What are the key differences between mental and emotional anxiety?

• Mental anxiety: feelings of unease or dread. It is a state of heightened worry or fear that can be immediate and tied to a specific trigger. For example, feeling anxious before giving a speech.
• Emotional anxiety: state of intense and excessive feelings of fear or worry without always having a clear trigger. For example, feeling anxious for no reason.

Statistics on Anxiety:

Anxiety states are the most common mental health conditions worldwide, affecting approximately 301 million people in 2019. 

Symptoms of anxiety often start during childhood or adolescence. If left un-dealt with, it can significantly impair daily life, relationships, and overall well-being.

Causes of Mental and Emotional Anxiety

1. Neurobiological Changes: Imagine your brain as a control center that sometimes goes haywire, affect. Imbalances in neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) can affect mood.
2. Past Traumas: Traumatic experiences from the past can leave lasting effects on our emotions.
3. Stress: Life changes (like moving to a new place or starting high school) or daily pressures (homework, exams, social interactions) can create stress.
4. Environmental and Social Influences: Imagine being at a crowded party where everyone seems confident except you, making you anxious. Our surroundings and the people we interact with play a role

Identifying Symptoms of Mental and Emotional Anxiety

Emotional Symptoms:

1. Constant worry and fear: It is like carrying an umbrella even when the sun is shining.
2. Feelings of dread without a clear cause: It is like waking up with a sense of impending doom, even though everything seems fine.

Physical Symptoms:

1. Insomnia and other sleep disturbances: It is like having a broken sleep button. Think of lying in bed, unable to sleep because your mind won’t stop racing.
2. Muscle tension, headaches, and fatigue: Like a tight rubber band, your body feels tired all the time.

Behavioral Changes:

1. Avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations: Avoid crowded places or public speaking because they make you anxious.
2. Increased irritability or restlessness: Snapping at people over small things.

Even just recognizing these signs calms the anxiety to a high extent!

Coping Mechanisms – Mental and Emotional Anxiety

When dealing with mental and emotional anxiety, it’s important to have defense mechanisms to reduce the feelings of worry and fear that come with it. 

Here, we’ll delve into three effective coping mechanisms: 

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, emphasizes the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It’s based on the idea that our thoughts can influence our feelings and actions. For example, if you constantly think you’re going to fail a test, you might feel very anxious or scared, which might make you avoid studying altogether.

Instead of thinking, “I’m going to fail this test,” learn to think, “I’m prepared for this test, and I will do my best.” This can reduce anxiety by changing the negative way you think about situations.

2. Psychodynamic Techniques:

Psychodynamic techniques focus more on understanding the deep-rooted causes of your feelings and behaviors. This type of therapy believes that past experiences, especially from childhood, shape how you feel and behave today. For example, if you experienced a lot of criticism growing up, you might feel anxious about making mistakes because you’re worried about being criticized again.

Question your anxiety, fears, or worries that are holding you back. By getting to the root of it, you get access to either cut it down or make peace with it, leave it in the past, and not water the roots.

3. Techniques to Reduce Anxiety in Real-Time

Sometimes, you might need ways to calm down your anxiety quickly, especially in moments when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Here are a couple of techniques:

• Breathing: When you’re anxious, your breathing can become quick and shallow, which only increases your feelings of anxiety. To counter this, try deep breathing exercises. Breathe in slowly through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, and then breathe out slowly through your mouth.
• Mindfulness Meditation: Paying attention to the present moment without judgment. You can practice this by focusing on your limbs, or by doing a body scan, where you pay attention to different parts of your body and how they feel. This practice can help you steer your focus away from anxious thoughts and bring your attention back to the present.

Each of these coping mechanisms offers a unique approach to managing mental and emotional anxiety.

Conclusion:

Mental and emotional anxiety are prevalent and impactful conditions that can affect anyone, often starting in childhood or adolescence. 

Coping mechanisms like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), psychodynamic techniques, and real-time anxiety reduction methods, such as deep breathing and mindfulness meditation, provide valuable tools to help individuals reduce anxiety and improve their quality of life. 

References:

• https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/is-anxiety-an-emotion
• https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/anxiety-disorders
• https://mecp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43045-023-00315-3