Overwhelmed and exhausted are two words that I am hearing frequently at the moment, the experience of living through a worldwide pandemic over the last twelve months has left many of us feeling this way. Uncertainty in these changing times has bred fear and worry about our health, our loved ones and livelihoods. Added to this we have missed out on social interaction with friends and family, a regular routine and human contact.
It is not uncommon to feel anxious, nervous and have a low mood when we are experiencing significant changes. Anxiety can be experienced in several different ways, butterflies in your tummy, feeling restless, difficulty sleeping or heart palpitations, these feelings generally go away afterwards but sometimes they can carry on beyond the time of the event and affect our daily life.
Around one in six people have a diagnosis of anxiety but it is likely that the number of people suffering from symptoms is much higher. Our autonomic nervous system is the main control for our sympathetic nervous system, you may have heard this referred to as the fight or flight response, when it is stimulated it acts like an internal alarm system to warn you of danger. Fight can be expressed as anger or rage and flight as running away from something or hiding from what is going on around you. The para-sympathetic nervous system, also part of the autonomic nervous system, is a counter to this, it has a balancing effect and helps us to relax, rest, and digest. When we are well, we can alternate between the two.
What we can do to help ourselves…
There are several things we can build into our routine to help alleviate some of these symptoms, spend time doing things that help you to feel good, when you feel good you start to feel stronger and more confident.
- Movement is one of the best things that you can do to shift and move energy, going for a walk, a run, a yoga class or something similar, all are beneficial.
- Go outside and connect with nature, even amid urban areas there are trees, plants and wildlife. When we slow down for a moment and start to take notice, we learn to appreciate the natural world around us and have some important time away from distractions and social media.
How can acupuncture help anxiety?
Try some acupuncture!
Acupuncture stimulates the nervous system and causes the release of neurochemicals. This results in biochemical changes that release hormones such as noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine and endorphins, these influence the body’s homeostatic mechanisms and promote physical and emotional well-being, they help to keep you balanced.
There are some conditions and deficiencies that can cause anxiety so do get checked out by your GP, anxiety may be caused by an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), or iron or B12 folate deficiency.
Contact me for more information about how acupuncture can help you and how treatments are individually tailored to each patient I see in my Aylesbury Acupuncture clinic.