Counseling in Katy, TX: Completing the Cycle of Anxiety
In the movie The Lion King, Mufasa and Simba discuss the circle of life. Mufasa explains about the balance of life, respecting living creatures, and how the circle of life is always ongoing. In very simplistic terms, antelopes eat the grass, lions eat the antelopes, and then, when the lions die, they return to being grass to feed the antelopes. That circle, that cycle, works to keep the delicate circle of life spinning as it should. Just as the circle of life needs to be completed to keep everything running smoothly and effectively, the cycle of anxiety needs to be completed to keep yourself functioning at your highest level. Reaching out for anxiety counseling in Katy, TX is the first step to learning how to overcome the obstacle of anxiety.
Cycle of Anxiety
The cycle of anxiety is simple enough to understand. Begin by picturing a circle. The cycle begins at the top, in a “resting state”. In the resting state, a person is relaxed and calm, they are existing as normal. Traveling clockwise around the circle, the next stage of the anxiety cycle is being triggered by a stressor, or anything entering that person’s bubble of normalcy. Once a person has been triggered, their body prepares them for the upcoming phase in the cycle. The final phase of the cycle is “fight or flight”. The triggered individual will engage in either a fight or flight response to their trigger to complete the cycle and return to their resting state.
Brains cannot discern if a situation is an actual life or death situation, or if it’s just a situation that needs to be handled. The moment a person is triggered (large or small), the brain and body will start the cycle of anxiety. Adrenaline, cortisol hormones, and epinephrine will be released into the system, and the body will want to “fight or flight”. If the situation that has triggered someone is mild, such as a text message, or an email, there is quite literally nothing to fight or flight. Without there being a physical resolution, the body doesn’t have the chance to expel these chemicals that have been released, and they get trapped in the body.
Imagine a soda bottle: when shaken, everything gets all mixed up creating pressure that needs to escape the soda bottle before it explodes. Just like the pressure that builds up in that shaken soda bottle, so do the chemicals and the energy in your body when a person is triggered. When this energy builds up, it needs to be released in some way. If it is not released, it manifests in different ways depending on the person. Sometimes this energy builds up and reveals itself as insomnia, sadness, or irritability. The body needs that energy to be released in order to complete the cycle and return to the resting state.
Let’s look at a large, simple to understand, example of the Cycle of Anxiety. Jonah is walking home from school as he does every day, he is existing in his personal resting state. Suddenly, a tiger jumps in front of him while he is walking home! The tiger (obviously) triggers Jonah’s anxiety. Once Jonah is triggered, his heart rate increases, his breathing becomes more rapid, and all of his blood is rushing to his important muscles and organs that will help him when he decides to “fight or flight”. While the blood is rushing, Jonah’s body is also releasing chemicals into his system, preparing him for whatever his next decided action is. Jonah decides he should run from the tiger, because fighting that tiger would not be in his best interest. He turns and runs, ensuring his safety from the tiger. The physical act of running helped Jonah to expel the chemicals that were released into his body when he was triggered, allowing Jonah to complete the Cycle of Anxiety and return to his natural resting state.
People are triggered every day. When a trigger is minor, it is not always recognized that the energy and chemicals have been released into the body. Therefore, it isn’t understood that the energy still needs to be expelled to be able to return to a full resting state. How many times has it been said that physical exercise can improve mental health? The answer: many, many times. Physical exercise can be a way to release that build up of energy that comes from tiny triggers throughout the day, allowing the completion of the anxiety cycle and allowing the body to return to a resting state.
The idea of physical exercise can seem so daunting (please don’t sign me up for cardio). Lucky for all of us, the physical exercise to release that energy doesn’t need to be a full hour long workout every day. It only needs to be enough physical exertion to get your heart going, and expel the energy build up.The exercise can be doing jumping jacks for two minutes, or running up and down the stairs a few times. The physical activity just needs to be something that will tell your brain that you are “fighting or flighting”. It will release that build up of hormones, adrenaline, and epinephrine, allowing you to return to a comfortable resting state. If the trigger is extreme and a person is activated at a 10 out of 10, a higher, or longer level of physical activity might be necessary to work off all the chemical build up, but oftentimes, just a few moments can make a huge difference.
Completing the cycle is important to get the body back to its resting state. If you are having trouble completing the Cycle of Anxiety, I am here to help you! Please reach out with a phone call or a text at 281-937-4737. I specialize in anxiety counseling in Katy, TX, along with treating depression, and building confidence. Everyone deserves to live a happy, fulfilled life. You deserve to live a happy, fulfilled life. Visit www.CreatingChangesCounseling.com to learn more about counseling in Katy, TX.
