Worry, anxiety, and stress

Reality is created by the mind; we can change our reality by changing our minds.

• Plato

If I ask, what makes us different from the other species? The probable answer would be imagination which allowed us to utilize the faculties that we have. It is imagination that made us what we are today.

As humans, we do not have muscle power, great smelling power, or the ability to see or hear vividly. We can not run like a cheetah, can not smell like a dog, can not fight like a lion. What makes us the most controller of the earth? We can understand, connect, and calculate like no other species can do.

This imagination helps us to prepare for the future, analyze the past. Probable difficulties are likely to be encountered in the present. In a way, it is a gift from the creator. But this imagination also creates some undesirable things like stress, anxiety, and depression etc..

At present, all of us face these disorders varying in magnitude and nature.

While short-term stress is helpful, the long-term takes a toll on our life. When a street dog barks at you or chases you, your brain develops stress, impacted by physical surroundings. This stress pumps adrenaline in your body that helps you to run away or to tackle the situation. For 10–20 min, this adrenaline keeps your body prepared to fight or respond to an emergency.

In some situations, our brain becomes a worry-making machine. It creates worries that do not exist or probably will not exist. When we encounter stress, we try to do away with it; by eliminating the cause that is generating it. But what would one do when there is no cause for our stress? How can one remove which does not exist?

Or if the cause is a figment of our imagination that has a near-zero probability of going true?

All these situations are real and scary. Anyone who did not face them or is not facing, should not comment irresponsibly about others.

To define worry, it is repetitive circular thinking(rumination).

To define anxiety, An uncomfortable feeling of fear or dread.

To define stress, A physical survival response — fight or flight.

Anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling usually inside the chest or upper abdomen. Anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling or apprehension of fear or dread that something wrong might happen or things will become very bad. Or I am going to die. Anxiety comes with physical symptoms like sweating, short breath, chest pain, and in more severe form as a panic attack.

Worry comes from the thinking part of the brain, while anxiety comes from the emotional part of the brain. As both are connected,

the response from one can affect the other. While lower anxiety levels are normal, the problem arises in the case of severe anxiety.

Anxiety can hamper the physical and mental well-being of the person in the long term.

Your body always tries to do what your mind asks it to do.

• Marty Rossman

Imagine a situation when you have all the luxuries of the world still are unhappy, unable to sleep and perform poorly in all walks of life.

Our world is unforgiving; it does not care about the difficulty we are facing in our life. If you are good at doing work, people will praise you like anything. But when you become physically or mentally sick, they will no longer care who you were? Therefore, it is imperative to take care of yourself with utmost priority. If you can help yourself, help yourself. If you can not, then seek professional help.

Mental illness is a global problem. More than 300 million people, 4.4% of the world’s population, suffer from depression. These alarming figures reflect the wider prevalence of mental ill-health more generally. It is estimated that mental health conditions will affect a staggering one in four people at some time in their lives.

When we talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.

• Fred Rogers

Thus, it is crucial to know that you are not alone in this world. There are millions of others who are suffering from mental disorders. So, if you need help, ask for it. If you can help, help.

Inputs taken from http://www.uctv.tv

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