Brains A

I hope this blog has given you an insight into your anxiety, and provided you with the tools to help you find peace, act with courage, and live a life closely aligned to your values. As you became immersed in the detail of each chapter you may have found yourself losing sight of the overall structure and strategy of the blog, so we’ll summarise the structure again over the next few pages. Firstly, let’s review the key messages relayed in the first five parts of the blog: Evaluate your beliefs and nurture the mindset that it is possible to change and grow. Raise awareness of how and why your anxiety develops in order to manage it effectively. Understand your values, be your best self, and live authentically. Train your mind to effectively manage your thoughts and emotions. Accept discomfort and courageously take action to create the life you want. Now let’s summarise what we’ve learned in the previous chapters in a little more detail and then discus...

Panic attacks can last from anywhere between thirty seconds to thirty minutes and can be so distressing sufferers sometimes have the feeling they are losing control or about to die. The experience can be one of extreme agitation, terror, fury, or immobilisation, accompanied by extreme symptoms of the fight, flight, or freeze response; racing heart, rapid breathing, trembling, shaking, nausea, numbness, tight chest, difficulty swallowing, and hot flushes or chills. Episodes can return in waves, are frightening and often exhausting. Panic attacks are normally initiated when the amygdala responds to a trigger in the environment that the person may or may not even be aware of. They can be triggered by situations, smells, sounds, or feelings; based on deeply held fears or associational memory. They can often occur at inappropriate times and are due to an overreaction by the amygdala, often in response to a cue or trigger that doesn’t pose any real threat or danger. If...

Throughout the course of the book we’ve talked about what anxiety is, how it develops, when it is useful, and when it becomes a problem. Most of the strategies so far have centred on exercises that change our relationship with anxiety; helping us to manage our anxious thoughts, uncomfortable feelings, and resultant behaviours. We’ve focused on not allowing anxiety to keep us stuck, hold us back, or stop us from living a meaningful life. However, what if we’re particularly panicked, anxious, angry, or stressed, and really need help right at that very moment? Maybe we feel like we’re losing it in a situation in which we feel trapped: sitting at an exam feeling overwhelmed, panicking before a job interview, feeling faint when waiting for a medical appointment, or waking in the middle of the night to a feeling of dread. This section contains some short and simple exercises that are focused on reducing the physiological symptoms of anxiety. You won’t be surpri...