An overview of anxiety illnesses
An occasional feeling of anxiousness is usually acceptable and beneficial. Although unpleasant, it’s usually not dangerous. Anxiety symptoms might include severe worry and fear.
Anxiety disorders are linked to an increased risk of experiencing panic attacks, which are bouts of intense anxiety that can result in scary symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort, among others.
Unbalanced chemicals and anxiety
Anxiety may occasionally be brought on by an imbalance in the brain’s chemistry, wherein messenger molecules are either overproduced or underutilized. On the other hand, anxiety can also be brought on by life events, such as ongoing stress from a hard job, abuse, or other challenging long-term circumstances. The correlation between anxiety and reduced levels of self-compassion and mindfulness can be explained by the growing emphasis on the application of mindfulness techniques to treat anxiety disorder symptoms.
People’s worries about COVID, the state of the economy, politics, the environment, and other issues may be contributing to an increase in anxiety at the moment. According to some experts, technology has probably made us more conscious of these problems and less able to ignore them and unwind.Help is available if you or a loved one is experiencing or witnessing abuse of any kind. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) at any time.
What are exercises in mindfulness?
A set of techniques called mindfulness aims to help the practitioner concentrate on what is happening in the present moment. The general consensus may be that by keeping our attention in the now, we can lessen the psychological load caused by the majority of our worries and fears, which are rooted in past events or potential future events.
A large portion of mindfulness is typically derived from traditional techniques created in the Asia-Pacific area. Most concepts on the use of meditation as a technique for moment-to-moment awareness originate from the Chinese, Japanese, and Indian philosophical school known as Zen Buddhism.
How to Apply Mindfulness
There are various approaches to mindfulness training. A lot of people decide to take part in guided meditations, which lead the way through predetermined meditation routines. It is possible to develop mindfulness while going about your daily business. You can practice mindfulness when working, exercising, or cleaning by paying attention to the task at hand, breathing consciously, and acknowledging your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations as they come.
Experts in mental health may also base much of their promotion and application of mindfulness on the principles of person-centered therapy. Person-centered therapy was developed in the previous century and focuses on the way the individual views themselves and the environment around them, rather than on concepts such as behaviorism or Freud’s subconscious that are often associated with mental illness.
Interventions and practices centered around mindfulness
An increasing amount of evidence indicates that mindfulness-based therapies are useful tools for anxiety management. A thorough meta-analysis that was published in the Clinical Psychology Review journal revealed that mindfulness-based therapy was just as successful in lowering anxiety as conventional therapies. Additionally, they came to the conclusion that mindfulness practices helped lessen recurring depression and stress, two conditions that are frequently associated with anxiety. Furthermore, as was indicated at the opening of the article, the findings of one study indicate that an eight-week mindfulness training can reduce anxiety just as well as the anti-anxiety drug escitalopram.
A person can practice mindfulness on their own, with the assistance of online or printed resources, or under the guidance of a professional, like a therapist. But exercise caution while selecting one of these guides. Those who identify as mindfulness practitioners rather than therapists might be able to get past the licensure standards that are often used to screen out other mental health professionals.
Relationship to mindfulness
As was already mentioned, practicing mindfulness usually involves a lot of meditation. Please don’t let that deter you; mindfulness meditation can be far less esoteric than the name “meditation” suggests. The majority of mindfulness meditation exercises center on getting the practitioner’s attention to focus on their breathing.
In and of itself, breathing awareness may be calming, but more on that in a moment. Increasing the meditator’s awareness of their inactive thoughts is usually one of the main goals of mindfulness meditation.
“The monkey mind” is the term mindfulness specialists use to refer to this component of our personality, which they draw from earlier works. Typically, the aim of mindfulness meditation is to gradually increase the meditator’s awareness of what their monkey mind is doing in order to stop it from going in risky ways that could result in anxious thoughts or a panic attack.
When using mindfulness, mental health professionals typically have resources at their disposal to teach their patients coping mechanisms for panic episodes.
A brief mindfulness exercise
You may find a lot of online materials for mindfulness meditation, including a mindfulness workbook, to guide you through the practice, especially in the beginning. You’ll be able to make your own exercises and perform them on your own whenever you need help without help if you eventually learn to identify your personal likes and what works best for you.
Pay attention to your breathing. You don’t need to count your breaths or attempt to make it right. Simply notice how often it occurs, how deep it feels, and how it affects the sensations in and out of your body during each breath. Your breathing may fluctuate in depth and rate.
It’s likely that you will lose concentration on your breathing. Be kind with yourself when you find yourself sidetracked. Simply acknowledge the thought that diverted your attention and return your attention to your breathing.
