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Exercise: another excellent way to combat anxiety
 The chemicals released in the body during
exercise
have a positive and stabilizing effect on mood and a person's sense of
well-being.
Anxiety is an emotion everyone has experienced. It is a distressing feeling
of apprehension and uneasiness. Being anxious causes changes in your thinking
(fear, worry), bodily functions (rapid heart beat, sweating), and behavior
(pacing, tapping the table), all of which only reinforce your feelings of
distress. A little anxiety can be a good thing – like getting excited before an
event or feeling up for a performance. Too much anxiety is not a good thing, and
at a certain point, anxiety can impair your abilities.
The psychiatric problem, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is much more than
the normal anxiety that we all experience. It is an unprovoked chronic feeling
of exaggerated worry and tension. Besides feeling anxious, people with GAD often
have physical symptoms, such as trembling, twitching,
headaches, diarrhea,
sweating, or
hot flashes. They may feel lightheaded, breathless, and as though
they have a lump in the throat. Having this disorder means always anticipating
disaster, and often worrying excessively about your health, money, family, and
work.
Although sufferers know their anxiety level is more than they need, they
cannot lessen their concerns. Just as with
depression, anxious people do not
have their condition by choice. They cannot control their feelings and will the
anxiety away, without help. Successful treatment of GAD can include medication,
psychotherapy, and relaxation techniques to control muscle tension.
A panic attack is a discrete episode that occurs suddenly – your heart pounds,
you may feel faint or dizzy, your
hands may tremble, tingle, or feel numb, and
you may have chest pain or a smothering sensation. The feelings are terrifying,
and you may think you are having a
heart attack, stroke, or are about to die.
Panic attacks can occur at any time without warning, even awakening you from
sleep. They usually last a few minutes and occasionally persist for an hour or
more.
 Both, a single bout and regular physical activity reduce your anxiety
level. As with depression, physical activity achieves that effect in several
ways. Being consistent with regular exercise increases your sense of personal
control and mastery, which can counteract feelings of anxiety. A workout also
may provide your mind with a distraction or diversion from stress. In addition,
being in shape can lower your adrenaline levels. That is one of the reasons that
your resting
heart rate and
blood pressure
are lower after physical
conditioning. When your adrenaline level is lower, even if you are anxious, you
will have fewer physical changes (less rapid heart beat, less tremor, and less
sweating). So, there will be fewer physical signals to reinforce your feelings
of anxiety.
Participating in an aerobic activity such as brisk
walking,
jogging,
swimming,
bicycling, racquetball, or tennis for 30-40 minutes
three times per week is a healthy goal. Exercise can help the production of
chemicals in the body that make people feel good naturally, and helps many feel
truly relaxed when not exercising.
Although exercise reduces our anxiety levels, less research has been done
concerning its use as a treatment for panic disorder or GAD. Regular physical
activity appears helpful there, too. It can lower anxiety levels and reduce the
frequency of panic attacks. However, unlike with depression, where exercise
alone may correct mild to moderate symptoms, regular physical activity is
usually not enough to completely remedy the anxiety disorders. For those with
GAD and panic disorder, exercise will help, but medications and psychotherapy
will still be needed.
Famous people who have suffered from an anxiety disorder include Isaac Asimov,
Kim Basinger, Nicolas Cage, Earl Campbell, Johnny Depp, sally Field, Aretha
Franklin, Naomi judd, john Madden, Alanis Morissette, Charles Schultz, Willard
Scott, Barbra Streisand, and Oprah Winfrey.
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