This Is Why You're Anxious For No Reason

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If you often feel overcome with anxiety for seemingly no reason, there are some things you can look into to help. In this video, we discuss why this happens and 2 tips to help so that you can identify the source and ease your anxiety.
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Disclaimer:
This video was created by Barbara Heffernan, LCSW for educational purposes only. These videos are not diagnostic and provide no individual consultation. Consumption of these materials is for your own education and any medical, psychological, or professional care decisions should be made between you and your primary care doctor or another provider that you are engaged with. Barbara Heffernan is not available for individual consultation via KZbin, social media, or email, and provides services only in the manner mentioned above.
☀️☀️CHAPTERS☀️☀️
0:00 What is signaling to you that you're getting anxious?
1:21 Somatic vs Cognitive Anxiety
2:58 When is stress too strong?
5:20 Is your anxiety helping you?
7:57 Is anxiety your habitual emotion?
9:36 Practical tools for anxiety

[@user-co5dy6hl4d]

I love how expressive your face is and how distinctly and clearly you speak.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

Thank you for your kind comments! :) I hope the videos are helpful!

[@lynettemcmechan4207]

Sometimes i wake up with anxiety, i call it morning scaries, i remind myself that it is just something crazy my menopausal body does in the mornings and it will pass. But i used to think it meant there was something i was forgetting to worry about or even a premonition of a bad event.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

Also an excellent reframe. Yes, sometimes our sympathetic nervous system can kick in a bit too strong in the morning and it feels like anxiety!

[@davidbeard2451]

Yep, for me it's in my body. I tense up particularly my neck and shoulders

[@zaftigninja2908]

Definitely feel it in my body, my anxiety lives in my stomach.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

👍 hope the video is helpful!

[@pinkifloyd7867]

​​@@BarbaraHeffernan ... it is ❤

[@lynettemcmechan4207]

One “aha” moment from this video was that anxiety can cover up other emotions I am trying to avoid. Almost without fail, my anxiety is triggered when my kids are angry, disappointed or upset. Instead of dealing with those emotions, my anxiety shifts into high gear to eliminate their stress and solve their problems…which are not mine to solve. BOOM!

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

Great take-away!

[@dmc1806]

Thank you 🕊. That's a big thing for me to, I'm a father & grandad, I think it's because I was taking away at 10yr old for 3yrs C,BROTHERS industrial BOSTALS. I FEEL WORSE IN THEN MORNINGS, TRUMA AS KIDS, stay well keep fighting I'm writing this while very anxious 🤝🕊

[@Hildred6]

It’s ok to sooth our children though that’s our role, they look to us for comfort. It can be parenting issues we experienced as children our selves that led to the anxiety issues we are dealing with

[@MatthewChrisisOfficial]

When I’m experiencing anxiety, I tell myself that I’m simply excited.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

That is a great reframe! The internal chemicals are very similar so how we interpret them is key!

[@pinkifloyd7867]

Words have so much power, thanks ❤

[@dusicaekaterinapetrovic8395]

Thank you so much for this explanation of why anxiety appears for no reason. My hyperventilation became almost chronic, and my sudden twitches in the head, sometimes even seizures of entire body, appear even in the situations when I am supposed to feel safe. Your advice about breathing encouraged me a lot, and I practise diaphragmatic breathing.

[@raymonddavis4669]

Knowledge is powerful and transformative. Thank you so much.

[@wandashoutz4602]

Anxiety with IBS for over 40 years, add in Menopause, not fun!! Anxious thoughts travel straight to the Gut and out the, well.. you know.. I am a worrier of EVERYTHING, so I really do not know what to do anymore if there is anything, so many years it is an automatic normal response of my system.

[@TheSpidy-km4ge]

Same.

[@benglert5193]

Great video! You touch on something I first red about in the Road Less Traveled, i.e. that there is almost always something underlying most clinical mental illness i.e. unresolved childhood trauma, some life circumstance we are not ok with. A lot of mental illness, even some clinical anxiety seems to be our mind telling us we can no longer avoid or hide from something we need to resolve.

[@Peter-rg4ng]

Awesome video. Practical and in depth. 🙏🏻

[@austinbrogdon]

when i get anxious, i think there is something wrong. i’ve had it so bad somatically where i was shaking very fast and my jaw locked up from being so tense

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

I hope this video helps cut the cycle!

[@grahamfonteyne4792]

You are a saint Barbara. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and expertise. For some reason, I tend to feel my anxiety mostly in the morning, usually by the late afternoon or evening it goes away and I feel fairly calm and content. Yoga and meditation really help. I also find that taking a step back and observing my anxiety really helps. Awareness is so powerful. It really helps to know that I am not my anxiety. The more awareness I have, the less power my anxiety has over me. I've also found that acceptance is powerful as well. When I simply observe and accept my anxiety, it loses its power, but when I resist it, it seems to get worse.

[@pinkifloyd7867]

Its not easy to do and it works to observe even if its very hard in the beginning but what you resist persists, including not giving up . Thanks 4 the reminder ❤

[@dusicaekaterinapetrovic8395]

I am diagnosed with GAD and I am going to the therapist who was supposed to do CBT therapy with me. However she started digging so much about my past traumas, that my state got worse, and I had horrible nightmares. I am in dilemma whether I should continue going there at all.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

So sorry to hear this... Would she be receptive if you told her you needed to go more slowly? Many times clients with a lot of trauma need first to work on some "stabilization" techniques and develop a "tool set" before they can dig in to the past... Also, I often feel that therapists who are receptive to feedback and can flex for clients are excellent therapists, and those that can't flex... well, definitely not the right fit. I wish you all the best.

[@dusicaekaterinapetrovic8395]

@@BarbaraHeffernan Thank you so much. I'd decide about further steps depending on capacity of current therapist to be flexibile. I'd also like to thank you for advice you shared for us who hyperventilate. You said that our body knows how to breath and that it will find way to breath whatsoever. That advice helped me to sit on a bus despite fears and spend two lovely days in the capital city. Those two days are the best days I've had this year , because I live pretty isolated life. With the feeling of gratitude I wish you all the best and continue encouraging us with your work🙏💕

[@cynthiasammy3668]

I went through this. Omg, her digging up my past made me worse

[@dusicaekaterinapetrovic8395]

@@cynthiasammy3668 Thank you for relating to this. I wish you fast recovery🙏

[@musicallday3748]

Great video thanks!

[@bartveenvliet7341]

I have terrible insomnias. I think it starts with thoughts and than quickly turns somatic. It's unbearable, the worst mental health problem i've had

[@warlockofwordschannel7901]

Some great explanations and tips, hanks so much!

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

Thanks! I hope it is helpful!

[@warlockofwordschannel7901]

@@BarbaraHeffernan it really is, I'll need more practice with the challenging negative thoughts, and exposure therapy though.

[@francesca333]

Well done video for some clarification of the two. I have both and a big-time constant worrier all my life. Now it's worse due to a traumatic episode a while back, it's gotten so bad I got diagnosed with cPTSD and GAD and depression. Been working with these tools for well over a year but haven't really felt the results and wonder if I ever will. Also, have a therapist but I'm looking into "somatic therapy" also...for the body. I kept it all tucked down all my life, it would raise its ugly head here and there of course, but as folks do you just shove it down more and push forward. Thank you for doing what you do, it really helps, I appreciate your generosity of giving.

[@TheSpidy-km4ge]

My stomach has gone out of control.

[@kaylaberry7983]

Me! I get so frustrated with this…

[@gnk50kimchi]

I believe that I have a protocol to manage my anxiety. It’s named ABLE. A for acknowledge. B for breathe. L for loosen up. E for escape. Escape is not running away but more like letting whatever you discover in ABL escape from your body, mind, and thinking processes. When I feel anything building I stop and do what I call a body scan. This is A, acknowledge. I write everything down and I rate my angst from 1-10, where 1 is the lowest, no angst and 10 is my head, mind, and body are ready to explode. ABLE works well for me when managing anxiety. But when depression creeps up on me, ABLE doesn’t lift me up. ABLE works well for calming me down but I can’t find a protocol like ABLE to lift me up. ABLE keeps me from dropping lower but I have not figured out a way to lift me up. I’m also totally opposed to meditation. I tried that route. It’s not a solution for me. Music with a quick pace and meaningful lyrics helps but it can take several days to get lifted up to a point where I feel happy. Do you have any ideas? Thanks.

[@Icey-3465]

Can you do a video of fear of doctors.

[@ajc0372]

Yup

[@eversolehome4062]

I found Yin Yoga very helpful. It isn't as extreme as regular yoga.

[@31416]

Somatic bomb!😅

[@sandrawhite3618]

Thank you for this clarity, I found a lot of resonance with your explanation, 🙏🏽really appreciate the practical steps to move body and mind through what can feel so disruptive and debilitating. Would you elaborate more on how our habitual emotions hide other emotions? (Concept #2 8:14 ) Thank you,again for the tremendously helpful content you’ve created.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

So glad it was helpful - and thank you for letting me know! I do speak about the habitual emotions in some other videos... in particular, the playlist I have on emotional intelligence focuses on reading the real emotion hiding below others: kzbin.info/aero/PLhEK7JY7zF9lD3edabk8NqnCr84ry-8f4 Some of these may be more relevant for you than others, but let me know what you think!

[@sandrawhite3618]

Thanks so much for the reference, these playlist videos are definitely informative, and short, so they bear repeated views. It’s good to revisit what you describe and reflect on my own experience. 🙏🏽Appreciate the response and opportunity for growth.

[@missy3300]

Can u please talk about reminisce daydreaming. .

[@victoriakuri6141]

What about medicación? Do that help to equilibrate sympathetic and parasympatetic ?

[@SuperDiscerning]

My anxiety is anticipatory like having to run an errand so I am pretty much agoraphobic since our house fire two years ago

[@TheSpidy-km4ge]

Ocd and IBS.... I smell really bad and sometimes i know the smell coming out of my body. The odour is that of poop and sometimes i smell myself of intestinal gas without me passing it.. People are really embarrassed about this. They indirectly talk about the smell and their expressions of immense intolerance make me even more anxious.. making sounds of blowing noses, coughing etc People even cover their mouth. Oh God why me?

[@AnoopManhas-nt8bq]

Mam i am from india . How i can contact with u .. i am suffering from very serious mental health issues. Please help me 😢

[@HellasGD88]

Cptsd.

[@artsahobby123]

Cognitive turns into somatic. I thought it was the other way around.

[@BarbaraHeffernan]

It can go either way!!

[@artsahobby123]

@@BarbaraHeffernan Isn't that a therapists' job? Mine have tried to balance it & have helped. Then, as usual they are always related to someone from my childhood who was a serious threat. Have you heard the word PSYOPS before?

[@pinkifloyd7867]

​​@@artsahobby123 A new word PSYOP which got my attention lately, but I'm not sure what it means exactly.. Is it like a trigger?

[@artsahobby123]

@@pinkifloyd7867 Psychological operation as in MK-ULTRA.