Anxiety Causes & Prevention
Anxiety is a mental health condition that can affect people of any age and at any time. Anxiety can make managing your day-to-day activities difficult due to your body’s feeling of distress. While anxiety is a normal emotion, it can stem from various causes. Let’s explore 4 potential causes of anxiety in your life:
1. Genetics
If you have a family member suffering from a mental health condition, you may have a predisposition toward it. Anxiety has the potential to run in the family, and not just from your parents. It can be as high as a 30% heritability for anxiety alone.
2. Personality
Research shows that people with specific personality traits are more predisposed to developing anxiety. People who feel the need to have control, those who are perfectionists, those who are timid, or those who suffer from lower self-esteem may experience anxiety more commonly.
3. Life Experiences
Childhood experiences could become a trigger for anxiety as you age. Stress and trauma, including abuse, neglect, loss, social bullying, and adversity, can significantly impact life. Past experiences, not dealt with, can be an underlying cause of anxiety.
Factors in the present time can also be a trigger for anxiety. School work or a high-stress job workload can be overwhelming and create anxiety. Adolescent or adult “bullying” can create a sense of anxiety. Living in today’s world where everything is constantly changing and so much uncertainty can surely cause anxiety. Life during Covid and in the post-Covid era is more than enough to be a trigger.
4. Medical Conditions
Having any significant or chronic medical condition could induce feelings of anxiety. Sometimes it can be worrying about the future or a present symptom that is causing a level of stress. It could also be a side effect of a medication you are taking. If you are suffering from another mental health condition, like depression, for example, anxiety is often a co-existing problem.
Prevention and Management
Anxiety disorders become a barrier to living a healthy life. While there may not be a way to prevent an anxiety disorder from occurring, there are ways to prevent a flare-up from happening or at least manage your symptoms. 4 preventative measures you can take are:
1. Breathing and Exercise
In times of anxiety, you may find yourself breathing more shallowly or rapidly. Unfortunately, unregulated breathing can lead to greater anxiety. Instead, focus on a deep breathing technique and sustained breaths to combat anxious feelings. There are many apps or guided techniques available on the internet to assist if this is a new concept.
Just as breathing will help calm your nervous system, physical exercise can also be an outlet for relieving anxious feelings from the body. This doesn’t necessarily have to be high-impact activity. It could be something as simple as a 30-minute walk or a yoga routine. Anything to get your body moving will do the trick.
2. Limit Certain Substances
It is important to take care of your body via what you consume, especially in times of high stress. Eating healthy and whole foods is the best fuel for the body. Limiting high amounts of sugar and caffeine intake can help prevent flare-ups. Also, avoiding alcohol consumption can be helpful.
3. Journal
Keeping a daily journal can be a great tool for managing anxiety. Specifically, an anxiety journal in which you write events from the day that cause anxious feelings could be a good place to start. Document what was occurring, how you felt before and during the event, and give it a ranking number. It could be a way to track and trend your feelings for future management.
4. Professional Help
If you find your anxiety more complex and difficult to manage on your own, there are professionals out there who could be a guiding help.
I am ready to support you when you are ready. Reach out to me to learn how anxiety therapy can be beneficial to you.
