The most common issue my clients present with is Anxiety.  We have all heard nutritionists talk about the fact that we live in an ‘obesogenic society’ – meaning that we are living more sedentary lifestyles and are surrounded by unhealthy foods, which are more likely to lead us towards obesity.  It is also reasonable to say that we live in an increasingly ‘stressogenic society’.  

What is a ‘Stressogenic Society’?
For 99.99% of human existence, we lived active lives and spent a substantial amount of our time outdoors.  We had limited access to fast carbohydrates.  We rarely interacted with strangers and our status and role within our social group – or ‘tribe’ – was clearly defined.  This meant that there was a clear meaning and purpose to our existence.  Also, as there were clearly defined lines between childhood and adulthood – with initiation ceremonies celebrating this transition.  

The differences between what our bodies (and minds) are hard-wired to expect and what we experience in modern society are clear.  We live extremely sedentary lifestyles and spend most of our time indoors.  We have unlimited access to fast carbs, which trigger a dopamine release in the reward pathway of our brain – a process which is at the core of all addictions.  We regularly have to interact with strangers – often in crowded places.  Our status is now defined by the number of ‘followers’ or ‘friends’ we have on social media – and the number of likes or comments on our posts.  Many of us struggle to find meaning in our lives, outside of making enough money to purchase the products that are relentlessly marketed at us.  The lines between childhood and adulthood have become blurred in recent history (the term ‘teenager’ only appeared for the first time in the 1950s).  Many of us feel like imposters in the adult world, long after we’ve turned 18.  On top of all of this, we are engaged in an ongoing experiment with digital technology, that will take a very long time for our brains to develop an evolutionary response to.  

In short, our stone-age brains are being bombarded with stressors, which they are utterly unprepared for. 

How to Manage Anxiety in a Stressful World
The good news is that it is possible to counteract these stressors/triggers and manage our anxiety levels.  
Here are few key things to remember:

1. Anxiety is Our Friend:  If you have experience of anxiety or panic attacks, this may be a difficult one to get your head around – but it’s true!  The brilliant Barry McDonagh (a leading expert on managing anxiety) says that we should think of it like an over-protective friend – which is essentially what it is.  The Fight or Flight Response, which is triggered when we feel anxious or panicky, is the body’s warning system.  It is designed to protect us from life-threatening situations.  Unfortunately, it can become overly sensitive – either as a result of trauma or repeated exposure to stressors.  Some people compare it to the smoke alarm in your house, which is designed to let you know when the house is on fire, but will also go off when you burn toast.  
2. Breathe!!! The Fight or Flight Response is preparing us to either run or fight off an attacker.  Both of these are high intensity physical activities.  The body releases adrenaline and cortisol (the stress hormone), as well as raising our heart-rate and causing our breathing to become more shallow.  All of this is perfect preparation for dealing with a life-threatening situation.  Unfortunately, just like the smoke alarm going off when we burn toast, our friend, the brain, can have the occasional ‘false alarm’.  Usually, when the false alarm goes off, we are unable to do what our body wants us to do – run!  Because we are standing still or sitting, we end up hyperventilating.  This leads to us struggling for breath, feeling like we might be having a heart-attack and having uncontrollable, racing, fear-filled thoughts.  By breathing deeply, we are telling the body to ‘stand down’ and that there is no immediate threat to our lives.  By making sure that the out breath is longer than the in breath, we are counteracting the effects of hyperventilation on the brain (woosiness, racing thoughts).  The most effective way of doing this is the 7/11 breathing exercise (opens in a new window).  
3. Burn, Baby, Burn! If you are in a situation where it is appropriate for you to do so, the most effective antidote to anxiety and panic attacks is a short burst of high-intensity exercise.  As discussed above, this is exactly what the body wants you to do.  Something like Jumping Jacks or Burpees (as many as you can do, until you can’t take it any more) will burn off the adrenaline and cortisol and normalise your breathing.  Obviously, this approach isn’t suitable for all people or all situations.   
4. Manage Those Thoughts! Quite often it is our negative, catastrophic thinking that triggers our anxiety.  Having these types of thoughts is completely normal – all of us have them.  The problem isn’t with having these types of thoughts in the first place – the problem is with how much time we spend focusing on them.  We have in the region of 80,000 thoughts per day.  The vast majority of these are ‘automatic’ thoughts – meaning that the mind is ‘doing its own thing’ in autopilot.  Some researchers believe that only 10-20% of the thoughts that go though our head are non-automatic.  The mind has to process vast amounts of information, being fed to it from the five senses.  It then has to process this information and scan it for danger (survival instinct, for obvious reasons, is the most important instinct we have).  So how do we tackle negative thoughts?:  Imagine that you are standing at a bus stop and that your thoughts are buses, passing in front of you.  At any time, you can find yourself getting on a bus.  It probably feels familiar, as most thoughts are ones we have had before.  If it is a negative thought, you can ring the bell and get off the bus.  And you’re back at the bus stop.  It is important to know that you have control over your own thoughts – and that you don’t have to let them control you.  The most challenging part of learning this type of mindfulness process is developing an awareness of the fact that we are on the bus in the first place.  We have a tendency to drift into negative thoughts without realising that we have the option not to go there.  Another way of looking at this type of mindfulness approach is explained in a really entertaining way by the brilliant Dermot Whelan, through his ‘Mindswipe – Tinder for Thoughts‘ concept (check out the video, below – you won’t regret it).  
5. Relax!  If we want our over-protective friend to calm down a bit, we need to develop a daily practice of deep relaxation.  This could involve using the 7/11 breathing technique (I use it all the time).  It could mean using a meditation app, such as ‘Headspace’ or ‘Smiling Mind’ (which is free and has no ads).  You could listen to some guided meditations on Youtube (there are thousands of them).  It could be as simple as having a nice cup of tea and a chat.  The important thing is to set aside time for relaxation.  
6. Check Yourself (Before You Wreck Yourself)  I find it useful to think of stress/anxiety like a thermometer that goes from ‘0’ (deeply relaxed) to ’10’ (complete meltdown).  When we get close to 10, we are more likely to have anxiety/panic attacks and/or lash out in anger at our loved ones.  Ideally, we want to be ‘checking-in’ with ourselves regularly over the course of the day, in order to see where we are on the ‘stress-o-meter’.  If we are above a ‘5’, we need to take action.  This could be deep breathing, or going for a walk or whatever works for you.  The important thing is to think of ‘5’ as your ‘new 10’.  If we can stay at a 5 or below, we have ‘headroom’ available to us, if a very stressful situation arises.  However, if we’re walking around at an ‘8’ or ‘9’ – without even realising it – we struggle to cope with even the mildest stressor.  I see this all the time with clients who either have issues with anxiety or anger management.  Everybody tells me that it happened ‘just like that’.  Unfortunately, this is rarely the case.  In reality, we are allowing our stress levels to creep up over the course of the day, until we’re close to breaking point.  I recommend that you try to do your ‘check-ins’ at meal times – the reason being that it is easier to create a new habit when we connect it to a pre-existing one.  
7. Sleep I cannot overstate the importance of consistent, good quality sleep for our mental and physical health.  Dr Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist and the author of ‘Why We Sleep’, states that sleep should be prescribed and that “Sleep is the greatest legal performance enhancing drug that most people are probably neglecting”.  We all need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep per night.  Ideally, we should be aiming to go to bed and get up at the same time every day (with no lie-ins at the weekends!).  Also, avoiding blue light from LED screens for at least one hour before going to bed, is recommended.  Most of my clients have sleep problems.  I recommend an effective technique for sleep self-hypnosis, for anyone who has difficulty falling asleep.  I have made an audio recording of the technique, which is available for download here.

It’s important to acknowledge that anxiety is a completely normal response to a world that our bodies and minds aren’t designed for.  The good news is, that we all have the capacity to manage our anxiety.  For most of us, this can be achieved through small behavioural changes, such as the ones I’ve outlined, above.  

If you feel that you need further help with managing your anxiety or panic attacks, please feel free to give me a call on 0876714259 for a free telephone consultation or to book an appointment.  

Barry Grant​