Even if you don't know it, anxiety greatly affects your life. Most anxiety is thought to be negative, relating to things like worry or irrational fear. It can help save your life if there is actual danger or make you happier if you're excited about something. In this article, we'll take a closer look at what anxiety is, how it affects your life, and how to deal with it.
Most anxiety is thought to be bad because so many have trouble dealing with negative anxieties. If you've been exposed to any sources of information at all, you've likely seen books, pills, programs, and exercises aimed at reducing anxiety. This is partly because of the negative focus that is so common in our culture and partly because when there is positive anxiety, people don't recognize that for what it is.
There are more types of negative anxiety though. As a test, if there is an actual threat to you or you're looking forward to something, this is positive or constructive anxiety. Otherwise, it is an irrational fear or stress that you don't need. And stress is essentially just dialed down fear.
The occurrence of anxiety is blamed on various things. Some say that biologically there are increased risk factors passed on in your DNA. Hormonal issues often provide increased stimulus for anxiety. Your environment provides stimulus, but it is more your culture and influences that have taught you how to react to those stimuli.
Your own thought processes are the root of the problem, and when you realize this, you may begin to do something to change it. Other "causes" limit your options. Blame is perhaps the most destructive thing you can do for your own happiness and advancement as a person. By relieving yourself of the responsibility, you relieve yourself of power. And that feeling of helplessness will inevitably cause more anxiety.
Extreme cases of anxiety pave the way to attacks. Panic attacks are chronic while anxiety attacks are acute. Although panic attacks seem to come out of nowhere to the person experiencing them, they are the result of a build up of stress over time. Anxiety attacks occur when you are in certain situations that you associate a lot of stress to.
Any fear or stress you deal with daily puts you a step closer to having these attacks. Not only that, but they reduce your quality of life. Even if you never reach the attack stage, this still applies. You'll find that you enjoy life more when you can control or limit your negative anxieties.
Slow, deep, controlled breathing is likely the first suggestion people give you on how to relax and let go of stress. Physical tension manifests itself mentally, so by taking away this stimulus your mind can begin to relax. This principle can be applied to any other healthy way of relaxing the body, such as exercising (tension will be reduced after) or getting massages.
It is always more effective to deal with the source of your problems though. Avoiding stressful situations is not what I'm talking about as you can't control when or how those happen, for the most part. Instead it is about changing how you view things and controlling your thoughts so you do not get stressed out in the first place.
Your mind can be disciplined to do this through frequent meditation. This is used as a tool for introspection or though control. You can use this to isolate the sorts of thoughts that you don't want and learn how to replace them with thoughts you do want. There are tons of forms of meditation and mental discipline that you may practice. Not all of them are right for everyone, so research them further if you feel they might be of use to you in your battle against anxiety.
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