Worry or Anxiety

Worry or Anxiety—What is going on with me?

 Contributed by Annie Milholland, working with children & teens in Marysville

“Are my kids fitting in at school?”

“Uh oh, my car has never made that noise before.”

“Did I turn the oven off?”

“I shouldn’t have said that. That was so awkward.”

The events, situations, and people we care about occupy space in our minds. If those

things don’t seem to be going well, you can expect to have some worried thoughts and feelings.

These thoughts are a normal part of being human and they can run the spectrum from minor to

severe. There is a key difference between anxious feelings and clinical Anxiety: anxious

thoughts and feelings are appropriate. They are explainable. It is appropriate for you to have

concern for your children, your family’s safety and health, and your relationships. These

worries are realistic.

When you are experiencing feelings of anxiety, you may feel your heart and mind start

to race, your hands get sweaty or tingly, and your mouth gets dry. You may have tunnel vision

or a ringing in your ears. While these symptoms are unpleasant, they actually indicate a GOOD

thing! Our bodies are uniquely designed to protect us and send up a “red flag” when we are in

situations where we need to have increased awareness and focus, or to respond quickly. This

red flag is caused by chemicals in your brain which cause a couple bodily functions to shut

down temporarily (i.e., digestion) in order to spend energy doing survival functions (fight, flight,

or freeze). If you were to find yourself being chased by a rabid dog or treading water to stay

afloat after a shipwreck, you would be very thankful for your red flag reaction.

So how do I know when I may have an Anxiety disorder? The brief answer is when your

worries are no longer explainable, realistic, or attributable to a situation in your life. You are not

being chased or in immediate physical danger. If you find yourself paralyzed by fear in the

middle of a workday at your desk or breaking down in the grocery store for no good reason,

your red flag could be going up in situations where it is not warranted. Your body is responding

with a fight, flight, or freeze reaction when those options are not necessary to your survival.

Life is like spaghetti. Our brains are with us wherever we go, and just because you’re in

the grocery store doesn’t mean your mind is laser focused on cereal. Your counselor can work

with you to sort out potential anxiety triggers or underlying thought patterns that cause you

anxious feelings, or they may suggest you visit your doctor to look into physical issues that can

cause these symptoms. Whether you are dealing with worry or Anxiety, your counselor come

alongside you to figure out where it’s coming from and how to manage symptoms so they don’t

overtake your life.