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what is anxiety? · feel your feelings with Ethan Jewell

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Do you ever feel worried about what's going to happen in your
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day-to-day? Maybe you get nervous about an
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upcoming social event or a test. These are very normal feelings
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that we all experience. All of us have felt concern or
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worry about what's going to happen in our lives.
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However, some people experience the same fear or worry, but to a
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point where it's crippling to a point where they can hardly live
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their day-to-day normally to a point where their anxiety
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consumes them. My name is Ethan Jewell and
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welcome back to another episode of Feel Your Feelings.
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Anxiety is a difficult mental illness to deal with.
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If you've ever experienced it, you know that it can completely
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ruin your entire day. It can ruin moments, It can ruin
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connections. It can make it difficult to
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function as a human being. Unfortunately, anxiety is often
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incredibly misunderstood. People who experience anxiety
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are told to just get out of their own head, to get over it,
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to stop thinking about everything so much.
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But to somebody who has been diagnosed with an anxiety
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disorder, that is impossible. So if you feel as though you are
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experiencing an anxiety disorder, or if you've been
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diagnosed with one, or if you simply want to learn more about
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anxiety, this is the perfect episode for you.
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Now before we dive into this, I want to remind you I am not a
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therapist. I'm not a psychologist.
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I am not a professional in the mental health industry
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whatsoever. I'm just a normal guy who has
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felt some big feelings, is very passionate about mental health,
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and wants to spread the message. I personally have experienced
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anxiety a lot throughout my life and I want to talk about it and
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spread awareness about how detrimental it can truly be.
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So today, let's first look at what exactly anxiety is.
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Then we'll examine some of the causes and effects of anxiety
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before finally discovering some of the many solutions to anxiety
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disorders. Anxiety is very misunderstood,
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the same way that a lot of people think depression is just
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sadness. Many people believe that anxiety
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is just being nervous or being worried and that you can just
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simply get over it. However, having an anxiety
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disorder or living with chronic anxiety can be completely
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inebriating. It can stop your ability to
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participate in day-to-day life. Simple problems become
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roadblocks. Having to make a choice freezes
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you in place. Going out with friends can be a
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battle, as people with anxiety will think that their every
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movement is being closely examined by others.
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You see, anxiety makes you acutely aware of all of the
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feelings inside of you, of all of the worries of the little
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voice in your head telling you that something is wrong.
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We all have that little voice, the little instinctual voice
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that warns us whenever we feel worried.
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That causes stress whenever there's something important
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coming up. However, anxiety amplifies this
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voice. It amplifies those feelings.
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Think of an anxiety disorder almost like a megaphone.
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It gives all of the negative thought patterns in your brain a
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platform, and it gives them a speaker, and it makes them so
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overwhelmingly loud. Many people think that you can
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simply get over anxiety and stop thinking so much.
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But if you have ever experienced anxiety, you know that this
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isn't true. Anxiety can cause you to examine
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every moment in a social situation, believing that each
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word in action is enough to make or break your relationships.
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This obviously isn't true, but whenever you have anxiety you
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find yourself micro examining every single instance in every
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single circumstance and you assume that others do the same.
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This feeds this pattern of negative thinking where you over
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examine everything. You have all these thoughts
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running wild and you assume others are doing the same, which
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makes those anxious thoughts even worse.
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So what exactly causes anxiety? How does one become diagnosed
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with anxiety? According to the American
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Psychiatric Association, the exact causes of anxiety
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disorders are relatively unknown.
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There isn't a lot understood about the specific disorders.
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The best guess that they have is that it involves a combination
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of factors, including genetic, environmental, psychological,
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and developmental. Anxiety disorders can run in
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families, suggesting that a combination of genes and
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environmental stresses can produce the disorder.
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So like with many illnesses, simply having parents that have
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anxiety could be enough for it to be transferred to you.
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Many people believe that mental illnesses need to have some
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traumatic or massive cause in order to have your mental
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illness be valid. But sometimes simply being born
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brings mental illnesses. Simply being born brings these
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emotional turmoils. Please remember, any feelings
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you grapple with are totally valid regardless of their cause.
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So what exactly does one have to be experiencing in order to be
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diagnosed with anxiety? According to the National
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Institute of Health, some of the symptoms of an anxiety disorder
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in order to be diagnosed include feeling restless, wound up or on
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the edge, being easily fatigued, having difficulty concentrating,
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being irritable, difficulty controlling feelings of worry,
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having sleep problems or physical symptoms such as a
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pounding or racing heart, sweating, chest pain, or
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feelings of doom. If you or a loved one are
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experiencing these symptoms, then you could be suffering from
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an anxiety disorder, and I would highly recommend talking to a
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professional. One of my favorite descriptors
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of what having anxiety feels like comes from psychotherapist
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Matthias Barker. He describes anxiety as a game
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of tug of war. It feels like there's a big pit
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between you and anxiety and you are trying to not get pulled in.
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The pit is filled with fears and worries and what ifs, and you're
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desperately trying to not lose your footing.
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You're not sure what the pit even looks like and what facing
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those fears entails. It's also unknown.
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And all you know is that you can't fall into the pit and
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you're constantly being tugged closer, so you have to put all
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of your energy into pulling that rope harder and harder.
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This makes fighting anxiety so, so difficult.
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If you have experienced anxiety, you know how emotionally
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draining it can be. So let's talk about some of the
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solutions to anxiety. According to the National
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Institute of Health, there are many solid solutions to anxiety
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and it is treatable. 1 common solution to anxiety disorders is
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therapy, which is why I am very happy to say that this show is
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sponsored by Better Help. Often my brain feels like it
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just won't stop talking. I try to shut off my thoughts
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before sleep or during important events and my thoughts just
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won't stop racing, which is a symptom of anxiety.
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One of the best ways to work through thoughts like this is
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with therapy. Therapy can help get these
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negative thought cycles out and help you find some much needed
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peace. I personally spent about two
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years in therapy and talked about my anxiety a lot.
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I found new ways to deal with these racing thoughts and was
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able to learn healthy coping mechanisms that I can use real
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time whenever I'm having these thought patterns.
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If you're also considering therapy, I highly recommend
8:03
giving better help a try. Therapy can be very overwhelming
8:07
to start, but Better help allows you to try the benefits of
8:11
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It's entirely online, and if it feels like you're not getting
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That's better help. help.com/feel it.
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Another solution to anxiety is given by Phil Stutz, A
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psychologist. He has an antidote to worry that
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he calls the Grateful Flow and it takes about 30 seconds.
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It's a three-step process. First, you think of three or
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four things that you're thankful for.
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Make them simple, like I'm grateful that I had a good
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teacher in the second grade. I'm grateful that I had lunch
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today. I'm grateful that the elevator
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works. Whatever it is, say what you're
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grateful for slowly, out loud and be specific as you do.
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Try to feel the gratefulness right around your heart.
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This helps ground you. It grounds you to these positive
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feelings. It grounds you to something
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other than the negative worry or thoughts.
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Once you've done that, remain aware of the force in your
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heart, but stop thinking about specific things.
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Then feel the gratitude as an upward movement or a force.
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Feel your chest soften. Feel the presence of compassion
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in giving. Don't try to understand these
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feelings. Just feel it.
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Let it in and breathe. By doing this, we're able to
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identify positive feelings and give our full attention to them,
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and ground ourselves in the process, which is a great way to
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help with anxious thoughts. Grounding in general is a
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fantastic way to help with anxiety.
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I would highly recommend looking into the 54321 rule, which is
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something that I've used many, many times.
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Being able to get away from these anxious thoughts, ground
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ourselves, and focus our attention elsewhere is highly,
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highly important in order to help deal with anxiety.
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Anxiety is also treatable through medication and a
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multitude of other treatments. In fact, Doctor Daniel Pine, a
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National Health Institute neuroscientist and psychiatrist,
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says that anxiety disorders are one of the most treatable mental
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health problems that he sees. You do not have to be consumed
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by these thoughts of anxiety. There are options out there.
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There are solutions. Please take your time to find
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what works for you. Do research, talk to
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professionals, talk to friends, Talk to loved ones.
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You are not alone in your fight against anxiety.
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You are not alone with these thoughts of worry.
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You deserve to feel peace, and I believe that with my whole
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heart. I used to struggle with anxiety
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every single day, and to be honest, I still do.
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I was anxious about recording this podcast episode.
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I wanted to get the right message across.
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However, I've taken the time to learn about my feelings and my
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anxiety. I've done the work and I've
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learned coping mechanisms and I can tell you that it makes all
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the difference in the world. I'm no professional and I've
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felt these feelings and I've worked through them.
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And I can tell you that it feels so, so good to get a handle on
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your feelings, to get a handle on your anxiety, and to learn
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about yourself and develop emotional knowledge.
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I believe in you and I believe that you need to feel your
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feelings. That's going to wrap it up for
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today's episode. If you need help feeling your
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feelings, I highly recommend checking out my music on all
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platforms under the name of Ethan Jewell.
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I almost guarantee it'll make you cry.
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Please shoot me a message on my Instagram at Jewel Boy with an I
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under score and let me know what you thought about today's
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episode. Thank you so much for being
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here. Thank you for taking the time to
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learn about anxiety. And as always, thank you for
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feeling your feelings. I'll see you next time.