Disclaimer: For the purpose of this article, we will not be addressing any specific mental health disorders that require meeting specific criteria according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Phobias, etc.
Anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association, is “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure.”¹ The writers of the New Testament address anxiety, as seen in verses like, “Do not be anxious about anything…” (Philippians 4:6), “Cast all your anxieties on him…” (1 Peter 5:7), and in Psalm 94:19, where the poet writes, “In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, your comfort delights my soul.”
Why am I writing an article on anxiety? I think it’s twofold: first, to provide language and, hopefully, a framework for understanding the emotion of anxiety, and second, to offer some practical tools that may help alleviate those moments when anxiety shifts into the feeling of overwhelm. Side note: It’s important to note that most, if not all, experts on emotions agree that anxiety is a secondary emotion—one that arises in place of another, often more challenging emotion. We’ll come back to this.
Anxiety and the Brain
The amygdala is the area of the brain responsible for processing emotions, especially fear and anxiety. It ultimately sends the signal for your body to prepare to survive impending danger by moving into what is commonly called the fight/flight/freeze response. There’s a reason for this— God created our bodies to respond to danger in appropriate ways.
For example, what would your natural inclination be to do if you saw a bear running toward you? Of course, the answer is —YOU WOULD RUN!
Your amygdala sounds the alarm, triggering numerous physiological changes that provide more blood flow and energy to the parts of your body responsible for moving you into action.
Unfortunately, your amygdala cannot differentiate between a bear attack and that sarcastic response from your co-worker. The same fight/flight response triggered by a bear attack is the same response sent in moments when we don’t feel emotionally safe.
You might be thinking, okay. Great. But why do I continue to respond as if a bear is attacking?
I think we respond in this way because it is what is predictable. Our brains are anticipating machines, and we tend to respond in ways we have become familiar with in order to keep ourselves safe based on past experiences, typically those experiences from our younger years (8-18 years old). Or, as interpersonal neurobiologist Curt Thompson puts it, “Memory is as much about predicting the future as it is about recalling the past.”²
What I’m suggesting is that the anxiety we feel in a moment is not random. Underneath this, there are potentially harder emotions to name, such as shame, humiliation, or feeling powerless, and the anxiety we are identifying is actually the secondary emotion we are experiencing. Shame says, “I am bad,” vs. guilt saying, “I did something bad.” Shame and humiliation are similar, but the distinction is that humiliation comes from an outside source.³ And it’s obvious that no one wants to feel a sense of powerlessness and like they have little control over a situation or circumstance.
So what do we do with this?
Let’s begin by discussing some unhelpful ways of dealing with anxiety, along with one practical example for each. When we face these uncomfortable emotions, it’s important to have effective strategies to counteract them, kind of like an antidote.
Compare or Minimize: Sometimes, we compare our situation to someone else’s and convince ourselves that we shouldn’t be so anxious about a particular situation. Other times, we might say something like, “I shouldn’t still be responding this way or still feeling anxious because, after all, I am a Jesus follower.” Don’t get me wrong, it is often helpful to remind ourselves that we are beloved by the King! However, the ways in which we do so can potentially lead to more shame and condemnation toward ourselves.
Antidote: Be honest with yourself, with God, and with a close friend. Set the expectation with your friend that you desire them to listen and ask any open-ended questions they have about what happened at work. Retell the story by saying, “When my co-worker said [blank], I noticed myself starting to go to a familiar place of anxiety… And I think it’s important that I name this to you right now.”
Distract: Distraction can be one of the easiest ways we try to ‘deal’ with anxiety. In the Western world, we have endless ways to distract ourselves—television, aimless scrolling through social media feeds, binge-watching YouTube for hours, self-medicating with alcohol, working later than we should to avoid going home—the list goes on and on. The goal here is not to shame anyone for doing these things. My goal in mentioning these examples is to point out that there is actual power and healing in naming the mechanisms we turn to in an attempt to distract.
Antidote: Go for a walk with a friend. The simple act of walking is rhythmic and regulating for your nervous system.
Avoid: This one might not be as obvious as distraction. Avoidance is often seen in the mental health world as ‘maladaptive.’ We often avoid things as a way to stay safe, but in reality, it’s the use of this strategy that might, in fact, be keeping us bound. For those who struggle with social anxiety (as an actual mental disorder), safety is often found in the absence of being around others. If we can just avoid a specific type of social situation, then we may be able to stay regulated and avoid the immense pain we experience when in the presence of others. This is maladaptive because it actually starts working against us and continues to reinforce neural pathways that lead to more anxiety.
Antidote: Before engaging in something that typically triggers a swell of anxiety, take time to care for yourself before, during, and after. I love using the box-breathing exercise. I also enjoy the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise, as well as the body scan technique. All of these can be very regulating for your nervous system, similar to walking, as mentioned above.
As we close, I am reminded of Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12:2). I believe we have the power, through His Spirit, to change by creating new, healthier ways of processing difficult emotions. As you finish this reading, you might already feel your anxiety levels rising as you think about what you “need to change.” Maybe now is an opportunity to try one of these exercises mentioned.
And to fully bring us back to the beginning of this article, God indeed does care for you. He DOES invite us to cast our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7). He cares so deeply about you and me that He invites us into a relationship with Himself to know and be known by ourselves, others, and God, giving us the opportunity to change for His glory and our good.
¹American Psychological Association. “Anxiety.” APA, 2023. https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety.
²Thompson, Curt. The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015.
³Brown, Brené. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. New York: Random House, 2021.
Scripture References
