Posted 7/31/2016 7:34 AM (GMT 0)
Edit: Whoa- sorry for super long response... Can you tell I'm not sleeping well tonight? Lol
Yes! And that is the root of a lot of the problems. We search and search for a reason, something to correct. We become afraid of the anxiety and afraid of triggers and situations that we felt anxious or panic, and then avoid them. This is the case with health anxiety as well. Often we do t know why we are anxious and our smart brain needs to connect our anxious feeling with something that make sense so we become scared and try to explain the anxiety symptom in a more rational tangible way. It doesn't make sense to feel anxious to our brain, so it creates a memory of symptoms and situations where anxiety occurred and if we don't fight it, those benign activities and feelings can become future triggers and phobias very quickly.
You are not alone, I have talked with many people who try to find a reason for thier anxiety, something that makes sense, but the truth is, most of the time it doesn't.
I think it is part brain chemistry, part of how we developed growing up, and how we learned to cope with stress. Talk therapy can help with find some areas to work on improving, and medication can help with symptoms and brain chemistry to help control anxiety that is unhelpful. Remember, some anxiety is good, like the kind that makes us study and prepare for a test or job interview, or helps us run if a tiger were chasing us. It is the anxiety where there is no reason that makes us afraid and uncofortable and we need to work at controlling it.