I am a planner, not a worrier and I was discussing this with my mother recently. She is a worrier and as she grows older, she worries more than plans. Although, she intellectually knows that worrying wastes time and energy and resolves nothing, she cannot help herself. I was a worrier in my teens and early 20s and it made me physically ill. In fact, my headaches got so severe, normal pain relievers wouldn’t work. I ending up going to a neurologist and had a CAT scan that revealed nothing more than I was experiencing vascular headaches. My body was reacting to my over anxiousness and worrying. That’s the point when I chose to focus my energy on planning and being proactive. After some time, perhaps years (it’s easier to intellectualize than to put into practice), I didn’t worry about the things I couldn’t control, which are a lot. What I did was think about options or solutions to problems. For example: if I need to leave town, who will take care of Mathew while Mike works. It’s a lot like buying insurance, sometimes you need it, other times you don’t. I would rather invest my time in finding solutions than waste my energy in worrying. It alleviates the powerlessness and anxiety that worrying creates.
Not only is worrying unproductive, too much of it can really be physically debilitating, triggering a host of health problems. When we are anxious or feel that we are in danger our body has an automatic physiological reaction called the “fight or flight” response that releases a surge of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol into our bloodstream and sets our bodies on red alert, preparing our body to “fight” or “flight.” The chemical release causes our body to undergo a series of very dramatic changes. Our respiratory rate increases. Blood is diverted away from our digestive tract and directed into muscles and limbs, which require extra energy and fuel for running and fighting. Our pupils dilate, awareness intensifies, sight sharpens, impulses quicken, perception of pain diminishes and our immune system mobilizes with increased activation. We become prepared—physically and psychologically—for “fight or flight.” We scan and search our environment, “looking for the enemy.” This served our ancestors well as the “fight or flight” response protected them from dangers such as wild animals that wanted to eat them. For the most part, we don’t encounter wild animals these days, but our bodies still sense “dangers.” They’re there in the form of a demanding work schedule, deadlines, balancing home and work life, a challenging child, climate change, a dispute with a loved one, even a scary movie or exciting adventure ride can trigger the response.
Once a perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. As adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal levels, and the other systems resume their regular activities. It’s okay if the perceived “danger” or stressor is time limited. The problem occurs when “fight or flight” is triggered daily by excessive worrying and anxiety. The overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt almost all of our body’s processes. Therefore, putting us at an increased risk of numerous health problems, including:
- Digestive issues
- Heart disease
- Sleep problems
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- Weight gain
- Memory and concentration impairment
- Suppression of the immune system
- Muscle tension
- Depression
Although these effects are a response to stress, stress is simply the trigger. As I learned the hard way, whether or not you become ill depends on how you handle stress. Your body is profoundly influenced by your coping style and your psychological state. It isn’t the stress that makes you ill, it’s how you deal with it. If you are prone to excessive worrying, you’re putting your body in a constant “fight or flight” response, your body will not get the opportunity to get back into balance; this is not a good thing. This perpetual state of emergency with no rest can bring on physical illness. Something has to change to maintain a healthy body. There are lots of things you can do, exercise, take breaks, meditate ~ but I think the only way to profoundly stop the continuous “fight or flight” response is to change your point of view. For me, it was to start planning for issues/problems that might arise and accept that I am powerless to control life. Other people need to accept their role in creating stressful situations, whether they never say no and forget there is simply only 24 hours in a day or live in a constant state of perpetual fear of something happening. Whatever it is that puts you in continual state of stress, simply needs to go. I know it is much easier said than done. Hey, it took me years to put this point of view into practice even though I intellectually knew it. Nevertheless, there is no day better than today to start changing your perspective. Your life really does depend on it.
