Daniel A. Bochner, Ph.D.

Feeling uptight or kind of shaky? Do you have muscle aches, heartburn, or stomach problems? Do you suddenly lose energy after feeling alright. Is the stress in your life taking you to the breaking point? Does it seem like no one does things right, or that you are just too irritable? Are you worrying a lot? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you feeling restless, or does it seem like you can’t sit still? Do you feel just plain nervous? Do your hands or feet get cold and clammy or start to tingle without cause? Do you get lightheaded and you don’t know why? Do you find yourself avoiding certain situations, or sometimes find yourself so stressed in certain situations, that you think you might actually die from pain in your chest or from dizziness or from the pounding of your heart? If you are experiencing some, many, or all of these symptoms, there is a good chance you are dealing with anxiety.

Although it is very important to be careful about many of these symptoms because they have causes other than anxiety, or because they can be dangerous even when they do involve anxiety, when these symptoms are caused by anxiety, understanding how anxiety works can be quite helpful. Anxiety actually has a purpose in human beings that is akin to its purpose in animals. In animals, there is a fight, flight or freeze pattern that occurs whenever there is something threatening in the environment. While the animal prepares to either fight, flee or freeze to manage a threat, the animal’s body makes certain changes. The blood flows to major muscle areas and away from the extremities and the gut, thus causing cold or tingly hands and butterflies in the belly. Adrenaline makes the heart pump and puts energy into the muscles, which become tense, causing headaches or pain in other muscle areas like the neck, shoulders, or back. Breathing becomes shallow so the animal can avoid detection, or so it can get ready for an anticipated blow.

These changes ready the body for danger, but when human beings experience this reaction, most of the time there is no imminent danger in the environment. Humans tend to be sensitive to the environment, and react to it rapidly, even when the dangers to which we are reacting pose no physical threat. Rather, we react to emotional threat, even when it is rather subtle. Getting ready to speak in front of a group can cause extreme anxiety and really there's no physical danger there. But even much more subtle circumstances can cause significant anxiety. When there is a chance that someone will be mad at us, or when we think we need to get our work done more quickly, or when we think we need to rush to get somewhere on time, or for many people, when we're merely listening intently to what others are saying...etc., our bodies will react with the fight, flight or freeze syndrome. We either ready ourselves for aggression, like a mountain lion protecting its cub, or we freeze up with tension like a raccoon stiffly staring back into headlights hoping it will not be seen.

Luckily, we are not animals. Equal to the fight, flight or freeze syndrome (also known as the sympathetic nervous system response) is the relaxation response (known as the parasympathetic nervous system response). While the fight, flight or freeze syndrome tends to begin without our knowledge or control, we can if we wish, initiate its opposite, the relaxation response, on our own. When we are relaxed, blood flows throughout our entire body distributing oxygen as homogeneously as possible. The heart slows down and the muscles lengthen and loosen. Blood flows to the stomach so it can do its job of digesting the food there. Breathing deepens and we feel at peace. Sometimes we begin to get sleepy.

We can begin the relaxation response simply by forcing ourselves to breathe deeply for a few minutes (please see article, Breathe!)....

For the complete article, please buy The Emotional Toolbox book.