Free Yourself from Anxiety (5 page)

We are complicated creatures. Mind, body and spirit are all interconnected, and can influence each other in ways that we often fail to understand.

Very often when a person is told that they have an Anxiety disorder they find it hard to believe. Their symptoms feel so physical, so they are sure there must be something physically wrong. All their tests are negative, but somehow they can’t believe it. Surely this racing heart, these shaking legs, this churning stomach, can’t all be down to my mind playing tricks?

On the other hand, a person tormented by obsessive thoughts can find it hard to believe that there is any physical element to their suffering. How can doing more exercise or improving sleep patterns have an effect on my thoughts?

If you have either of those reactions to your diagnosis, just stop and think for a moment. Think back to the time before you had Anxiety.

When you were happy, did you smile or laugh?
When you were upset, did you cry?
When you were worried, did you feel like there was a weight in your chest? When you were nervous, did you get butterflies in your stomach?

You are aware of your emotions in your mind, and yet your body feels them too, and expresses them. If you know someone well, you can tell just from their body language what mood they’re in.

Or look at it another way:
Why does jaunty music make us want to tap our toes?
Why do we sit on the edge of our seat watching an exciting movie?
Why does that person chew their lip when they’re thinking?

Whenever your mind is active, your body seems to want to express what’s going on. This means that it’s perfectly possible for mental distress to cause physical symptoms and for physical care to soothe mental anguish.

Spiritual matters are harder to explain, but they affect our minds and our bodies equally. As human beings we want to do more than just survive and raise our children in safety. We want fulfilment and a sense of purpose.

If you’ve ever been in love, you know how that affects you physically, and that you just don’t notice little aches and pains. Scientists tell us that the experience of love releases chemicals called endorphins that make us feel good and block pain.

Similarly, someone with deeply held beliefs will feel stronger physically and happier in themselves.

This doesn’t mean that anyone with an Anxiety disorder will need to be religious before they can recover, but it does mean that you will need to look at that aspect of your life, and make sure that you are giving yourself what you need.

Your brain and your body communicate with each other via your nervous system. If you hit your thumb with a hammer, your nerves carry messages about that to your brain and you feel pain (and probably say something unprintable too). Your brain sends messages back to your
body so that it can start the process of healing the damage you’ve just done to yourself.

A similar process happens if you are frightened. Something scary happens, your brain reacts, and sends messages to your body. But why those particular messages, the ones that make your heart thump and your stomach churn?

The answer is that the whole system evolved a very long time ago, when primitive people were living lives filled with physical danger. Dangerous animals, floods, forest fires, and of course people on the warpath were all sources of danger. And without all the contrivances of modern life people usually only had two choices when confronted with danger: fight back, or run away.

Both of these options require physical energy. You need to pump more oxygen to your arms and legs if you are going to fight, or run. You need to stop digesting your dinner, make swift decisions, move quickly.

And this is why, when you are very anxious or panicky, your heart races, your limbs tremble, you need the loo, your head swims and you simply can’t bear to stay in one place.

The fact that you are frightened of something that doesn’t present any physical danger to you is neither here nor there to the primitive system that takes charge at that moment. You are frightened, and without hesitation your brain and your body prepare you for fight or flight.

Recovery largely consists of finding ways to first tolerate the sensations and then turn off the fight-or-flight system. However, fight-or-flight is controlled by your involuntary nervous system. As the name suggests, you have no conscious control over it.

There is an exception to most rules, and in the case of your nervous system the exception is breathing. Breathing is automatic and is controlled by your involuntary nervous system but at the same time we do have a certain amount of control over it.

You can choose to hold your breath, or to pant like a dog. Athletes, singers and actors use breath control to improve their performance. People who do yoga or meditation work with their breathing as part of the process.

During a panic attack, most people feel that their breathing is wildly out of control. They feel the need to suck in great gulps of air, as if they can’t get enough, and often feel unable to breathe out fully before taking the next breath in. In fact doing this only fuels the panic attack and makes it worse.

This is because it is all part of the fight-or-flight mechanism. The extra oxygen that you are taking in is being rushed to your muscles to pump them up ready for action. If you are in a situation where you don’t need to take any physical action, such as in a queue or driving a car, then that oxygen will stay in your system and add to your uncomfortable sensations.

It doesn’t help that concerned companions will often advise you to ‘take a deep breath’. They may be worried that you are about to faint (you may be worried about that too) but in fact you don’t need any more breath, you already have too much.

In a panic attack breathing becomes very noticeable, but many Anxiety sufferers tend to breathe in an unhelpful way most of the time. Anxiety makes you tense, and tension make you breathe in a shallow, fast way, using only the top half of your chest. This means that you are probably taking in more oxygen than you need, and you are not breathing out all of the carbon dioxide. The stale air at the bottom of your lungs is never properly cleared out.

The result of this can be a permanent light-headed feeling, and fatigue. Changing your breathing habits is an important part of Anxiety recovery.

Remember to check with your doctor before starting an exercise programme.

As well as daily relaxation, you will need to take exercise as part of your recovery programme – but the good news is, you won’t have to run a marathon! Exercise is helpful in several ways:

The most useful kind of exercise is aerobic exercise – that is, something that gets you out of breath. You need to do it for at least 20 minutes before the chemicals are released. This means that you get most benefit from taking exercise three times a week for at least 20 minutes each time.

Many Anxiety sufferers lose the habit of taking exercise, and some become extremely inactive. Some forms of Anxiety, such as compulsive behaviours, are very time consuming, and other types of Anxiety can leave the sufferer feeling too exhausted to contemplate taking exercise. This is a vicious circle, because the less you use your body, the less you feel like using it.

And your body was designed to be used – this means doing exercise that is appropriate for each individual. Even people with physical health problems can usually find a type of exercise that is within their capacity – your doctor should be able to advise you about this. Many forms of
exercise are taken outdoors, in the fresh air and in natural surroundings, and there is some evidence that this is good for our mental health (but see below for exercise tips for housebound people).

Set your sights as low as you need to. If you have been spending all your time in the armchair, locked into Anxiety, then start by walking about the room a little at regular intervals. Or if you are active but don’t take exercise, start with something gentle like a walk in a park. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to reach the 20 minutes three times a week target – just make a start.

It’s surprising how many Anxiety sufferers say that they ‘always hated games at school’. If that’s you, then you have an extra level of challenge, but remember, there’s plenty of things you can do that are nothing like school games.

If you’re an exercise hater, then try some lateral thinking. Any vigorous activity counts, as long as it makes you breathe hard – scrub a floor, run up some stairs, swing your arms about. You don’t have to do sports, and you don’t have to join a gym. You just have to get active. You could also try:

Start with one activity once a week, and add others so that you don’t grow bored.

It can seem impossibly hard to take exercise if your Anxiety has made you housebound, but in fact there are plenty of options. Tell yourself that one day you will be able to go out and take part in other activities, and exercising in the house is part of your training for that goal. Here are some suggestions:

If you are using an exercise video or DVD, try to find one that is not too challenging. They always start with a warm-up session, and at first that is all you should attempt. Slowly increase the amount of time you are able to exercise and don’t attempt anything that is too much for you. If you open the window while you are exercising you’ll benefit even more.

It doesn’t matter how active or inactive you are, you can start improving your fitness with a structured exercise programme. Look at the graduated exercise ladder below and decide where you are on it. Be honest with yourself, no one else needs to know about it.

Stand up, walk round the room
   Walk up and down stairs
      Exercise video or DVD – warm-up
        Exercise video or DVD – complete
           Exercise machine or activity of choice – once a week
              Exercise machine or activity – twice a week
                 Exercise machine or activity – three times a week

When you have placed yourself on the ladder, use your goal-setting skills to work out how to move on to the next rung of the ladder. You may not feel able to make the move in one jump – that’s fine, you can break it down into a series of small steps.

Here’s an example for someone who is trying to move on to 20 minutes of exercise once a week but whose chosen activity doesn’t quite fit with that.

GOAL: join Beginners Ballroom Dance class.

PROBLEM: class lasts an hour, I don’t feel fit enough for that yet.

SOLUTION: further repeats of exercise video/DVD until I can exercise for an hour, plus a graded series of walks outside building up to an hour.