Anxiety: Causes and Symptoms

Anxiety in itself is not a mental disorder, but the moment you don't know how to deal with anxiety anymore, and it starts to pile up, it can eventually cause it to become a mental problem. In general, anxiety is a response to accumulated stress and gives you a sign that you need to release more stress. 

Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, we need to be alert and energetic as we try to get ourselves out of a dangerous situation. The situations we now face are apparently less dangerous, but our brain interprets them differently, and adrenaline and cortisol are quickly produced from the adrenal glands to give us alertness and energy. Only if these hormones are in our system for too long can we experience complaints. This is both physical and mental. 

What are the Symptoms of Anxiety? 

The mental symptoms are: 

• A lot of worrying and doom
• Walking on your toes
• Foggy in your head
• Difficulty concentrating
• Irritability
• Standing away from yourself
• Filters are fewer. Increased sensitivity to sound, light, and smell
• May start to think confused (not disturbed)
• Stormy in the head 

The physical symptoms are:

• Restlessness
• Sometimes nauseous and dizzy
• Fainting
• Wobbly legs and body
• Hyperventilation and shortness
• Sweating
• Going to the toilet more often or less often 
• Sleep problems
• Panic attacks and anxiety attacks 

Anxiety can also influence your behavior, or perhaps, especially your behavior. Avoiding places, situations and people is common in people who suffer from an anxiety disorder. This can have consequences for work, social contacts, family, and for your relationships. Yet you can overcome anxiety attacks, or at least you can reduce the symptoms to rebuild a dignified existence. 

If you know or suspect someone who suffers from anxiety, ask that person how they are doing. Even if that person reacts uncomfortably, that is the fear that talks. It will do that person good in the end. A smile or some other kind gesture is always appreciated, especially since people with anxiety disorders often "shy away" people because they appear "different." 

What Causes Fear? 

Various causes can trigger anxiety. In most cases, it is due to trauma. This could be from childhood (and often happens), but it could also be that a sudden event has occurred and has not been processed well enough, projecting fear of a similar event. 

Drugs, alcohol, and medicines can also cause anxiety and paranoia. It is therefore essential to seek help to get rid of these addictions. EMDR and various types of behavioral therapy can help with fear-induced trauma. 

Seek Help When You're Having Anxiety 

The first thing you can do if you're stuck with your fears is to make an appointment with your doctor. Sometimes this can be difficult because you already walk around with worries, and this is sometimes difficult to put into words. In this case, already tell over the phone that you are anxious and that you are having trouble telling your story. This is often enough to find a GP with a good listening ear and compassion. 

Accept your Fear, and your Fear will Decrease

This feels very against your nature because you prefer to push the fear away as much as possible to a place that is somewhere far away. Only this only creates more fear because the fear is looking for a way out so that the fear can leave your body and mind. 

This way out is mainly found in accepting the fear and feeling it. So try to consciously stand in the fear and feel it for a moment. Or at least for a while? This can be quite intense, from shaking to sweating and back again, but at least the fear is experienced and can find its way out again. Often this is a process of steps, and the most important thing here is to accept that it belongs to you for a while. This often gives a feeling of peace and more perspective for the future. 

It is also important to find your resistance. Am I still holding back the fear somewhere? Where am I still resisting in my head? Am I afraid that something of me will be found if I react differently? Maybe you have resistance to the resistors? Then you can slowly accept it, and then it will become calmer with time, and you will experience less fear. 

Walking in Nature Against Fear 

Nothing works as well as walking in nature if you want to experience more peace, tranquility, and relaxation. Nature, the forest, the sea, and the beach have a relaxing effect on an anxious mind. Not only does it dissolve fear, but it often also gives you energy. 

You can also sit quietly on a bench in nature and look ahead with your attention on your body. That alone can calm your mind. Also, try to look at your thoughts as an observer of your thoughts. It is a bit like throwing a stone into the water, and if you don't add another stone, the ripples in the water will smooth out on their own. 

Let the thoughts blow away in front of you like clouds behind a blue sky. Then the mind becomes calm and relaxed again. You will notice that the mind will quickly try to generate fearful thoughts again, but accept these thoughts, keep your attention on your body and observe them again. Try it for about 20 minutes and see what it does to you. I'm probably a lot less anxious than before. 

Fear, its Causes, and its Symptoms 

Fear can paralyze a life; that is why it is important to tackle the fear as quickly as possible and then, in the right form, accept it. As long as you don't accept your fear, the fear won't accept you and stay with you. Give yourself time to slowly accept and deal with the fear. With the right help, you can really get there!