Have you ever experienced a sudden panic attack? Or maybe you do your best to cope with chronic, generalized anxiety that never seems to go away. If so, you're not alone - more than 6 million adults in the US go through panic disorder, while 6.8 million live with generalized anxiety. You'll know firsthand that these conditions can be devastating, greatly reducing quality of life. But how do they develop? Well, they find their roots in a nervous system that's been exposed to way too much stress.

We all experience stressors in life, both big ones as well as minor annoyances, that agitate our nervous system. We often take the wrong approaches to deal with this stress, either. To understand how an anxiety disorder develops, visualize a glass of water. This glass of water represents your nervous system. Each stressor adds a bit more water to the cup. Tough time at work? More water's added. Constant muscle tension and poor breathing patterns? Add more water. Poor sleep and eating habits? More water. You can see where this is going. Eventually, only a minor stressor is required to make the cup overflow - when it does, nervous system has become overly stimulated, and you're suddenly experiencing panic attacks, generalized anxiety, or even both. We need to bring that water level down. While it's impossible to live a life without stress, we can change our responses to stress.

One way to do this is through proper breathing. Your first thought might be, "That sounds too simple, and my problem is complex!" But remember: your body doesn't necessarily understand what's causing you stress - it's not thinking on a complex level like you are. It doesn't "understand" you're having difficulties at work, but only the physiological responses to stress - for example, rapid, shallow breathing and uptight muscles. To illustrate, try slowly breathing from your diaphragm. Loosen your shoulders, let go of tension. You may instantly notice a wave of relaxation, however small. it is. We're now speaking to your body in a language it understands. For more in-depth breathing techniques, check out this page "Try These Two Natural Ways to Control Anxiety."

Kids are very crafty. They may struggle with one area of their brain, but they figure out ways to work around it. For example, if a child has too much slow day dreamy waves around the front of the head, this can present as tuning out. It is a drowsy state that the child will use movement to re alert them. This keeps their brain more awake and actually easier for them to take in information. We see this as fidgeting and being distracted, when actually they are trying to stay on task the best way they know how. A company created the fidget for this reason. It is a great tool for kids, or adults, to play with while staying on task. A more long term approach could be doing neurofeedback training to help the child rewire their neurons to be able to be more alert on their own, without having to use external methods. This particular presentation is often diagnosed as ADHD as you have likely already guessed.

At Elite Physiology we aren’t in the business of diagnosing or treating people, but seeing what patterns are going on in the brain and helping that person more permanently change those patterns to ones that work for them.

How Anxiety Affects Your Life

All of us are capable of living the life that we have always wanted. We have our own strengths and superpowers and it is up to us to discover and use them in order to be the best version of ourselves.

However, some of us are prevented because of anxiety. Anxiety can be uncomfortable and can sneak into anyone's life in a variety of forms. When it is only once in a while, we can handle it. But sometimes, it becomes too much, resulting in feelings of discomfort, uneasiness, or stress.

Even if being anxious is a natural feeling or state, it can impact your life greatly if it worsens. When you feel anxiety over something, it becomes difficult for you to relax, you become stressed out, and you feel as if you cannot do or achieve whatever it is that you desire.

So, if your anxiety has been affecting your life, you have to know how to control it so that you can live a happy and meaningful life.