The word and the emotion, Anxiety, is all too familiar. It’s like any other natural emotion one feels like happiness, sadness, anger, etc. But what exactly is anxiety?

It is our body’s natural response to stress. Appearing for an exam, going for a job interview, performing on a stage, or proposing to a girlfriend are daily life examples of events that may make most people anxious or nervous. 

There are other profound factors that can cause anxiety. They are as follows:

1. Environmental factors like our family culture, childhood experiences, and even social encounters.
2. Tragic events like loss of a loved one, divorce, miscarriage, accident, etc.
3. Hereditary: It is within the genes and is passed on from one generation to another.
4. Hormonal factors like changes in sex hormones during certain periods of the menstrual cycle, thyroid hormones, etc.

How Does Body Fight Anxiety?

Just as our body causes anxiety to relieve stress, similarly it comes into action to fight anxiety by releasing the hormones adrenaline and cortisol into the system which causes increased pulse and breathing rate. 

This allows the brain to get more oxygen and in turn alerts the body to fight the intense situation and may also give a brief boost to the immune system.

Usually, the normal functioning of the body is restored as soon as the stress is passed. But when we talk about the anxiety caused by the above-mentioned profound factors, it can cause irreversible damage to your mental and emotional well-being. 

Not to mention the adverse effects on your physical health too. Then you might be suffering from anxiety disorders. This happens due to long exposure to anxiety and the release of cortisol on a regular basis. In fact, the frequent release of cortisol is found to have resulted in weight gain.

Common Symptoms of Anxiety

Symptoms may vary from person to person. Some of the common symptoms are:

1. Headache

2. Fear

3. Heart palpitations

4. Irritability

5. Difficulty in breathing

6. Difficulty in concentrating and memorizing

7. Stomach pain or churning of the stomach

8. Nausea

9. Restlessness

10. Difficulty sleeping or sleeping more than required

It is important to note that not all the symptoms will be experienced by the same person at once.

How to Treat Anxiety?

After being diagnosed with anxiety, you can discuss treatment options with your doctor. Some folks do not require medical care. Changes in lifestyle may be sufficient to alleviate symptoms.

However, in moderate or severe situations, therapy can assist you in overcoming the symptoms and leading a more bearable day-to-day existence.

Anxiety treatment is divided into two categories: psychotherapy and medicines. Meeting with a therapist or psychologist can assist you in learning techniques and methods for dealing with anxiety when it arises.

Antidepressants and sedatives are common medications used to alleviate anxiety. They aim to balance brain chemistry, reduce anxiety attacks, and avoid the disorder’s most severe symptoms.

Natural Remedies

Changes in lifestyle can be an effective approach to alleviate some of the tension and anxiety that you may experience on a daily basis. The majority of natural “remedies” include taking care of your body, engaging in healthy activities, and avoiding bad ones.

These are some examples:

1. Meditating and getting enough sleep

2. Keeping active and exercising

3. Eating a nutritious diet

4. Staying active and working out

5. Abstaining from alcohol and caffeine

Conclusion

Anxiety, just like any other emotion or feeling, is hardwired into the human brain by an evolutionary mechanism for a specific purpose. In prehistoric times when we were hunters and had to kill animals to gather food, anxiety came in handy to deal with the situation appropriately. 

But now due to the stressful lifestyle and some hereditary factors, it is getting triggered for other reasons. But anxiety is not a reason for panic, it can be dealt with with favorable changes in our lifestyle and resorting to medicines if it has gone out of hand. 

And most importantly, we should always remind ourselves that it is ok to feel anxious sometimes, that it is ok to feel stressed out sometimes. Because this too shall pass.