- Let's jump into the eight things our anxiety makes us do
that we probably don't even realize.
(bright music)
Number one, digestive issues.
And having to pee constantly.
Because our body and brain are linked.
Even though doctors so often overlook this.
So frustrating.
But because of this link,
one thing can clearly affect the other.
And anxiety causes our body
to release a stress hormone called cortisol.
You've probably heard of it.
And it causes our body to produce more stomach acid.
I know!
I didn't know that either until I was researching for this.
Which can lead to acid reflux, nausea, vomiting, et cetera.
It also triggers our bladder to contract,
which can make it feel like we have to pee
when we really don't.
And finally, our enteric nervous system connects
with our GI tract,
making a direct connection between our brain
and our gastrointestinal system.
Which is why when we feel anxious,
we can get stomach cramping or have diarrhea.
Mm, diarrhea. (toilet whooshing)
So pleasant.
(Kati laughing)
If you're new here, welcome to the community.
My name is Kati Morton
and I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist.
I talk about depression, anxiety, eating disorders,
and really anything mental health related.
So if you'd like to subscribe, we would love to have you.
I promise you will always leave
with some helpful information for you
or for someone you love.
Number two, having anxious dreams.
(alarm beeping)
You would think anxiety would give us a break
when we're asleep,
but no, it has to ruin that for us too.
These are usually dreams
about something that is already worrying us.
Like, let's say we have a presentation at work,
or an issue we're having in a relationship.
Or it can even make up things for us to worry about.
Mine does that all the time.
Brain's super fun that way.
But either way,
we usually wake up startled
and then don't feel rested,
because our body was essentially tense
and in our stress response the entire night
it's terrible and exhausting.
Number three, constant yawning or deep breaths.
And this happens because, when we were anxious
we're usually breathing (pants)
in these short, choppy breaths
or what I call shoulder breathing,
because the only movement that we have
from our breath is in our shoulders.
Therefore, our body has to force a yawn
or the urge to take a deep breath
as a way to get the oxygen it needs.
Doing more belly breathing,
breathing through your stomach,
can help with this,
which I think is why so many people swear
by breathing exercises.
But I know that sometimes this can be triggering
and make our anxiety worse,
so you do what's best for you.
But either way, our anxiety can sometimes cause us
to not get the oxygen we need,
which can cause us to yawn excessively
or feel like we're always going (gasps)
trying to get those deep breaths.
Number four, irritability.
Now this symptom is actually part
of the diagnostic criteria
for generalized anxiety disorder,
but is often overlooked
because us getting easily upset,
that doesn't really look like anxiety.
But because we're on edge,
we're worrying about anything and everything
and not having any control over those feelings,
we can, of course, become extra irritable.
Especially with those we love.
And it usually happens to those closest to us
because we used up all our energy to not yell
or get upset with people at work or school all day long.
And when we come home, we don't really have any patience
or resilience left and we snap.
And this can also happen in depression
and is especially common
in those of us with both anxiety and depression.
Number five, picking our face all the time.
Now, this can be its own diagnosis.
It's called excoriation.
And I have a video about it if you want.
But this is when our skin picking is getting
in the way of us being able to do what we do.
So it causes significant distress or impairment.
But what I'm talking about here is
that those of us who struggle with anxiety
tend to be what I would call a picker.
Meaning that it's difficult, if not impossible,
for us to not want to pick at our face, our nails,
fuzz on clothing or blankets.
We can scratch and pull on things
without even realizing we're doing it.
And it's usually because we're so keyed up
and overwhelmed that our body is looking for some movement
to help get that anxious energy out of us,
or at least distract us
from the uncontrollable worry for just a little bit.
Number six, grinding our teeth at night or during the day.
Now, this can be caused by many things.
But my dentist had told me
that the most common causes for bruxing,
(teeth clattering)
which is when you do it when you're asleep or awake,
that's that teeth grinding,
is stress and anxiety.
And I assume it's just like the picking behavior
and it's a physical manifestation of our anxiety,
because our body essentially doesn't have another outlet.
It's like all of this energy is cued up inside of us,
and even if we don't acknowledge it,
it's gonna find its way out.
Number seven, and one that we often associate with anxiety,
is constant fidgeting.
Or tapping our foot
or inability to sit still.
Again, this is that anxious energy
moving through our bodies.
And whether we're aware that it's there, it is,
and it's gonna try to find a way out of our body
so that we can get some relief.
Essentially, we're like full.
We're all full of all this energy, this anxious energy,
and so we're gonna do some movement as a way to kind of do.
You know, I talk about full body shakes being a release.
It's almost like our body's trying to force us
into doing that every, you know, foot shake at a time.
And this is something, as a therapist,
I always notice in my office.
And I know people hate this,
but I will call it out and draw your attention to it,
because it is something we often do unconsciously, right?
It's just something that happens.
Some people just say, oh, I just always shake my foot.
Or, oh, I've always just been a little more fidgety.
I would argue, no, I think that might be related
to something else.
And so I'm gonna call it out
so that you can be more aware,
and we can see what comes up for you
when you aren't doing that thing.
Because that often tells us a lot about it.
And this is especially common
with my eating disorder patients.
They feel like they always have to keep moving
and is another reason why I will always draw our attention
to that excessive movement.
Number eight, sweating.
Even when it's not hot,
because our body's in overdrive and it's overwhelmed,
our nervous system, which is sensitive
to our emotions, stress, and anxiety,
it activates our sweat glands
as it readies us to protect ourselves
or fight to control the worry that we're experiencing.
Our nervous system also dumps those hormones,
cortisol and adrenaline,
which causes our body to heat up.
So even if our sweat glands aren't triggered,
we can all of a sudden feel this rush of hot,
this heat rush.
And we'll sweat as a result.
Also, this kind of sweat is different from regular workout
or I'm in the sun and I'm hot sweat
because it was triggered by our mental state
and it activates our apocrine sweat glands.
I might be saying that wrong and I apologize if I am.
But workout sweat comes from our eccrine sweat glands.
And these sweat glands are larger
and in areas with more hair
and tend to have more proteins and lipids in them.
So anxiety sweat tends to be more pungent.
I know. It's terrible.
I hope you found that helpful
and I hope that this video reminds you
that you're not alone.
And some of the strange or maybe embarrassing things
that you're going through are due to your anxiety,
and nothing is wrong with you.
Anxiety is one of those mental illnesses
that has turned into a term people use
to describe just about anything.
People hear someone waiting to give a presentation at work
and say something like, I'm just really anxious about it.
Or if someone tells us
that they did something that we think is scary,
we can say, oh my God, that would make me too anxious.
And without understanding what anxiety really is.
In short, generalized anxiety disorder or GAD
is when we have excessive anxiety
or worry that is uncontrollable.
(thunder rumbles)
It's not stress.
Stress is something that we feel
when we're under pressure or threat,
hence the term, you know, stress response.
When we talk about fight, flight, or freeze.
Stress always has a trigger.
Anxiety can feel like it comes out of nowhere.
Although it is important to know
that both stress and anxiety
can trigger our stress response,
and our body will react to that
in order to keep us safe and alive.
Managing anxiety can be tricky,
but with the right help, it can and will get better.
We find cognitive behavioral therapy,
otherwise known as CBT,
to be incredibly beneficial,
as well as moving our bodies, again, to get that energy out
before it causes us to grind our teeth or pick at our faces.
We can do that through regular exercise
or by doing full body shakes.
Take care of yourselves and I will see you next time.
(upbeat music)