Written by: Naomi Stockman, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
What exactly is it that makes a person anxious? If you have anxiety, perhaps you have felt you were always anxious, or perhaps it began in your teens, or your twenties, often after a stressful, significant, or distressing event. Many people find the birth of a child or the end of a relationship marks the beginning of their anxiety or at least the amplification of it.
The urge with anxiety is often to retreat, avoid or withdraw, and the heightened, hyper-aroused state which is typical for someone with anxiety, can also trigger bouts of aggression due to the immense overwhelm which can be experienced. So there really is fight or flee going on at a personal level.
Have you heard of the Poly-vagal Theory?
According to the Poly-vagal Theory introduced by behavioral neuroscientist, Stephen W. Porges, in his presidential address to the Society of Psychophysiological Research in Atlanta, Georgia on October 8, 1994, the longest nerve in the human body which runs from the base of the skull called the Vagus nerve, is involved in our social and emotional responses. This adds a third aspect to the explanation of our Autonomic Nervous system, comprising of the Sympathetic Nervous System (fight, flight, freeze) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (rest and digest).
The poly-vagal theory divides the sympathetic system into two distinct components – the Sympathetic Response – being fight or flight, and the Dorsal Vagal response, which is the shutdown and dissociation response that happens when hunted animals are caught and death are imminent. The purpose of this is to reduce suffering, and in this state awareness and sensations of pain are reduced.
Can you just choose ‘not’ to be anxious?
Because nervous system responses are part of our primitive survival system, and cannot be controlled by the conscious mind, anxiety feels like something that happens ‘to us’ – out of our control. This is true, just as high blood pressure or hypothyroidism cannot be controlled consciously – the physical aspects of anxiety and depression have been explored by medical professionals and thus, medications have been developed to negate some of the physical aspects, lower stress responses, increase levels of serotonin and so forth.
Medications do not cure anxiety or depression, just as they do not cure high blood pressure – they do, however, have their place and save many lives.
What do people who’ve never had anxiety or depression think about all this?
For someone who has not experienced anxiety or depression, it may appear to be ‘all in the mind’ – some non-sensical weakness causing irrational behavior and emotional chaos.
People often say their family and friends either ‘don’t understand or tell them to just realize that ‘it’s all in their head’. It can be confusing for other people to understand why someone would feel anxious or depressed.
Anxiety is not an ailment of the weak, it is a reaction of the nervous system to a perceived threat, danger, or lack of physical or emotional safety, triggered by a combination of generational genetic markers, epigenetics, and past experiences. There has been revolutionary research carried out on rats to confirm trauma affects behavior up to three to four generations, and sensory trauma triggers are passed down in the DNA. Research such as these are changing the way we look at mental health conditions such as anxiety & depression.
Anxiety is not an ailment of the weak, it is a reaction of the nervous system to a perceived threat, danger, or lack of physical or emotional safety.
Anxiety and depression, similar to a toothache, are difficult to understand when you are not the one experiencing it and can happen to anyone.
What is the new research that supports effective treatments?
The revolutionary new information which will bring hope to you, the reader, if you experience anxiety or are the parent or spouse of someone who does, is: Our thoughts change our genetic expression and our DNA. Imagine your DNA had 30,000 variable options, like a complex choose your own adventure, and your thoughts were directing the outcomes. What a concept!
What this means is, that while we all likely carry some degree of generational trauma, sensory fear triggers, and have experienced certain things in our own lives which may have left us with emotional baggage or ongoing traumatic stress – this can all be overwritten by utilizing thoughts in specific ways.
Considering our thinking is patterned, learned, and repeated, and we seldom think anything new or different in spite of the fact that most people would argue otherwise – the act of learning and practicing deliberate new thought patterns may have unlimited potential to change not only our experience of life from anxiety to calm – but also explains how spontaneous healing of terminal illness occurs in some people who radically change their mindset.
Thoughts provide information to our bodies at a cellular level. In the event of anxiety and depression, this would mean we can reset our nervous system responses by providing new information to our cells via our thoughts.
This is what I do with my clients and how I cured my own anxiety.
As a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Trauma trained Anxiety Specialist, and founder of My Local Hypnosis I use specific thought modification processes utilizing trance, imagination, repetition, and emotion. The power of these types of processes on our physical and mental health is only just now beginning to be understood by biologists, neuroscientists, and geneticists.
What does this mean for someone with Anxiety, Depression, or even PTSD?
Considering that many people have resigned themselves to ‘being anxious’ or ‘being depressed’ or ‘having C-PTSD’ as if they were incurable diseases or part of their identity – a new reality is possible. There is hope. You are not your nervous system responses, and they are not a life sentence.
You just need to believe it. What would an Anxiety Free Life be like? Think about that for a moment… and as you do, perhaps wonder what part of your DNA is already beginning to change to a new way of experiencing life.
If you or someone you love experiences anxiety or depression, connect with Naomi Stockman and discover how the ANXIETY FREE LIFE 6-week program has changed the lives of people worldwide. You can learn more about overcoming anxiety and depression here.
Watch more at Naomi’s YouTube channel or book a free anxiety & depression assessment call here.
Naomi Stockman, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Naomi Stockman is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Nutritionist, and Author who transforms the lives of people living with Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD. Anxiety-Free Life, Naomi’s signature program, has helped people all over the world restore calm and happiness to their lives. Naomi’s mission is to speak to the world: No one needs to live with anxiety or depression, even if you’ve been diagnosed with the alphabet, medicated, or distressed for decades.
