Tackle Anxiety and Worrying for Better Mental Health | #anxiety #worrying

Anxiety and worrying have spiked after COVID-19 due to health fears, isolation, and economic uncertainty. What exactly are anxiety and worry? How do we define the human mind and its key types? How does our mental makeup fuel anxiety or worry? How does one's understanding about reality assist in tackling anxiety and worrying? What steps can we take to tackle anxiety, and which tactics best curb worrying? What does Willis H. Carrier principle recommend for overcoming our anxieties?

What is Anxiety?

 Anxiety is the mind’s way of sounding an internal alarm. It’s a natural response to stress or perceived danger—part of our survival wiring. But unlike fear, which usually reacts to a specific threat, anxiety can feel like an unease that creeps in even when the threat isn’t clearly defined. Mental symptoms of anxiety include racing thoughts, constant worry, and difficulty concentrating. Physical symptoms include Increased heart rate, chest ache, restlessness, sweating, fatigue and so on.

Essentially, anxiety is a condition of excessive thinking, where your mind focuses on the future. This leads your mind to generate various scenarios, causing you to overthink or over-analyze what lies ahead, potentially resulting in panic and other related issues. In a sense, anxiety is more about future concerns.

It's a prevalent mindset. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a mental health disorder or anything of that nature. Everyone experiences anxiety. According to psychology, a small amount of anxiety is beneficial because it motivates you to tackle tasks you've been delaying or procrastinating on for extended periods.

The issue arises when you concentrate too much on anxious thoughts and accompanying physical symptoms such as chest pain and fatigue. When we fixate excessively on a future event or exaggerate its aspects, regardless of whether it occurs, it inevitably hinders our ability to act. This is the real challenge we need to address.

What is Worrying?

Worrying is like the mind pacing back and forth—trying to solve problems that sometimes aren’t even real yet. It’s your inner protector, scanning for future threats, endlessly rehearsing scenarios. It focuses on “what ifs” — What if I fail? What if they misunderstand? What if it goes wrong? It creates loops — you think about the same thing again and again, without resolution. It feels urgent — even if the situation isn’t immediate, the mind treats it like it needs fixing now.

You struggle to accept or move past the event, or you worry about its future consequences. The thought process might be: "Oh! This happened! That's bad! What will come of this?" Essentially, worrying is more centered on the past. Like anxiety, worrying can hinder your ability to act, particularly when these thoughts become intense at certain moments.

Continual Anxiety and Worrying can create the state of neurosis. Neurosis, in the context of mental health, refers to a range of emotional disturbances and maladaptive behaviors characterized by excessive anxiety, worry, and negative emotions. While neurosis is not a single diagnosis, it encompasses various conditions where individuals experience heightened levels of stress and emotional instability, often accompanied by obsessive thoughts, phobias, or compulsive behaviors. 

Nature of Human Mind and Types of Human Mind:

The human mind is a dazzling symphony of perception, emotion, memory, and imagination. It’s not just a biological processor—it’s the seat of consciousness, the architect of dreams, and the engine behind every idea that’s ever changed the world.

Core Functions of the Mind:

Perception: Interprets sensory input to make sense of the world

Thought: Processes information, solves problems, and forms judgments

Emotion: Generates feelings that guide behavior and relationships

Memory: Stores and retrieves experiences, knowledge, and skills

Imagination: Creates mental images and ideas beyond immediate reality

Cognitive Consciousness: Awareness of self and surroundings

Fundamentally, the human mind can be classified into two types - conscious mind and unconscious mind.

Conscious vs. Unconscious

Conscious mind: What you’re actively aware of—your thoughts, decisions, and focus

Unconscious mind: A vast reservoir of hidden memories, instincts, and desires that shape behavior without you realizing it.

Joe Dispenza's work emphasizes the concept that the body is essentially the unconscious mind. He suggests that by becoming more aware of bodily sensations and emotions, particularly those linked to past experiences or unresolved issues, individuals can begin to integrate these unconscious patterns and create lasting change. This process involves bringing awareness to areas of discomfort or resistance within the body, allowing for the release of stored emotional energy and the potential for healing and transformation.

Let's understand the very nature of the human mind. Your mind is like a monkey. Your mind is designed in such a way that it can't. stay in this moment and embrace this moment and enjoy this moment. The human mind is naturally restless and easily distracted, often compared to a monkey jumping between branches. This Buddhist concept describes the mind's tendency to shift between thoughts and emotions, leading to anxiety, stress, and difficulty focusing. This mental chatter can cause feelings of being unsettled and overwhelmed, hindering presence in the moment.

Restlessness and Distraction:

A monkey mind is characterized by its inability to focus, with thoughts jumping from one to another, hindering concentration on the present moment.

Emotional Instability:

This state of mind can increase anxiety, stress, and feelings of being overwhelmed, as the mind dwells on worst-case scenarios and hypothetical fears, creating a cycle of worry.

Difficulty Focusing:

A monkey mind hinders concentration, conversation, and presence in daily activities.

The term originates from Buddhist teachings, where the mind is compared to a monkey due to its erratic and unpredictable nature. The "monkey mind" metaphor is also found in Daoism and other Eastern traditions, often paired with the concept of "idea horse" (Yima or Iba) to illustrate the interconnectedness of wandering thoughts and a restless mind.

Strategies for Managing Worry and Anxiety:

Thinking is the fundamental nature of the mind, distinguishing humans from animals. Your mind will either dwell on the past, whether by reminiscing or worrying about it, or it will be fixed on the future, speculating about what might happen. - 'Oh, this is going to happen, or this can't happen,' and so on; that's the essence of the mind. It is like a monkey leaping from the past to the present or from the present to the future. The monkey struggles to remain in the present for a long time.

The unconscious mind prioritizes avoiding pain over seeking pleasure, resulting in an autopilot state where tasks are performed with minimal cognitive effort, similar to being "zoned out." Anxiety or worrying also occurs in this autopilot state, where thoughts are not consciously recognized but manifest through physical symptoms like chest ache and fatigue. Every thought, whether conscious or unconscious, triggers biochemical reactions in the body, activating neural pathways and creating states of mind like anxiety or worrying.

Freedom from anxiety lies beyond the comfort zone, achievable through enhanced consciousness. Practices like meditation, mindfulness, and self-compassion can enhance consciousness. Focusing on the present and redirecting wandering attention helps calm the mind. The only way forward is to become aware and strive to break free from autopilot or your comfort zone. It's essential to eliminate self-pity, as it is fundamentally a form of ego. Remind yourself that nothing worse has happened to you; you are here to seize the moment and succeed! Make intentional efforts by altering your behavior and routine.

Essentially, you find it difficult to act or think clearly when you're in a state of worry or anxiety, because overthinking leaves you flooded with negative emotions. It's important to realize that the past is over and done, the future hasn't arrived yet, and the present is happening now, gradually turning into the past.

Stoic philosophy has been incredibly helpful in handling worries and anxieties, as well as in everyday life. In the book 'Meditation' written by Marcus Aurelius Antonius, it's given that life consists of two factors - controllable and uncontrollable factors.

An old church prayer says -

"Give us the Lord our daily bread. Give us the strength to control the things that are controllable, give us the courage & strength to accept & live with the things, that are uncontrollable."

You can evaluate any situation by considering two elements: what you can control and what you cannot. The key is to manage what is within your control and accept the rest. However, anxiety and worry often prevent us from taking action or managing what we can control.

In every situation, issue, or interaction with someone, you can choose to either complain and place blame or try to change the situation, problem, or your life. This is vital for managing worry and anxiety.

Your ability to stay in the moment & live life in moment tight compartments is the solution to anxiety or worrying.

No matter how much you dwell on the future or the past, or how much you contemplate about taking action, beyond a certain point, it won't change anything. It merely saps your energy, and you're just making things worse for yourself.

Life is in this moment! If you don't know how to enjoy this, how come you can enjoy anything or any moment? Life is a sojourn!!

To be honest, you're really running out of time! As I write this, my hair is actually turning grey. I have no idea if I'll be here tomorrow or even in the next hour. I don't know how much longer I'll be around. Life is merely a bubble on a river, ready to burst at any moment, but no one knows when.

Anxiety or worry centers around thoughts. You're facing a significant time constraint. You don't have the luxury to ponder or expend energy on these matters. Moreover, thinking is not a substitute for taking action. Your life will transform only through action, not merely by contemplating things; thinking alone won't bring about change. By merely thinking, feeling anxious, or worrying, you are wasting your time, energy, and peace of mind. There is no substitute for action. That's why we view thinking as the SUBJECTIVE REALITY. Thus, all these anxieties or worries are virtually created by us and form part of subjective reality.

What is objective reality? OBJECTIVE REALITY refers to anything that is purely objective or lacks subjective elements. Your current self, including your work experience, job, family, and more, are all part of objective reality. Anything that can be touched and has a tangible existence is a part of objective reality.

Anything that you have control over, or you can create something virtually like perceive or judge is subjective reality.

What do you have absolute control of in our life? It is this moment. You can't control anything beyond this moment. If you can't control this moment, you are actually letting life happen, you are failing to create life. The goal is to mold, modify this moment or life & let life happen for us instead of to us.

An Instant Solution to Combat Anxiety and Worrying -

You might have heard about this popular cliche. Personally, I use these two cliches - CARPE DIEM & AMOR FATI.

What is CARPE DIEM?

CARPE DIEM says that forget the past (don't forget the lessons) & don't be anxious about the future but get the best out of this moment. Accept yourself as you are, accept life as it's, as previously mentioned. Life is in this moment, not in tomorrow, not the very next second or not in the previous second, not even yesterday. Life is in the now or the present moment. Now, you need to embrace this moment, and you need to get the best out of this moment. This ensures life transformation.

What is AMOR FATI?

This is a thought provoking saying by Austrian philosopher Nietzsche. Nietzsche says, 'love what's been written in your fate.' Now coming to the anxiety or worrying aspect, you have to believe in something and love what's been written in your fate. After putting all the effort or trying to change whatever that's under your prudence, you don't have a choice than to accept & embrace what's been written in your fate.

As rightly stated by Steve Jobs -

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

You can't live without believing in anything. Belief is the foundation of the your very existence. So, whenever you feel anxious or if you are worrying about certain things, you remember these two popular clichés. So after all the fighting or efforts, love what's written your fate. You need to believe that everything will be OK in the end. It's quite true!

You need to believe in your dreams; you need to believe in your goodness. Each one of us has different portions of goodness. You need to remind yourself about those beliefs. You need to reflect back on those values and beliefs what you stand for.

Remember, if you don't stand for something, obviously you will be standing for anything. And eventually you will fall for anything. Be determined & committed to your dreams! Achieve big!!

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