to be difficult, but I can handle it”. If your thought is something like “Everyone is going to look at me and judge me!”, reframe that to “Most people are paying attention to themselves and even if they judge me, it’ll be ok”.
