Anxiety

Can Mindfulness Make Anxiety Worse?

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Being anxious is a normal response of the body especially when it is faced with threats and stress. When anxiety becomes a constant part of your life, then you may have an anxiety-related problem. Treating such problems will need you to be able to clear your mind and deal with your stressor.

Anxiety

Anxiety is commonly felt when the brain reacts to the stressors and threats that a person is facing. Everyday, we are facing different challenges whether at home, school, and even at work. Feeling anxious every now and then is common but when you started to notice that you are feeling more anxious than usual and it is affecting your daily tasks then, you may need to consider consulting a psychiatrist.

Here are some of the most common Anxiety Disorders and their associated signs and symptoms:

Front view of a woman suffering social anxiety attack on city street
  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) – symptoms occurs for more than 6 months. A person with general anxiety disorder feels excessively anxious most of the day. Most of the anxiety attacks caused by GAD is triggered by any work or relationship problems, health problems and any unexpected life occurrence that may not be ideal for a person. Some patients constantly feel anxious all day even without the presence of such triggers. Symptoms of GAD includes feelings of restlessness, easily fatigued even by simple tasks, have difficulty concentrating on tasks, being irritable more than usual, noticeable muscle tension when having an anxiety attack, unable to control feelings of worry and fear, sleeping problems such as difficulty falling or staying asleep and having an unsatisfying sleep.
  • Panic Disorder – this is one of the most common anxiety disorders and is often seen in movies. When a person is having an anxiety attack, it causes a person to feel muscle tension, palpitations, chest pain and increased sweating. People often mistake panic attacks for heart attacks and sometimes, choking. The panic attack is often caused by a fear on an object or a situation. Identifying its triggers is helpful in preventing future panic attacks. Other symptoms that a person who has panic disorders experience shortness of breath, feelings of impending doom, and feelings of being out of control.
  • Phobia – It refers to a certain fear on a specific object or situation. When a person is faced with this trigger, they feel intense fear that is out of proportion. The most common trigger is the fear of heights. People with phobia also experiences excessive worry or irrational fear of an object or situation, tries their best to avoid the feared object or situations, when exposed to the trigger, they feel an immediate intense level of anxiety and some may be able to endure the unavoidable situation or object but with an intense anxiety.

Mindfulness and Anxiety

Mindfulness is a common go-to for people who wants to relieve their everyday stress. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing and not overly reactive or overwhelmed with what’s going on around us. It is a type of meditation that you can do anywhere for a short period of time. There are many testaments to the beneficial effects of mindfulness, but little is known about its unwanted effects.

In recent studies, it was said that out of many people who practice mindfulness, about 12 percent of them experience unwanted effects. This is true especially in the case of people who suffers from anxiety and depression. Mindfulness can aggravate the anxiety and depression that they are feeling.  Some people who meditate often lose control of their feelings of fear, anxiety or panic because they are desperate to go out of their current situation. In their attempt to control these unwanted thoughts and feelings, they become even more counterproductive and actually ends up causing them to overthink more.

Mindfulness is often misunderstood because of its claim that it can actually control one’s thought and feelings. Many people take it the wrong way and ends up causing themselves further distress. Mindfulness, if done the right way, can enhance one’s psychological capacity and flexibility making you acknowledge these thoughts and feelings and take action based on your personal values. Still, mindfulness is a good tool in overcoming an anxiety disorder as long as it is done correctly.

Can Mindfulness Help With Anxiety?

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Being anxious all the time has some great impacts on your body. It can lower your energy and have certain unwanted effects on your brain. Feeling anxious is a common reaction especially when faced with certain situations but experiencing it too much may actually be harmful for you.

Anxiety

Anxiety is one of our common emotion. It is the brain’s way of reacting to the stressors and alerts your body of any harm or danger ahead of you. Everyone will feel anxious every now and then – at work, home or school. Being anxious from time to time is okay but when you noticed that it becomes more common than usual then you have to rethink again. Excessive anxiety in the presence of stressors may cause a person to feel overwhelmed. If the anxiety you have makes you unable to do daily tasks that you usually do, then you may consider consulting a doctor or a psychiatrist.

There are many kinds of Anxiety Disorder. Here a few of the most common ones and their associated signs and symptoms:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

People who have generalized anxiety disorders have been showing excessively anxious for at least 6 months. Common stressors for such are work, relationship problems, health, and any unexpected life circumstances. In some patients, even if there’s no trigger they tend to feel anxious too.

General Anxiety Disorder symptoms includes:

  • Feelings of restlessness
  • Easily fatigued even by simple tasks
  • Have difficulty concentrating on tasks
  • Being irritable more than usual
  • Noticeable muscle tension when having an anxiety attack
  • Unable to control feelings of worry and fear
  • Sleeping problems such as difficulty falling or staying asleep and having an unsatisfying sleep.

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is often seen on televisions shows and series. In panic disorder, a person suddenly feels an intense feat that causes one to perspire a lot, have palpitations and chest pain. Some patients even think that they are having a heart attack or choking during panic attacks. The episodes of the panic attack peaks within minutes and is triggered by a fear on an object or a situation. People who have panic disorder often worries about their next attack. Knowing the trigger of such episodes is helpful in preventing future attacks.

Here’s what some people experience during a panic attack:

  • Increase in heart rate and pounding heartbeat
  • Sweating too much
  • Trembling or shaking of the body
  • Shortness of breath or feels like you are choking on something
  • Feelings of impending doom
  • Feelings of being out of control

Phobia-related Disorders

People often use the “Phobia” to refer to a specific object or situation that a person fear. It is almost the same on how psychiatry defined it – an intense fear of specific objects or situations. The most common of which are the fear of heights or flying. It is normal to feel fear when exposed to a certain situation but people with phobias feel fear that is out of proportion than the actual danger posed by the situation or the object. People with phobia experiences:

  • Excessive worry or irrational fear of an object or situation
  • Tries their best to avoid the feared object or situations
  • When exposed to the trigger, they feel an immediate intense level of anxiety
  • Some may be able to endure the unavoidable situation or object but with an intense anxiety.

Mindfulness And Anxiety

Is mindfulness able to help someone who is anxious? According to recent researches, mindfulness is able to reduce the level of anxiety of a person. Mindfulness works by teaching our brain to focus our attention on the present moment while removing the unwanted thoughts in our brain such as worrying and ruminating about the past.

Being anxious means that you are thinking too much in your brain and your body is reacting to that stress. Mindfulness teaches us and our body on how to respond to this stress simply just by being in a state of awareness where one will only focus on meditating. Mindfulness is just one of the adaptive reactions that a person can try to do especially during difficult situations.

Mindfulness Tricks to Reduce Anxiety

Hispanic woman walking on winding path in lush green forest

There are different mindfulness practices that you can try to reduce the anxiousness that you are feeling. Try it out and let us know if it works for you, too.

Set an intention – know the reason on why you are practicing mindfulness. Setting an intention every morning before important activities will help you focus and remind you on why you are doing it every day. If a certain event is making you feel anxious – like a major speech at school – set an intention for it so that you’ll be even more motivated to finish and do your speech.

Try guided meditation – some people just have a hard time meditating without a guide. If you are one of them, you can try looking for online programs or phone apps that shares free guided meditation.

Mindful coloring – this is commonly done by children, but it works as good for adults too! Set aside a couple of minutes on your day and let your creativity flow. You may opt to buy or print some nice pictures that you can color. 

Take a walk – taking a walk works wonders. Being outside and having your alone time and just focusing on your senses and the environment is not only comforting for your body but for your mind too.