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Writer's pictureK.C. Dreisbach, LMFT

How Anxiety Affects Your Life



It's no secret. Anxiety is a pain in the you-know-what! And it's more common than you think. Hundreds of thousands of individuals suffer from anxiety every single day. Although it is troubling, uncomfortable, and unnerving, the worst part about anxiety is not how it makes you feel... it's how it affects your life!


How Anxiety Affects Your Daily Life


Anxiety is truly a "normal" emotion that we all feel. It serves an important purpose, and without it, we wouldn't be nearly as successful as we are in our current life. But, when left unchecked, anxiety can grow and become a real problem.


One of the biggest problems with anxiety is how it impacts your daily life. But to understand this, you need to understand what is happening in your body when you get anxious.


Without getting into all the science of it, when you become anxious, your Fight-or-Flight Response kicks on. And when that system is activated, a whole lot of stuff happens physiologically in the body like:


~Higher blood pressure

~Increased heartrate

~Slowed digestion

~Shallow breathing


The biggest thing that happens, though, is that your body pumps out cortisol (the stress hormone), and that natural chemical (along with everything else happening in your body) can affect how you behave.


Have you ever noticed how irritable you get when you are under a lot of stress? That's because of the physiological processes taking place in your body.


So, not only are you more likely to "have a bad day" because you feel "stressed," but you're more likely to feel overwhelmed by little things that are normally no big deal.


Anxiety also impacts your day by making it harder to concentrate, focus on your work, or be productive. As such, you'll end up finding yourself more annoyed and frustrated with your production and what you've been able to accomplish for the day.


We also can't forget that anxiety impacts our memory too, making it harder to remember the simplest of things, causing you to feel inept, frustrated, and defeated.


As if all of this isn't enough, anxiety also tends to impact sleep, making it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. My clients often complain of having "too many thoughts" in their head, or tossing and turning all night because they're "over thinking." This makes for restless sleep, which leaves you feeling tired, fatigued, and cranky in the morning.


It's easy to see just how much anxiety can impact your daily life. And this is only the tip of the iceberg!


The longer you have anxiety, the more the effects of anxiety will wreck havoc on your life! For example, if you're irritable all the time because of your anxiety, that will definitely impact how you engage with your family and friends. Think of the last time you felt super overwhelmed... I'd be willing to bet you were short-tempered and probably "snapped" at someone who didn't deserve it from you. But this is a topic for another time.


I hope you found this article useful. Remember, there's no need to suffer from anxiety and stress when their is help just around the corner!


If you're ready to finally resolve your anxiety problem, consider joining my 6-week Anti-Anxiety Workshop where you'll learn the most fundamental skills to reducing your stress and eliminating your anxiety.


Until next time....

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Krystal Dreisbach is a licensed therapist, mindset coach, adjunct professor of counseling, and published author.  Her specialties include depression treatment, anxiety counseling, stress management support, and mindset coaching.  Learn more about Krystal and see how she can help you live a better life.

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