Anxiety and Panic

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal emotional and physiological response to feeling threatened, ranging from mild uneasiness and worry to severe panic. It is not unusual to feel anxious when in a stressful situation.

Not all anxiety is negative. It can be exciting or invigorating, helping to motivate us to get things done. However, if anxiety becomes too severe or chronic, it can be debilitating.

We experience anxiety in different ways:

Psychologically: Fear, nervousness, not being able to concentrate, feeling numb.

Physiologically: Breathing fast, trembling, dry mouth, heart racing, stomach churning.

Cognitively: Frightening or negative thoughts (e.g. 'I'm going to fail or make a fool of myself').

These can affect our behavior by causing us to put off or stop work, avoid people or situations, not sleep well, not eat, eat for comfort, drink too much or take illegal substances. Too much stress can interfere with living a normal life, although acute anxiety are time-limited and will start to fade away in a relatively short period of time.

How You Can Help Yourself

Face the Situation

Confronting anxiety-provoking situations rather than avoiding them can help. If you let yourself stay in the feared situation for long enough, the anxiety will reduce over time until it passes.

You might start by confronting a situation that is not too demanding so that you experience the resulting reduction in anxiety. Then, gradually address more anxiety-provoking situations.

Distract Yourself

Some people find it more effective to distract themselves from their frightening thoughts by repeating a calming phrase (e.g. “Stay calm and relaxed. I will feel better soon.”), doing mental arithmetic or saying the alphabet backwards.

You can also try to distract yourself by focusing your attention on some external stimulus such as listening to a conversation, watching television or becoming aware of what is going on around you. If you can stop paying attention to frightening thoughts, they won’t be able to fuel your anxiety.

Learn to Relax

The physical symptoms of anxiety occur because adrenaline is released by the nervous system into the blood stream. Relaxation and breathing exercises can help you to control these symptoms. You can learn how your body feels when it is relaxed if you tense different parts of your body (e.g. arms, hands, legs, neck, shoulders, forehead) for a few seconds and then allow them to relax.

Try to keep your breathing slow and regular so that you do not hyperventilate, as this makes the physical symptoms worse. Relaxation exercises need to be practiced initially when calm—you will become better able to relax in stressful situations with increasing practice.

Where to Get Help

• Visit with your medical doctor

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

• Simply text HOME or HOLA to 741741 to reach a live volunteer Crisis Counselor

• If you feel that you need urgent support out of normal working hours, go to the Emergency Room at the hospital or call 911.