Anxiety can be described as any or a combination of feelings that all have their roots in some type of fear, including unease, worry, apprehension, dread, powerlessness or a sense of impending danger – real or imagined. Symptoms can be wide-ranging: the mind goes blank or other cognitive functions are lost, obsessive thoughts, phobias, chronic worry, ongoing unease, sweaty palms, tension headaches, trembling, difficulty breathing, dizziness, panic attacks, increased heart rate and palpitations. Anxiety disorders such as panic attacks may result from certain physiological conditions, most notably heart arrhythmias, and anyone who experiences this should seek immediate advice to make sure the cause of the attacks is not physical.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 40 million American adults – that’s 18% of the population – have anxiety disorders, which often begin in childhood. Social phobia alone, when people become overwhelmingly anxious and excessively self-conscious in everyday social situations, affects 15 million adults, and specific phobias, an intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger, affects 19.2 million adults in the U.S. (See our Recommendations).
"Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained."
—Arthur Somers Roche, American journalist, writer, 1883-1935.
Anxiety is a feeling, a type of emotion. Some anxiety such as fight or flight is encoded in our genetic makeup and is a normal human response to many of life’s uncertainties, among them nervousness over an impending test or a sought-after job, uneasiness in a relationship or concern over the health of a loved one, speaking or performing in public, or worry in the workplace for a variety of reasons, one of the most common being the employee performance review. It is when anxiety becomes exaggerated, when our caring about ourselves, others, social issues, etc., turns into "overcare" that this otherwise natural human emotion can threaten our well-being.
"As the turbulence of anxiety churns in the subconscious and plays out in your thoughts and actions … it can cause fatigue, sleep disorders, hormone imbalances, health problems and premature aging."
—Transforming Anxiety, Childre, Rozman 2004.
Recommended
Learn scientifically validated tools and techniques for overcoming anxiety with the emTech Media e-booklet or audio file Eliminating Axiety.
Years of research by the Institute of HeartMath has shown you can achieve a healthy balance in your emotions, learn to stop feeding anxious feelings and create new emotional patterns and behaviors to replace the negative ones that have been draining your energy and spirit. HeartMath scientific research and controlled studies have shown your own "heart intelligence" holds the key to this transformation. By achieving coherence in your heart, mind and spirit you can maintain a calm, balanced, yet alert state at home, school, work and play.
Recommended
A HeartMath TIP: You’ll be amazed at how much calmer and relaxed you feel after trying these three quick steps adapted from the HeartMath Notice and Ease® tool, which has helped so many reduce their anxiety. The emTech Media e-booklet Eliminating Anxiety contains a complete discussion about this simple, but powerful tool. Also available in audio program.
Notice and admit what you are feeling.
Try to name the feeling.
Tell yourself to ease as you gently focus in your heart, relax as you breathe, and ease the stress out.
Benefits of Reducing Anxiety
Stress hormones decrease, energy level increases, feel better
Stronger, more satisfying relationships
Quality of life increases, feeling of empowerment
Reduce "overwhelm" – time pressure, information and stimulation overload, mentally scattered feeling, impatience.
Decrease projections of worst-case scenarios, negative thinking
Improved memory, cognitive functions
Recommended
Tools for Overcoming Anxiety
Transforming Anxiety:Childre, Rozman, 2006. This enlightening HeartMath book gives an in-depth look at why anxiety is plaguing so many in today’s fast-paced world and how you can use the HeartMath System to overcome your fears and worries and create more serenity in your life. Includes a complete discussion of the Notice and Ease tool.
emWave® Personal Stress Reliever: There is so much going on around us today that it tends to be overwhelming, and it has contributed greatly to the epidemic of anxiety thats affect 40 million Americans each year. Whenever you feel an "episode" coming on, reduce the overload and anxiety by having a session with both the handheld emWave PSR, which incorporates a patented,
scientifically validated and easy-to-use technology, and one of HeartMath’s tools such as the Quick Coherence® Technique. You’ll see for yourself how this powerful combination can help you monitor and regulate your heart-rhythm patterns and melt away the worry. And, you can take your emWave PSR anywhere. You’ll also receive the Coherence Coach® which includes the Quick Coherence Technique, free with your purchase of the emWave PSR. Click here to learn more.
emWave® PC / emWave® Mac Stress Relief System:†
Chronic worry, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorders and many others – aren’t conditions happening to us. They are habits created through emotional investment and automatic responses to stressful feelings and thoughts. You can redefine these emotions and break your
anxiety habits with HeartMath tools, including the emWave PC/Mac sensor and software, which turn your personal computer into a personal heart-rhythm monitor and manager. Watch on your PC monitor how your emotions are affecting your heart-rhythm patterns and then be gently guided to emotional balance and heart coherence, a highly synchronized physical, mental and emotional state. Includes interactive games designed to help you transform anxiety and stress into creative energy. Click here to learn more. † Formerly known as Freeze-Framer®.
(Note: Use the emWave PSR or emWave PC Stress Relief System to help regulate your emotions in preparation for events you know may trigger your stress response and to help you recover from stressful episodes and get back on an even keel fast.)
Further reading…
Reducing Test Anxiety and Improving Test Performance in America’s Schools:Click to view or download the executive summary of this eight-state, U.S. Department of Education-funded study that researched test anxiety and effective solutions.
Click here for the full 372 page e-Book version of the study report. Parents and teachers, learn how TestEdge® can help your students improve their learning, test performance and overall well being as they progress through their education.
Truth of Your Feelings Life: A HeartMath Energy Saver– IHM newsletter, spring 2006, page 7. "Jenny felt constantly drained and stressed out. She couldn’t figure out why. Things seemed to be going pretty well; nothing disastrous was happening." Then she began examining her feelings and identifying what came up.
Stress, Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders in the Workplace: A survey by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, published in The HeartMath Report, Nov. 9, 2006. The majority of working Americans experience stress or anxiety in their daily lives, a fact that is hardly revealing, but the Anxiety Association found that "close to half of U.S. employees report experiencing persistent stress or excessive anxiety in their daily lives. And while only 9 percent of the respondents have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, 30 percent with everyday stress have taken prescription medication to manage stress and other emotional problems". Every month you’ll find interesting articles about our mental, physical and emotional health in The HeartMath Report.
