I recently responded to a blog post over at AnxietyGuru.com about how it is important to identify the trigger(s) that cause your anxiety symptom(s). Kelly commented on the blog post as well and wondered, but what if you don’t have any triggers that would make trying to manage your anxiety hard to crack. Here is the response I left…
An important thing to understand is that all symptoms are simply that – symptoms! They are symptoms of a deeper root cause.
Identifying the triggers that cause your anxiety symptoms aren’t as black and white I have made them seem. Because anxiety is a mixture of both the disorder of the psycho and physio it can be much more complex than simply identifying a certain stimulant like caffeine and concluding it is the be-all end-all of your mismanaged anxiety.
In order to get the right answer and identify your anxiety trigger(s) you must ask yourself the right questions. You need to start at the very beginning and work your way to the present moment to find what may be causing this heightened and mismanaged anxiety.
Questions you may ask yourself could be….How was the environment you grow up in? Was there constant chaos in your household as a child? What beliefs have you gained through your upbringing…beliefs about money, status, and self? What about elementary school? How was that for you? And high school? Did you have many friends? How were those relationships? If some relationship broke down, why did they? What may have caused them to do so and how did that make you feel? Did your parents express some of the symptoms you are currently experiencing? How was the over all mood in your household? What major events may have happened throughout your lifetime that may have left you feeling different?
These questions are the tip of the iceberg, but they should give you an idea as to how in depth you really need to look in order to pin-point the root cause of your symptoms. Other great questions can be….
What do you think about most often? Are you getting proper amounts of sleep and do you have a set sleep schedule? Do you work night shifts? What about your diet… what do you eat most of the time? Is it simple sugars, processed foods, foods with a lot of chemical fillers like aspartame or modified corn syrup? Are you overweight for your size and age? If you are, how does that make you feel? Do you exercise regularly? Are you consuming enough water for your body to properly function or are you mostly dehydrated ( if your pee is yellow… even a little, you need more water. Contrary to the belief that pee is suppose to be yellow…it isn’t.)
You can also start looking at other areas of your life too. How is your social life? Do you have a circle of friends? If so what do they think about most? What are their beliefs or values? How was their upbringings? Are they mostly positive or negative or are they depressing, what do they talk about most often?
Another area to explore is something know as “status anxiety”. Is what you want to be doing with your life aligned with what you are currently doing? Are you trying to impress others by trying to be successful but haven’t been able to make it? Do you tend to look at others and use them as a measure of judging yourself? If so, how does that make you feel? Are you happy with the place you live at, the car you drive, the things you have or do you desire more or something newer or better?
You can also look at your the financial aspect of your life. How are you financially? Do you struggle month to month or is money plentiful and easy for you? If it isn’t, how does that make you feel?
I could go on and on, but as you can tell the process of identifying your trigger(s) is a long, intense process… in which you must go through your life with a fine tooth comb and ask yourself the right questions to find the right answers.
Remember… your symptom(s) are simply symptoms not the root cause themselves. Therefore there is something that is out of order ( hence disorder) that is causing them. Finding your trigger(s) may be the hardest thing you ever do, but once you do… everything else falls will fall into place.
