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♪ so much love ♪
♪ chew it really good ♪
♪ just don't sleep when the lights are off ♪
Anxiety.
We all feel it, but do we understand it?
This is
OK, so we've heard the word
and maybe have a general idea about what it means,
but what exactly is anxiety?
We asked child psychiatrist Amy Gajaria.
It's a way that people feel.
You can feel it in your body, you can feel it in your mind.
But ultimately, like anxiety is a feeling or an emotion.
And let's get one thing straight.
Anxiety is normal.
[ding]
Everyone experiences it from time to time.
Even top athletes like tennis star Naomi Osaka
and big celebrities like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
have spoken out about their experiences with anxiety.
Anxiety is not automatically a bad thing.
It helps humans survive in a world full of threats,
and it prepares us for real potential dangers
like crossing a busy street.
It can also help us perform at our best.
If we didn't feel some anxiety,
we might not feel motivated enough
to study for that big test or
practice for our next volleyball tournament.
It feels uncomfortable, but that discomfort is temporary.
So what exactly is going on in the body when we feel anxiety?
Anxiety activates something doctors call
the autonomic nervous system, or the ANS.
The ANS is a system that comes online automatically
and regulates the body's function
like heart rate or digestion.
It's made-up of two parts: the sympathetic nervous system,
that's the one that controls the flight, fight, freeze response,
and the parasympathetic nervous system,
which is also called the rest and digest system.
So because of how these systems respond to stress or threats,
the body starts to experience certain things.
Once your body identifies a threat,
hormones including adrenaline and cortisol are released.
Those hormones can start to trigger physical symptoms,
like a faster heartbeat
to get more blood flowing to give you a burst of energy,
shallow and fast breathing to get more oxygen to your blood,
blurred vision to focus on the threat
and block out distractions,
feeling worried,
not being able to concentrate on things unrelated to the threat,
and even stomach issues like nausea or vomiting.
That unpleasant reaction is a side effect of cortisol,
which can irritate our stomach.
Anxiety is part of our body's way of preparing itself
to fight off and or escape danger.
So imagine you're walking through the woods
and you think you see a bear.
Your body will snap into attention
and prepare you to fight, freeze, or run away
as a way to stay safe.
Most of the time we aren't in life threatening situations,
but our body doesn't know the difference.
That's why we feel anxiety before an exam
or a presentation, even though those things can't
physically hurt us like a bear can.
If the systems are working properly,
once the threat is gone
the body should go back to working normally
and any discomfort should go away.
If feelings of anxiety don't go away,
that could be a sign of an anxiety disorder.
That's when the symptoms of anxiety
affect your day-to-day life for an extended period of time.
If you're struggling with anxiety
or think you might have an anxiety disorder,
talk about it with someone you trust,
like a parent or a school guidance counsellor.
And you don't need to feel embarrassed by your feelings.
Anxiety and anxiety disorders can be managed.
In the short term, one thing we can all do
to help with anxious feelings is take a pause
and do a quick breathing exercise.
Doctor Gajaria says this helps because...
It kind of takes you out of that flight or fight reflex
and out of that sympathetic nervous system response,
and helps you and your body realize that you're safe
and you're not facing a threat.
The most important thing with taking a deep breath
is to make sure you're breathing into your belly
and not into your chest.
Why don't you join me in a breathing exercise right now?
♪ [serene]
[exhale]
Yeah, I needed that.
That's it for
For
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