How to Decrease Anxiety
The body has two primary systems. The sympathetic (fight and flight) and the parasympathetic (relax and calm). It is the sympathetic state that results in us feeling anxious, irritable, and angry.
The body turns on the sympathetic when it is trying to save us from problems. When we have been through an extended traumatic period, the body will condition itself to turn on the sympathetic state faster and stronger than it otherwise would if the body had experienced an extended calm period. The body will become hypervigilant.
The mind and the body share a strange relationship when it comes to anxiety. The body will turn on the sympathetic state to try to save the body from a problem. The mind will then try to focus on the problem, in order to solve it, in an attempt to turn the sympathetic state off. If the problem is unsolvable, the mind will continue to focus on it. As long as the mind is focusing on the problem, the body will recognize that a problem is present. The body will try to save you from the problem by maintaining the sympathetic state.
Sometimes the body turns on the sympathetic state, because of dysregulation or subconscious triggers. The mind, recognizing that the sympathetic state has been turned on, will then try to find a problem to resolve. This often results in the mind, “looking for a problem.” After the mind picks out a problem, it will hyperfocus on it. As the mind thinks about the problem, the body will recognize that a problem is present. It will then continue to try to maintain the sympathetic state, to save you from the problem.
The body will regulate itself. The body does not like to maintain the sympathetic state, because a prolonged sympathetic state will harm the body. The body prefers to return to a state of parasympathetic as quickly as it can. If the mind, does not try to help, by focusing on a problem, the body will return to a parasympathetic state very quickly. The body will not try to save you from a problem that the mind isn’t picturing.
If the body is already hypervigilant, due to experiencing an extended traumatic period, the sympathetic state will be constantly turned on. If the mind attempts to help the body to calm down, by focusing on a problem, each time you feel anxious, the body will assume that it continues to live in a traumatic environment and the body will remain hypervigilant. If the mind does not focus on a problem and the body is allowed to calm down, repeatedly, throughout the day, then the body will assume a state that is conducive to a tranquil environment and hypervigilance will decrease. The key will be to constantly relax your body and turn off your mind, each and every time your body starts to feel anxious.