Basic Explanation of Anxiety

Explanation of Anxiety (Simplified)

While I've found some schools and parents are excelling at providing psycho-education and evidenced based psychological principles (such as mindfulness sessions) something that I often have to explain to younger clients (and sometimes older ones) is the concept of anxiety - how it feels, how it affects us, where does it come from, why does it manifest in so many different ways etc.

To explore this fully would require adopting different modes and perceptions from various angles - ranging from the purely physiological manifestations (medical approach) to exploring the human condition of existential anxiety (philosophical approach).

I've found the most efficacious approach is to use simplified evolutionary psychology which is easily adapted for children and aligns with the current medical scientific psychology focus. The below summary is an outline of anxiety and is not meant as a comprehensive or complete outline or a substitute for any diagnostic or medical information or advice.

Anxiety is primarily a protective evolutionary response. Imagine as an ancient human ( e.g. a cave-person) exploring new territory when they suddenly encounters a predator ( say a wolf). The person then (as a protective evolutionary mechanism)goes into the "Fight, Flight or Freeze" response. Each of these responses generates a series of cognitive and physical changes to assist in this emergency life or death situation. Some of these changes include - a withdrawal of bloodflow from the extremities ( resulting in tingling limbs), increased breathing (to account for the extra physical activity that may be forthcoming), increased sweating, increased heart-rate and often tunnel vision. Cognitively speaking higher order functions such as reasoning, problem solving, planning, perspective taking go offline and the brain operates more on instinctive responses appropriate for survival situations (I mention this because when the anxiety response is prevalent in couples conflict discussions it can have disastrous consequences).

In the above scenario the anxiety response (the fight/flight/freeze response) is beneficial because it enables the hunter-gatherer to react appropriately to the threat in order to promote their own survival i.e. Combat the predator, Escape from the predator, Or to avoid the predators notice respectively. As such it is beneficial to survival and (as modern research finds anxiety has an extremely significant genetic basis) our more anxious ancestors passed down this physiological response down the generations. Thanks great-great-grand-dad.

We no longer regularly encounter predators in our modern environment. However with the development of the higher order brain the "fight/flight/freeze" response or anxiety response can be induced by psychological factors. These factors can be numerous and include attachment style, environmental factors, stress, lack of sleep, substance and alcohol use, emotional threats, injuries to pride, injuries to image, injuries to self-esteem, trauma, injuries to self-worth, negative social interactions, family disputes etc. In some way these are all "threats" that, depending on our individual psychology and life-history, affect each of us in various forms to varying degrees in the form of the anxiety response.

The amount of anxiety based mental based disorders listed in the DSM-V (the diagnositic manual used in Australia) are numerous and range from generalised anxiety disorder (the most common diagnosis) to Hoarding Disorder to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder to Cluster C Personality Disorders to specific phobias.

Essentially the brain has difficulty differentiating between physical and psychological threats (or our psychology has adapted) so that even though the above examples may not necessarily be life threatening our brain and our body experience the physiological and cognitive changes associated with anxiety described earlier - with the strength of physiological symptoms strongly correlated to the levels of perceived threat.

I experience anxiety and feel it initially as "butterflies in my stomach" but when it grows more prominent it rises to my chest and begins to effect my breathing. It sometimes presents as a pressure on my chest. Some of my patients describe it in similar forms - another common place to store tension in highly anxious people is in the neck, shoulders and jaw.

Given this framework it may now be understandable why so many psychologists and mental health clinicians emphasise breathing as a technique. Increased breathing rate is characteristic of anxiety (due to anticipated Fight/Flight according to our model) but in the absence of physical exertion this can cause hyperventilation which can manifest in extreme form as panic attacks.

By slowing the breathing down the oxygen intake to carbon dioxide outake ratio is managed to mediate the physiological changes associated with anxiety. The key with breathing exercises is to initially practice them when you feel calm. This will generally lower your "base-line" level of anxiety and its only with daily practice that breathing exercises will be effective in "acute" anxiety settings. For more clear and comprehensive information about anxiety please find the following government information: https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-after-yourself/anxiety

The above information is meant as a psycho-educational resource to promote mental well-being - however it is not a substitute for competent evidenced based care from a qualified mental health clinician. If you experience anxiety in any of its various forms and you feel like it's impacting you - please feel free to reach out to us.
Thanks and take care.