It is easy to fall into a habit of worry and anxiety. Today’s fast paced, high pressure life is full of stress. For many, worrying is a habit that started early in life. Dysfunctional patterns of worry and anxiety can last quite some time before they become unmanageable. According to the American Psychiatric Association, the average onset of “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” or a chronic level of anxiety that becomes pervasive and unmanageable, will not occur until the age of 30. However, a closer look shows a trend of worry and anxiety growing slowly throughout the years, and getting more of a foothold long before it reaching a crisis stage.
When does worrying become a problem? Technically, it is a problem when your anxiety becomes disproportionate to the threats that are triggering it.
Everyone has job responsibilities, health and financial issues, household chores, scheduling demands, and everyday hassles. For some, daily life will turn from stressful to overwhelming. Now, even the smallest events, can turn the average day into a crisis. I think you can combine some of those sentences.
At the crisis level, it’s not just worrying anymore. Anxiety now comes with physical symptoms. Muscle tension leads to eventual soreness or muscle ache. Noticeable shaking, trembling, and a sense of being keyed up occur during the normal course of the day. Even odd reactions like sweating, nausea, and diarrhea become more and more frequent. Anxiety can also fuel issues like irritable bowel syndrome and chronic headaches. Ultimately these are signs of your body breaking down from the influence of anxiety.
Unfortunately, studies are beginning to show the even mild anxiety can shorten a person’s life. From 1994 to 2004, a study was conducted, which appeared in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), of 68,000 adults over the age of 35. The study found that people who were rated with mild symptoms, such as sometimes staying awake at night worrying, or difficulty concentrating on tasks, were about 20% more likely to die over a 10-year period as compared to the “non-worrying” group.
Anxiety can interfere with all areas of life, even before it becomes chronic. Sleep loss, decrease in work production, and agitation that leads to relationship problems with loved ones are all visible signs.
However, as anxiety becomes chronic, behaviors associated with avoidance also become prevalent. These behaviors are aimed at side stepping the pain of anxiety. Dysfunctional behaviors such as addictive pleasure seeking (i.e. alcohol, drugs, pornography, overeating) can all become avoidance techniques. Worse yet, since anxiety can cause physical symptoms, often prescription drug abuse can occur from overuse of tranquilizers and pain kills that promise to “take the edge off.”
Jesus tells His disciples… “Do not be worried about your life…But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:25 – 34).
The key is to start managing your anxiety before it becomes chronic. A lifestyle that is guided by the Holy Spirit and nurtured by His church is uniquely anxiety resistant. Sometimes the process of finding this path can be helped along by a wise counselor.
Is your worrying getting out of control? Have people who care about you, noticed your anxiety? Freedom from anxiety is possible. Christian Counseling from Pittsburgh to Erie, Beaver to Johnstown, and all the points in between are available at Christian Counseling Associates. Our trained experts work with anxiety using specific, proven strategies that will help you get life back on track.
Has anxiety gotten a foothold in your life? Continue to read “Mind Matters” in the upcoming weeks for more information about how God’s design for our life can help. In our next installment, we will talk more about anxiety and how it can be resolved.
