Anxiety sucks. I think those of us who have it try and control as much as we can around us. It’s a way to create false security. If we falsely feel in control, we can avoid unexpected life events that typically spin us out of control. Finding out every detail about things, making sure we know exactly what is going on, asking a ton of questions to try and forecast any change of plan so that nothing goes wrong…..what can possibly go wrong? EVERYTHING! Even though we have all the details, the boxes have been checked and doubled checked, you still spin out. Your brain keeps talking and talking and talking. And then your heart starts racing, your hands and feet get cold yet you’re sweating. The internal tremble and dry throat are the final straw before you feel like your going to lose your mind. The fear is real. Even though rationally you know everything is ok, your body and brain don’t seem to register this. Then you feel CRAZY! Like literally CRAZY! So you fight it harder. You put more safety mechanisms in place and you schedule yet another therapy session. Yet it always returns.
Sound familiar? Welcome to my life. Welcome to my brain.
It’s not always like this – only with certain things. Other times I’m totally free. But when it’s on, oh boy it’s ON! Why…..well I’ll save that for another time. For now, I want to share a few things I’ve learned along the way.
#1 What exactly am I so afraid of?
I asked myself that very question today as I was freezing cold, trembling and spinning out. What did I really think would happen? Here is what I came up with……a feeling. Truly. Just a feeling. What I was hoping / trying to control was feeling a certain emotion. In this case I was able to identify that emotion as “disappointment”. The out come that would have been so bad was feeling disappointment – that’s it! Now believe me, I’m not downplaying this because it’s so fucking real at the time but when I did coaching on myself, like I do with my clients, I was able to break it down and look at it neutrally. And what I realized is I can totally handle disappointment! It’s not a new feeling for me, trust me. I’m no stranger to it. Once I realized that it was just a feeling, a feeling I’m actually very familiar with, I felt more in control. I felt like I could handle this because I HAVE in the past. No biggies, I can totally do disappointment. Rachel 1 – Anxiety 0
#2 Hello hormones! When your hormones are out of balance it sucks. Big time. Luckily I’m able to run labs on myself (and my clients), which has allowed me to understand what exactly in going on in this body of mine. Over the last year my hormones have shifted. Specifically my progesterone – can we say I have NONE!? For all of you out there in the same boat, I feel for you. Low progesterone can increase anxiety by lowering the production of GABA in the brain. GABA is a calming neurotransmitter. So when I forget to use my natural progesterone cream, my anxiety skyrockets! Especially just before my cycle starts – not cool. Let’s not even mention the acne and my poor boobs! Jesus, if the wind blows they will hurt. Super fun. I can’t imagine why I’m so short-tempered and crabby!
So tip #2 – have your hormones tested from a functional range – not clinical. Clinical can be too broad of a range for you – find out what’s optimal for your body, not from a chart. I recommend trying a natural approach before diving in to bio-identical but hey, it’s your choice, I’m just telling you what I would recommend. Finally, look for the root cause. For me it was stress, age and taxing my adrenal glands to the hilt. Guess I’ve got some work to do.
#3 Balance your blood sugar. I know, so cliché, but seriously does anyone REALLY function when they are hangry?
Low blood sugar signals a stress response in your body. When this stress response is active, your body can begin to “panic” – freak, stress out. Sound similar to anxiety? Now imagine you are feeling anxious AND you have low blood sugar – double whammy. More anxiety. And when you’re hungry, you may be less equipped to do the thought work to help you out of your anxious state. It can be tricky though, I get it. You feel anxious, you don’t want to eat, you get hangry, you loose reasoning and it cycles. I did it today and thankfully I did my though work early on, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to catch myself.
So what can you do besides eat 3 consistent meals? Have an emergency plan. I have my clients do this and it’s amazing how well it works. Create a kit – similar to a first aid kit. Only this one is to help you when you first start to feel anxious. You place 3 things in this kit that you know will help reduce or eliminate your anxiety. It could be a protein bar, a note to breathe, the Thought Model (a coaching tool we use), a reminder to go for a walk – you decide. Keep it stocked and every time you begin to “elevate”, go to your kit, do the things you put in there and see how you shift…….and eat for Gods sake!
If you’d like more information or are curious how nutrition therapy combined with coaching psychology can help with you anxiety, please call us – we want to help!
Rachel Gerlach – Founder, Coach, Nutrition Therapist