Introduction to anxiety and its effect on mental health

Mental health is one of the most underrated topics among people. Most people don’t pay attention to their brain health. If you have any health issue or any other problem, it’s not only your body that gets affected. Your mind is also affected and if you don’t pay attention things get worse. People need to get mental health education to better understand what is happening with their minds in a particular situation.

There is not a single factor that affects your brain health, a combination of factors can also do that. If you are not getting quality sleep, it can leave you anxious and frustrated. Along with your issues, the problems of your loved ones also disturb you mentally. Stress is the most common symptom of many health disorders.

A lot of people are not able to recognize if they have stress or anxiety. Because you have become so used to stress, understanding the difference between normal and chronic stress becomes difficult. We all deal with some sort of stress in our daily lives which is very common. However, there is a difference between normal stress and anxiety.

In this article, we will how anxiety affects your mental health and overall well-being. Along with that, we will also discuss effective methods to counter anxiety and improve your well-being.

How does anxiety affect you and your mental health?

When you experience excessive stress, racing negative thoughts, and increased heartbeat, it is not just stress but anxiety. Anxiety is a combination of physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that interfere with everything you do.  It prevents you from enjoying anything and affects your overall well-being. It’s time that you understand what is happening with your body and mind when you are anxious. After understanding the concept the anxiety, it will be easy for you to manage anxiety.

Effects of anxiety on your brain: Whenever there is a threat or any stressful situation, your brain activates the “Fight or flight” response. However, this response helps you in dealing with the stressful situation. But it can harm you when activated on every little thing. Because it makes your brain hyperactive causing anxiety. As a result of this, the brain keeps signaling the endocrine system to release stress hormones.

Hormonal imbalance: Your mind secretes cortisol, a stress hormone, whenever you are stressed. However, excessive secretion of cortisol disturbs the levels of serotonin and dopamine leading to increased stress and anxiety.

Emotional disturbance: One of the worst effects of anxiety is that leaves you agitated and frustrated. It lowers your mood and makes you emotionally weak. You don’t feel like getting along with people and start avoiding them.

Physical and psychological changes: Several physical and mental changes occur whenever you are anxious and overwhelmed. You have a pounding heart with an irregular heartbeat, pains and aches, stomach problems, and high blood pressure. Along with that, you may also have shaken and trembling hands with excessive sweating. When it comes to brain health, anxiety acts as a gateway to other issues like depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. All these things take a toll on your health and well-being and lower the quality of your life.

Best methods to counter anxiety

Chronic stress and anxiety have very harmful effects on your overall health, especially brain health. However, you can manage or address anxiety with several methods. Anxiety is a response of your mind when you are under pressure or in a stressful situation. Plenty of lifestyle hacks, relaxation techniques, therapies, and medications can help you cope with anxiety which are:

• Practice regular exercise and maintain physical activity. This enhances the secretion of endorphins, a chemical that boosts your mood and makes you feel bet
• Eat healthy food and avoid eating junk food. Cut off the intake of alcohol and caffeine and avoid smoking as well. Because these are stimulants and make your brain hyperactive. If you use these things, your mind becomes too aroused which leads to anxiety.
• Make a proper sleep schedule and follow it strictly. According to some studies, poor sleep is one of the major reasons for disturbed cognitive health.
• Practice meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and other self-care tips to manage anxiety. All these activities will throw away the negative and stressful thoughts from your mind.
• Listen to music, take a hot shower, or do things you like. These activities relieve anxiety by inducing a feeling of relaxation.
• Seek support and help from your family, friends, and loved ones. Along with that, you should also get medical help to manage anxiety and related disorders.

Besides lifestyle methods and self-care tips, certain medicines also work great for anxiety. Some benzodiazepines like xanax, lorazepam, diazepam, and clonazepam 2 mg treat anxiety effectively. These medications are specially designed to relieve anxiety and are also known as anti-anxiety medications. So, buy anti-anxiety medications to deal with anxiety and improve mental health.