Anxiety: is it me or my environment?
Why is it that I feel so anxious, overwhelmed or stressed? What is it about me that causes me to have these symptoms? Is it my fault? How can I overcome this?
Most of us feeling these anxiety symptoms often reflect on our internal state and blame ourselves for not managing our emotions, not having control over our life and allowing our thoughts to affect us physically. But let’s take the pressure of ‘us’ for a moment. Let’s take a look at how our environment could be contributing to our state.
In the last couple of decades society has become a technological beast that has invaded us every moment of the day. We live in a construct that demands our attention 24/7 (both work and socially) and have developed habits that trigger our nervous system to constantly stay alert and live in reactive mode. Whether we are social media connected or not, we are on tablets, iPhones, computers at any time of the day connected in some way: messages, emails, news items, Netflix binge, likes (or no likes), podcasts, google searches etc. The line between being switched on or switched off technology no longer exists. Our brain is slowly taking on a different structure to our ancestors at a very fast pace. These new habits have altered how we think and feel and produced biochemical and structural changes to the brain, that evolution has not been able to adapt for. Hence our rising rates of anxiety, ADHD and other mental health issues.
Now, this is only part of the problem.
If we are not engaging in this behaviour, there is a sense that we are not being part of society, that we will be left behind … and we all want to feel part of this ‘modern’ world, right? But, at what cost? This new social norm makes many of us feel alone, isolated or ’missing out’ (FOMO) if we are not part of it. And it’s not just technology. This faster pace of living has transferred to other parts of life. Expectations to have more, do more and achieve more. In fact, if you are not achieving (in 21st century terms), then you add no 21st century value. How can we remove ourselves from these new expectations from society? How do we draw the line between being connected and restructuring the brain to appreciate the benefits of down time, away from constantly triggering the fight or flight nervous system response.
A call for meaningful living …
So, let’s shift the self-reflection from “why am I feeling so anxious and stressed all the time?” to “how can I feel more connected to a meaningful life?”. Living in a way that really resonates with who you are, and not what society is expecting from you, alleviates feelings of stress and anxiety. How can it not? This doesn’t mean leaving a job and being self-sufficient (off grid) on a mountain top. It simply means we operate differently in the current job or maybe align our job closer to our values.
In our next blog we visit this topic of values and begin the journey of finding more meaning in a life that is ruled by a fast-paced society.