Stress & Anxiety
Anxiety is a natural response to a stressful or dangerous situation. In this kind of situation, the body reacts causing the heart to beat faster, the palms to sweat, and the mind to race. These are normal responses to stress and fear.
With an anxiety disorder, your body reacts in the same manner as described above (i.e., racing heart, extreme worry, sweaty palms, etc.) but to a situation which isn't dangerous or stressful, often for no known reason. If you have an anxiety disorder you can't stop yourself from feeling afraid or anxious even though you know there's nothing to be really worried about.
Once you've experienced this kind of anxiety, you may avoid whatever you believe triggered the feeling or the place where it happened. You may also develop compulsive behaviours to try and control it from happening again. For these reasons, having an anxiety disorder can interfere with your ability to socialize or to maintain relationships and can have a negative impact on your performance at school or at work.
Signs and symptoms of extreme anxiety or panic include:
- Palpitations, increased heart rate or pounding heart
- Sweating
- Trembling or shaking
- Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
- Feeling of choking
- Chest pain, pressure or discomfort
- Nausea or abdominal distress
- Dizziness, unsteadiness, lightheadedness or fainting
- Fear of losing control or going crazy
- Fear of dying
- Numbness or tingling sensation in hands and feet
- Chills or hot flashes
- Sense of feeling unreal, disconnected from one's surroundings or body
The Art of Reducing Stress and Anxiety: Learning to adjust the way we see and think about ourselves and the world around us.
While most of us thrive on being busy, there are some days when finding balance can seem like an endless juggling act with more and more in the air. On those days when we reach what seems like our breaking-point, we think about how to lessen the growing stress in our lives. When this happens we usually look to reduce things and demands outside ourselves.
How do I slow the accelerating pace of life? How do I manage the competition for my attention and efforts that leaves me over-stretched? How can I silence that voice inside my head heralding doom and disaster before even getting started? How do I prevent my family from being vulnerable to my worries and work stress?
While there is compelling evidence that the pace of life is getting out of hand, unfortunately there are no readily-available solutions to this increasingly global phenomenon. However, there is an opportunity to lighten our stress-load that is right inside of us – by changing some of the ways we think about our life and the world around us. This doesn't mean changing the "facts" in our life. It means changing the way we look at the "facts" and what we consider to be relevant "facts".
Related Newsletters:
For a quick introduction to get you started in a new direction please take some quiet time to read through the 3 short newsletters below:
- Attitude is Everything
- Reduce Stress By "Untwisting" Your Thinking: Step One – Locating Your "Twisted" Thoughts
- Reduce Stress By "Untwisting" Your Thinking: Part Two – Some Assembly Required
Related Workshop:
