lalouba
30-03-12, 09:34
Hello all,
About a year ago my biggest fear was that I had a problem with my heart. It consumed me every day, which of course only served to make it appear worse.
After numerous trips to the GP and A&E, many ECGs and a 24 hour holter monitor, I finally rolled over and accepted that my heart was fine. I did a lot of reading up on the effects anxiety has on our hearts, and I came up with a useful analogy to explain why we feel the way we do. I thought I would share as it certainly makes me feel better when I start to worry that something is wrong with my heart.
***
Try to imagine your anxiety like a pressure gauge. In an average person, when they feel threatened, their gauge goes up, spreading adrenaline through their body to put them into fight or flight mode, ready to do whatever is necessary to survive. Think about when you in the past may have, for example, stepped out into a road not paying attention and a car comes out of nowhere. Your heart pounds in your chest and you feel like you have butterflies in your tummy. It works the same way. In a 'normal' person, once the threat has subsided, their 'anxiety gauge' will go back down to a normal level, and they will feel normal and relaxed again.
In an anxious person, our anxiety gauges are constantly stuck in fight or flight mode. We get all the effects of being prepared for the need to face whatever threat we feel (in our case, illness, death, sickness, disease etc) but it never goes away. The more we think about our worries, the more anxious we feel, and the more adrenaline is pumping through our system, causing our hearts to race, skip beats etc. After a while this takes a toll on our bodies and we end up feeling worse.
The chance that something is actually wrong with your heart is very slim. If there was, you would know it by now. Your heart is just performing its normal function, just unfortunately in an irregular way because of your anxiety putting you on red alert. If this bodily function didn't exist (however scary it is for us anxious folk!) then many more people would step out in front of cars, jump out of windows, not have the ability to run away when another person attacks them, etc. it is there to stop us from getting ourselves killed, and is actually extremely useful. We just need to learn how to control it.
Try sitting or laying down, and spend five minutes doing some pursed lip breathing. In through the nose (pushing your stomach out so that you aren't breathing with your neck ad chest as this can cause shallow breathing which isn't effective.) for 3 seconds, and out through pursed lips for 6 seconds.
Do this until you feel more relaxed. You'll find that you will feel at least a little better.
***
I hope this helps at least one of you like it has helped me. Stay happy and healthy and above all, remain calm and BREATHE.
Love to all.
x
About a year ago my biggest fear was that I had a problem with my heart. It consumed me every day, which of course only served to make it appear worse.
After numerous trips to the GP and A&E, many ECGs and a 24 hour holter monitor, I finally rolled over and accepted that my heart was fine. I did a lot of reading up on the effects anxiety has on our hearts, and I came up with a useful analogy to explain why we feel the way we do. I thought I would share as it certainly makes me feel better when I start to worry that something is wrong with my heart.
***
Try to imagine your anxiety like a pressure gauge. In an average person, when they feel threatened, their gauge goes up, spreading adrenaline through their body to put them into fight or flight mode, ready to do whatever is necessary to survive. Think about when you in the past may have, for example, stepped out into a road not paying attention and a car comes out of nowhere. Your heart pounds in your chest and you feel like you have butterflies in your tummy. It works the same way. In a 'normal' person, once the threat has subsided, their 'anxiety gauge' will go back down to a normal level, and they will feel normal and relaxed again.
In an anxious person, our anxiety gauges are constantly stuck in fight or flight mode. We get all the effects of being prepared for the need to face whatever threat we feel (in our case, illness, death, sickness, disease etc) but it never goes away. The more we think about our worries, the more anxious we feel, and the more adrenaline is pumping through our system, causing our hearts to race, skip beats etc. After a while this takes a toll on our bodies and we end up feeling worse.
The chance that something is actually wrong with your heart is very slim. If there was, you would know it by now. Your heart is just performing its normal function, just unfortunately in an irregular way because of your anxiety putting you on red alert. If this bodily function didn't exist (however scary it is for us anxious folk!) then many more people would step out in front of cars, jump out of windows, not have the ability to run away when another person attacks them, etc. it is there to stop us from getting ourselves killed, and is actually extremely useful. We just need to learn how to control it.
Try sitting or laying down, and spend five minutes doing some pursed lip breathing. In through the nose (pushing your stomach out so that you aren't breathing with your neck ad chest as this can cause shallow breathing which isn't effective.) for 3 seconds, and out through pursed lips for 6 seconds.
Do this until you feel more relaxed. You'll find that you will feel at least a little better.
***
I hope this helps at least one of you like it has helped me. Stay happy and healthy and above all, remain calm and BREATHE.
Love to all.
x