Читать книгу Anxiety For Dummies - W. Doyle Gentry, Laura L. Smith - Страница 49

When danger presents itself, you reflexively prepare to stand and fight or run like you’ve never run before. Your body mobilizes for peril in complex and fantastic ways. Figure 3-1 gives you the picture.

© John Wiley and Sons

FIGURE 3-1: When presented with danger, your body prepares itself to flee or stand and fight.

Your body responds to threats by preparing for action in three different ways: physically, mentally, and behaviorally.

 Physically: The brain sends signals through your nervous system to go on high alert. It tells the adrenal glands to rev up production of adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones stimulate the body in various ways. Your heart pounds faster, and you start breathing more rapidly, sending increased oxygen to your lungs while blood flows to the large muscles, preparing them to fight or flee from danger.Digestion slows to preserve energy for meeting the challenge, and pupils dilate to improve vision. Blood flow decreases to hands and feet to minimize blood loss if injured and keep up the blood supply to the large muscles. Sweating increases to keep the body cool, and it makes you slippery so aggressors can’t grab hold of you. All your muscles tense to spring into action.

 Mentally: You automatically scan your surroundings intensely. Your attention focuses on the threat at hand. In fact, you can’t attend to much of anything else.

 Behaviorally: You’re now ready to run or fight. You need that preparation in the face of danger. When you have to take on a bear, a lion, or a warrior, you’d better have all your resources on high alert.

Granted, in today’s world, you’re not very likely to encounter lions and bears. Unfortunately, your body reacts too easily with the same preparation to fight traffic, meet deadlines, speak in public, and cope with other everyday worries.

When human beings have nothing to fight or run from, all that energy has to be released in other ways. So, you may feel the urge to fidget by moving your feet and hands. You may feel like jumping out of your skin. Or, you may impulsively rant or rave with those around you.

Most experts believe that experiencing these physical effects of anxiety on a frequent, chronic basis doesn’t do you any good. Various studies have suggested that chronic anxiety and stress contribute to a variety of physical problems, such as abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, ulcers, stomach upset, acid reflux, chronic muscle spasms, tremors, chronic back pain, tension headaches, a depressed immune system, and even hair loss. Figure 3-2 illustrates the toll of chronic anxiety on the body.

Before you get too anxious about your anxiety, please realize that chronic anxiety contributes to many of these problems, but we don’t know for sure that it’s a major cause of all of them. Nevertheless, enough studies have suggested that anxiety or stress can make these disorders worse to warrant taking chronic anxiety seriously. In other words, be concerned, but don’t panic.

When people perceive danger, their most common response is to fight or flee. However, sometimes there is another reaction — freezing. This response is common in animals but less understood in humans. The well-known phrase “like a deer caught in the headlights” is an example of a freeze response. During this state, heart rate actually decreases, and the body becomes immobilized. Usually, this state is brief and can immediately change to fight or flight. This phenomenon explains why some people freeze during an emergency or find themselves unable to respond in a threatening situation. However, not as much is known about the human freeze response, and more research is needed to explain the nuances of why and when this occurs.

© John Wiley and Sons

FIGURE 3-2: The chronic effects of anxiety.