The Culture of Anxiety: Your Anxiety is Not Your Fault!

Have you noticed time seems to get faster and faster? And with that, we feel like constant failures in being able to keep up with everything? All we have to get done, all the information we need to keep track of - anxiety is no longer just a personal struggle, it's now a cultural norm.

We live in a world that constantly pulls on our attention, demands our productivity, and with this, keeps our nervous systems in a near-constant state of activation. Our brain's were not built for this! Our nervous system evolved for survival: short bursts of threat, followed by long periods of rest is the intended way of life according to our body. But modern day life has flipped that! Long periods of high activation, followed by short bursts of rest. Is it any wonder that you're so exhausted?

Today we live with information overload

Endless notifications, breaking news every hour, a pressure to respond immediately, high sensory stimulation, fast-paced expectations... All this constant input confuses the nervous system. What was once meant for rare danger, is now triggered by everyday life. We take in more information in a day than our ancestors did in months.

With all the social media scrolling, all the notifications pinging on your phone, all the commercials and advertisements - your brain is constantly deciding:

Is this safe?

Do i need to act?

What does this mean for me?

No wonder your mind feels full - no wonder you feel overwhelmed and unable to keep up! And on top of the swirling thoughts and mental checklists, your body is trying to figure out how to do it's job - keep you alive!

Evolution has not caught up to our modern-day living. Mental and emotional stress and physical danger are treated the same by our body. The same stress hormones are released whether we are overwhelmed, or whether we narrowly avoided getting hit by a car. While the second scenerio merits the stress response to jump start us into action, the first scenerio does not. However, long-term stress is knows to be a significant contributor in the development of disease in our body because it causes inflammation, suppresses our immune system, and damages our organs. Our body cannot operate effectively if it's stressed out. So in truth, long-term stress is a death threat and affirms the body's initial panic.

On top of this, most people live as if rest is something they have to earn. Every moment asks for something: email, work demands, dishes, errands, family duties...

Nothing in nature moves this fast. And your body IS nature.

When your body never gets a break, it begins treating everyday stress as danger. That leads to:

• racing thoughts

• muscle tension

• digestive issues

• sleep problems

• irritability

• panic

But with the world we live in, how on earth do we slow down and find relief from anxiety when the demands are increasing, not decreasing? Let's keep in mind, this level of demand and expectations we have been convinced we must engage in, start by acknowledging:

Your anxiety is not a personal flaw, it's a psychological response to modern conditions.

We need to change the culture, but in order to change the values of our modern day culture, we have to do the work in our own personal lives until society catches up.

So what can

you do?

Give yourself permission to do less

The world may put pressure on you, but you can choose to not engage. Take the pressure off of doing it all, and instead prioritized what you need and want in the moment. This may look like taking a bath and letting the dishes wait until tomorrow. It may be that you go for a 20 minute walk instead of pushing it at the gym for an hour. Most likely, it means saying no to what others want from you more often, and letting them be disappointed, if they are.

If you are a parent, it only feels harder to keep up! Teach your kids they can do less through your example: don't prioritize being saturated in activities and experiencing the latest and greatest experiences to not feel left out. Prioritize quality time and true connection. You know what they will remember more than those "crazy awesome" activities? Lazy summer days, family movie nights cuddled together on the couch, playing outside with friends, simple explorations in nature - It's the little things that form core memories related to connection, discovery, and freedom that are most important to us. All they want is quality time with, and attention from YOU. Which is what you also want from the people around you! So what if you took this pressure off yourself to be the best DOING parent, and became the most PRESENT parent?

Actively turn off the information overload

Turn off those notifications! It's all a lie: You don't have to keep tabs on everything happening in the world around you. You can choose what information you engage with, but more importantly, what information you DON'T engage with. And don't let people guilt you into feeling otherwise. YOU ARE MORE IMPORTANT. Your health and well-being are more important than keeping tabs on the chaos and getting engulfed in the fear. You will not do this world any good if you have run yourself ragged caring too hard about things you have no ability to control or influence.

"I'll rest when I'm dead!" << DON'T. DO. THIS.

You'll be dead too soon if this is your motto. Instead, build small moments of slowness into your day. Take regular 10 minute breaks to sit outside and enjoy the wind rustle through the leaves, and the playfulness of the birds. Take a leisurely walk around the building or the block at lunch time. Write 5 things you are grateful for. Turn on a guided meditation between meetings. Take that extra 2 minutes to take a few deep breaths before you pick up your child from school.

We collectively got ourselves here, but now we have to do our part individually to change this culture and stop overwhelming our nervous systems. The more we each slow down and choose a better lifestyle, the more the world around us will shift what is valued and support us in prioritizing rest and health.