Category: Anxiety

‘It’s all in your head,’ is something that we have either been told or we have been telling ourselves. Stress. Anxiety. What exactly happens inside of us that initiates physical symptoms from something that is ‘all in our head’?

The stress response is a physiological and primal function from our body that attempts to protect ourselves from harm or danger. Our nervous system is responsible for our reaction to outside stimuli, or as you know it, ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response (Folk, 2022). Stress and anxiety have the same physiological responses. Anxiety can cause the same physiological symptoms because the body is sensing that there is danger amidst our environment.

When our stress response happens too often or the body is not able to properly recover and return to a normal state, this is called ‘hyperstimulation’ (Folk, 2021). This condition can cause chronic symptoms within the body including, but not limited to, shaking, headaches, feelings of choking, feeling hot and cold, pain, or even flu-like symptoms.

The sympathetic nervous system, or SNS, is responsible for the stress response. Once the threat or sense of danger has been perceived by the brain, the response is proportional to the level of threat. This also affects the recovery time of how long the body takes to return to a normal state – this is called, homeostasis. All of this takes place within seconds to several minutes (Folk, 2022). Grounding techniques can help to offset the physical and physiological symptoms of the stress response. Grounding techniques can help us stay present in the moment and keep us out of our heads too much when we feel anxious or in distress. Grounding helps us turn on the reasoning and rational thinking part of our brain. Sometimes we feel ‘out of our body’ or that we can no longer control what we experience (Cleveland Clinic, 2024). This is where grounding ourselves can prove to be really helpful. Muscle tension and release techniques, mindfulness, and deep breathing are a few grounding techniques.

So is anxiety or stress just all in your head? Nope! Stress has a physical and physiological response on our bodies. See the links below to learn more!

-Leslie Smith, Resident in Counseling

Cleveland Clinic. (2024). 13 Grounding Techniques for When you feel overwhelmed. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/grounding-techniques

Folk, J. (2021). Why Anxiety Can Make You Feel Physically Sick. Reviewed by: Folk, M. https://www.anxietycentre.com/faq/why-anxiety-can-make-you-feel-sick/

Folk, J. (2022). The Stress Response. Reviewed by: Liashko, V. https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-disorders/symptoms/stress-response/

When was the last time that you thought, “What is the purpose of this trial in my life right now?” If we are honest with ourselves when we’re going through hardship or difficult times very seldomly does this thought cross our minds, at least not initially. Maybe you’ve said to yourself recently, “In hindsight I wish I could have… or maybe I should have…” What this type of mentality is creating is negative self-talk and it’s creating a condemnation mentality- in other words, we’re our own biggest self-critique. I had a prof

essor in grad school make a simple, yet profound statement in my skills class for counseling one time. Simply put he said, “We shouldn’t should ourselves” I think the pun was intended when he made that statement. What this means is every time we make a statement that includes the words “I should have” we are putting ourselves down and leaving little to no room for the possibility of alternative statements such as “I did the best I could”. When the going gets tough it can be difficult to see the silver lining- Merriam-Webster dictionary defines silver lining as a “consoling or hopeful prospect.” The first known use of this term was in 1871 and it comes from the phrase, “every cloud has a silver lining”. So how do we find that ray of hope in the midst of the storm? I propose a cognitive shift that takes time and practice, here’s what it entails:

Perspective    

Another commonly used phrase is the glass is either half empty or half full. Perspective is all about how we see things. In the moment it can be easy to see all of the negatives about a situation because we are in the midst of it. However, if we only focus on the negative we neglect to see the whole picture. A simple way to think about a situation differently could be to ask yourself the question, “What is the big picture here?” It could be that when you think about the big picture the problem changes in size or maybe there’s unknowns to the circumstance. In that case the unknowns will take care of themselves on their own time.

Counting the Positives

Often times when we are constantly waiting for the next shoe to drop we miss out on the blessings. In a typical day we might encounter 10 things that could have gone differently, but what about the things that were maybe what you consider to be normal? For example you order take out and this time they didn’t forget the extra sauce on the side of your order, or you are out walking your dog and someone smiles as at you as they walk by? Even further, what about those nightmares you’ve been having and last night you slept the whole night? Or maybe you have been struggling with your self image lately, but you looked in the mirror today and you are happy and pleased with what you see that you can even smile in the mirror? All of those little positive moments in life add up! If we are constantly reminding ourselves of everything that went wrong, we miss out on what went right.

Celebrating Victories

When you do have moment of acknowledging those positives, celebrate it! Make it a big deal! “Yay I didn’t get mad someone cut me off in traffic, woohoo!” “I didn’t have one negative thought about myself today!” The more you train your brain to be aware of the positives and acknowledge them, the quicker it will be for your brain to gain a new perspective on your situation. The brain is an amazing muscle that can even rebuild itself. This is the reason why individuals who have suffered from a stroke or even a traumatic brain injury, TBI can regain their speech and motor control among many other things. If you train your brain to see and think about the positives, the less you focus on the negative situations.

What’s your silver lining for what you’re going through today?