NEGATIVE THOUGHTS & EMOTIONS
AND WHAT THEY DO TO US

Anxiety - A few simple facts -  Anxiety is a form of fear that happens as a result of thoughts, rather than because of real immediate danger in the present environment.

People, unlike animals, can cause adrenaline to be produced in their own bodies with a thought.  Because the thought and the environment are not the same (as it would be for a zebra which spots a lion), the action requisite to get rid of the adrenaline in the system doesn't happen (the zebra starts to run, which is why it needs the adrenaline shock injection in the first place!).

What happens in people is that they don't get rid of the adrenaline, so it  builds up, and up - causing more thoughts which in turn trigger more adrenaline releases.

Symptoms Of Anxiety

Too much adrenaline in the body causes all the symptoms anxiety sufferers are so familiar with:

  • The typical changes in the heart rate associated with anxiety; 
  • Body sensations like dry mouth and throat, trembling (like in shaky handwriting), sweating, flushing, chest pains and tightness in the chest, being unable to breathe properly; 
  • Racing thoughts that spin out of control; paranoia and hallucinations; 
  • Headaches (stress headaches, anxiety headaches), migraines; 
  • Vision disturbances, dizziness, inability to see things clearly or to interpret what is being seen correctly (like dyslexia or totally failing to make sense of numbers, maths, symbols, maps, etc.); 
  • Digestive problems as digestion is shut down or reduced during adrenaline outbursts; 
  • Eating problems such as sugar cravings (insulin reduces adrenaline in the blood), hunger pangs, and also loss of appetite on the other hand; 
  • Hyper vigilance or becoming overly sensitive to all sorts of sounds, sights, touches, tastes and smells; 
  • Failure to be able to concentrate on the here-and-now, functional failures (performance anxiety) like clumsiness, erection problems, "blocks" (to writing, public speaking, social skills, learning etc.  etc), forgetfulness;
  • Inability to focus on others, making good connections with others, attuning or relating to others; 
  • Sleep disturbances, trouble getting to sleep, sleeping badly, feeling tired and worn out as a result - which makes all of the above even worse; 

...   and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Anxiety, in contrast to natural fear, is thereby a physiological state of a body that is too full of adrenaline, and the mental or psychological problems and the behaviour problems and performance problems normally associated with high stress and anxiety are just a result of that underlying problem.

Note:   Taken from Silvia Hartman’s article Anxiety Self Help Treatment

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