If you are someone who deals with an anxiety disorder, then you know what it is like to live your life day in and day out feeling and acting a certain way all because your anxious brain is sending you up and down.

It is not a pleasant experience to have, and at times, you can feel fed up with the fact that you can’t seem to relax your mind and just get on with your day.

In this article, we will discuss how anxiety disorders affect the brain, as well as what your physical responses may be so you are aware of what is happening to you and how you can get help to make sure that you can work through your mental health struggles.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is your body’s response to situations that are stressful or unfamiliar to you.

These responses that we have are rooted inside us has come from extreme fear, apprehension, or worry.

The majority of us will feel some sense of anxiety at points in our lives, however, if it becomes normal then it can develop into an anxiety disorder which can have an impact on social occasions, working, or just being out in the general public.

Fight or Flight Response

When we see fearful and threatening stimuli it sets off our fight or flight response so we can take the appropriate action, but if you are dealing with chronic anxiety then that response keeps occurring and stress hormones (cortisol) surge through the body all the time making it harder for people to calm down which will have negative effects on the body.

Our brain gets mixed signals and doesn’t know how to react, now everything, even going shopping, can make you feel stressed or anxious which can be a taxing experience.

What Types of Anxiety Are There?

There is no one type of anxiety that people feel, in fact, there are different anxiety disorders that people can experience and each one can be tough for people to handle.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

This is a specific anxiety disorder that makes people feel the effects of anxiety consistently, for example, anxious feelings, negative thoughts, and elevated tension.

This can happen at any time and usually with no prompt, they just occur.

With GAD people won’t need to see a trigger to set them off, for example, anxiety disorders involving spiders, snakes, and so on, will make people get anxious as soon as they are seen, GAD people will just suddenly feel anxious out of the blue.

Social Anxiety Disorder

This disorder is also known as social phobia and it happens when individuals are very aware of themselves in a social setting and will feel overwhelming anxiety if they have to go anywhere where there are groups of people or if they need to be social.

They don’t have to be talking to others to feel this way, they can just be around people and start to feel panicky resulting in them sweating, having a dry mouth, fidgeting, and being hyper-aware of their surroundings.

Over time, this prolonged stress and anxiety in places can affect the hippocampus (as can all anxiety disorders) and impair the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, plus it can add to structural degeneration.

Panic Disorder

Someone with this disorder will feel repeated episodes of extreme fear which will turn into physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, feeling dizzy, as well as chest and stomach pains.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Also known as PTSD, this disorder is brought on by being exposed to a traumatic experience or terrifying event that involves potential harm.

It was widely only known as something that soldiers can get, however, as time has gone on there has been more research on people who have gone through things like violent personal assaults, natural disasters, and accidents.

How Does Anxiety Affect The Brain?

Dealing with chronic stress and anxiety will cause some extreme effects on people.

Your emotional brain takes over from your cognitive brain causing brain anxiety effects that become hard to control resulting in more anxiety which will have a knock-on effect throughout the whole body resulting in problems ranging from immediate to later on in life, e.g. heart disease.

When people have chronic anxiety, the sympathetic nervous system stops doing what it should be – stopping the release of the stress hormone cortisol.

This means that anxiety symptoms keep happening and shutting it down or controlling it becomes more and more difficult to do.

What is The Amygdala?

Deep in your brain is an almond-shaped structure that is known to be the ‘communications hub’ between the parts of your brain, which is said to process incoming sensory signals as well as the parts that interpret these signals.

If there is a threat, this part of your brain will get alerted to brace yourself for whatever is about to happen, so the fear and anxiety response is triggered, and if this keeps being triggered then persistent anxiety will occur.

A region in the frontal lobe called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC) amplifies the signals of fear coming from the amygdala, and people who experience anxiety will feel these heightened feelings constantly.

The emotional memories stored in your amygdala may play their part in developing chronic anxiety disorders that involve very distinct fears, e,g, flying, spiders, etc.

Increased Risk of Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Unfortunately, if the brain is constantly exposed to chronic stress and anxiety, then this can lead to structural degeneration and decreased functionality of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.

This means that the risk of mental disorders like dementia and depression is higher.

Problems With Rationalizing

With the prefrontal cortex, you get the reasoning and logical responses to fit certain situations.

The connection between this and the amygdala can be weakened due to anxiety which can increase the sensitivity to dangers and stop you from thinking logically.

Holding Onto Negative Memories

Your hippocampus will hold onto memories, but, when anxiety is constant, this will shrink the hippocampus which can make it hard for people to recall their memories.

However, anxiety will make the hippocampus believe that memories that are associated with danger and anxiety are good to store inside, so you start to remember a lot of stressful situations and anxiety-inducing ones.

Coping With Anxiety

When you are dealing with anxiety, it is never going to be easy to make sure that every single day you fight off those feelings, however, there are ways that you can reduce those feelings by making a few simple changes to what you do daily.

• Eating healthy
• Physical activity
• Meditation
• Getting enough sleep
• Aromatherapy
• Sticking to a routine

Hopefully, these tips will be able to help you cope, however, if you believe that your anxiety is too much and you are worried that it is taking over your life, then you may want to look at getting professional help by seeing a therapist so you don’t feel overwhelmed.

Conclusion

Now that you are aware of the effects that anxiety can have, do you think you are able to make that change?

If so, then good for you and your health, however, if you are scared about taking that step forward, then now is the time to reach out to people so you can get the support you need to have a positive and healthy life.

Good mental health is incredibly important nowadays, people seem to put it on the back burner a lot which means that they neglect their own feelings which causes their worries to bubble up and spill over into their personal life as well as professional. Taking a mental health day is not a sign of weakness, it shows strength and courage to know what you need when you need it.

Just like your physical health, you should take care of your mental health needs as well so you are able to function at your best level. If life has been getting on top of you lately and you need to ask your boss for a mental health day, then there are some ways to go about it to ensure you communicate your feelings properly and show your boss that you are not quitting, you just need some time.

Why do You Want to Take a Mental Health Day?

Mental health days, also known as taking a sick day, are there for when people need a mental health break, either because their personal life has become too stressful, or they are dealing with workplace issues that are leaving them feeling burnt out and pressured.

If you already suffer from depression and/or anxiety disorder, then you know that feeling of being overwhelmed and not knowing which way to turn. These types of moments can occur at any point, and since you probably work 9-5, you will get some of them during work hours.

Having any type of mental health condition can be very daunting, and telling anyone, especially your boss, about your mental health status can be a scary experience, however, it is not something to be ashamed of, and as the conversation surrounding mental health and mental illness has grown, so have people’s acceptance.

No More Taboos

Asking for a mental health day should not be a taboo anymore, nonetheless, we all still feel guilty and feel awkward in asking for one, or taking time away from the company to rest because we think we should just get on with it and not fuss.

This type of thinking can cause more stress on you and you may not feel comfortable in your job or with your employer whilst going through it.

What do We Fear?

Fear can stop us from doing a lot of things, maybe we fear the reactions of other employees, or we think we will lose our job if we request support or take that mental health day off. Maybe you have other mental health conditions that you have to deal with daily and this could make them think you can’t do your job properly.

Whatever you are thinking, there are ways that you can approach this in a positive and proactive way. Your need for a mental health day should not be pushed aside because of what you fear.

Remember – you would take a sick day for any physical health issue, your brain is just as important as your body.

What Steps to Take to Ask For a Mental Health Day

You have plucked up the courage to ask for an actual mental health day from your boss, this may seem like a scary thing to do, but working through the steps you will need to do will help you get everything set out correctly. If you want human resources in the room or CC’d in the email, let your boss know so you cover all your bases.

Company Culture

What is the company you work for like? Are they people you can have an open dialogue with? Do they respect honesty and have a flexible view of the work you do? If so, this may be a good way to get started.

You can be completely open with them about how you’re feeling, and how you feel some pressure at the moment and would like to take care of your mental wellbeing so taking a mental health day would be beneficial for your current situation.

If you do not want to divulge too much information and you would rather be vague, that is perfectly fine, it is your mental health at the end of the day, and if it makes the process easier to just give the basics for personal reasons then that needs to be understood. You can still make your case in your work request without having to go into minute detail.

Negative Reaction

If you think your company culture is not as open as you would like it to be and you feel like a request would be turned down, it is okay to ask your boss for an actual sick day instead.

Both you and your boss need to be on the same wavelength and speak about the day, but if you are worried that sick days are more acceptable to them than taking a mental health day for your mental health needs, then go down that route instead.

Legal rights

If you believe that you are being discriminated against due to your mental health, and it seems evident, there are anti discrimination laws in place that you can look into, plus you can check with the equal opportunity employment commission to discuss the policies and what you can do if you are worried about your job. Your workplace well being is incredibly important, so do not brush that aside.

Take a Look at Your Workplace Policies

If you are thinking about requesting one of your sick days or mental health days, then you will need to check over the company policies first to see what the rules are for this so you can prepare yourself when asking your employers.

As mentioned before, your legal rights come into play here, so if you are able to take a mental health day and they deny it, you can refer to the employee handbook or your contract, wherever the policies are located, and show your employers that you are allowed a mental health day/sick day and explain what you need to.

Create a Plan

Before asking, it would be best to make a plan of what you want to say and who you are going to say it to, as well as how you will handle your work so you can have that day or days off.

A few examples of the questions your boss may ask are – “how long will you be off?” “Do you have any outstanding work?”, these are normal as they need to know who to delegate to or how they can better support you.

Talk to Your Co Workers

If you want to speak to your co workers privately beforehand and ask if they are able to help out slightly whilst you’re away or say that you’ll get the bulk of it done over the next few days or so, then that may be a good option. Show them that you have thought about this and you do care about your job, you just need some time.

This Day is For You

Whilst going through this process of asking for a mental health day off, you may be so consumed with asking for it, that it adds to your stress even more. You need to look at it as it is – time to take a break and focus on your mental health. Whether you have family issues or a personal issue, you need to know that this is the right thing to do.

Many people do not feel comfortable talking to others about what they are dealing with, it’s normal, since being open and honest about mental illness and health has only recently become more accepted throughout workplaces.

On the day/days you take, maybe it would be a good idea to think about choosing therapy as your support or think about why this has now suddenly become too much for you. Whatever it is, don’t give up on yourself and feel pressured into keeping quiet. Speak up because who knows, you may inspire someone else to take control of their own mental health.

Conclusion

If you are suffering with your mental health and you need some time to refocus and support your brain, there is no reason why you shouldn’t take a mental health day to feel comfortable with what you are doing again. You will thank yourself in the long run.

When you hear about cannabis, THC is the first thing that comes to mind. But, in the past few years, CBD has become a hot topic for all different kinds of people, including people who want to use it for medical purposes. Find out what CBD is and who can use it in this article.

What is CBD?

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a plant that contains a variety of chemical compounds called cannabinoids. CBD is one such compound and is believed to have therapeutic benefits for a wide range of conditions.

How Does CBD Work?

There is still much research to be done in this area, but it is believed that CBD interacts with receptors in the brain to provide therapeutic benefits. Some preliminary studies have shown that CBD can help treat conditions like anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and more.

Top 10 Benefits of CBD

The cannabis plant, or hemp as it is more commonly known, contains a substance called CBD. CBD is non-psychoactive and has been shown to have numerous therapeutic benefits. Due to this particular reason, it is now mass produced in the form of edibles, tinctures, sprays, and a lot more and can be sourced from Dispensary Madras OR and elsewhere. That being the case, here are the top 10 benefits of CBD that you might be interested to learn:

1) Anti-inflammatory: Studies have found that CBD can be effective at reducing inflammation and pain.

2) Anti-anxiety: CBD helps reduce anxiety and panic attacks.

3) Promote relaxation: CBD can help promote relaxation and help you get to sleep.

4) Boosts mental energy: CBD can help increase your mental energy and focus.

5) Regulates blood sugar: Research suggests that CBD may help regulate blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.

6) Reduces seizures: Some studies suggest that CBD may be effective at reducing seizures in people with epilepsy.

7) Helps improve mood disorders: Several studies have found that CBD can improve mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.

8) Reduces inflammation: CBD is effective at reducing inflammation in several different ways.

9) Prevents cancer: Some studies suggest that CBD may help prevent certain types of cancer.

10) Boosts the immune system: CBD has been shown to boost the immune system in several ways.

Who Can Use CBD?

Cannabis can be consumed or used by people for recreational or medical purposes. CBD can have various benefits, including physical and mental health advantages that people can utilize to improve their lifestyle. As for the supply, you can explore CBD products online here, or look for a local pharmacy in your neighborhood.

Where It is Legal

First and foremost, CBD is legal in all 50 states in the United States. This means that anyone over the age of 18 can access it without a prescription. Additionally, it is also legal to produce and possess CBD oil within those same boundaries.

Health Condition Needs

Now that we know who can use CBD, let’s take a look at some of its benefits. For starters, CBD has been shown to help treat a variety of conditions. These include anxiety disorders, chronic pain, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis (MS), fibromyalgia, and more.

In addition to treating these specific conditions, CBD has also been shown to improve the overall quality of life by reducing inflammation and anxiety levels. Lastly, CBD has also been shown to be beneficial for the mind-body connection by promoting relaxation and reducing stress levels.

Currently, there are no restrictions on who can use CBD. However, due to the lack of scientific evidence regarding its efficacy and safety, some healthcare professionals may recommend against using CBD oil if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Barriers to Cannabis Consumption

Cannabis is a plant that has been used for centuries for its medicinal properties. However, some people are not able to use it due to various reasons. CBD is one of the compounds found in cannabis and it is considered to be beneficial for human health. Here are some of the benefits of CBD:

• Some studies have shown that CBD can help reduce anxiety and stress levels. It can also help improve moods and relieve pain.
• CBD is not psychoactive, which means that it does not affect your mental state. This makes it a great choice for people who want to use cannabis but do not want to get high.
• CBD can also be used to treat various other medical conditions, such as seizures, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis symptoms.

CBD products are popular in the world right now. Moreover, there is a huge range of products available in the market for people to explore and use for health benefits. From CBD oil and tinctures to edibles, concentrates, and skincare products, you can get cannabis-infused items for various medical conditions. When planning to purchase cannabis, you can search online for reputable suppliers to get high-quality products.

CBD is known for its therapeutic properties, which can be used to treat a variety of medical conditions. However, it’s not just humans that benefit from CBD – animals also seem to respond well to it. So if you’re looking into incorporating cannabis into your life in some way, look for options available in the market.

CBD might be a good starting point. Who knows – maybe you’ll find that it helps you improve your health in ways you never thought possible!

We’ve all felt down in the dumps at some point in our lives, but at what point does our mood start affecting our daily lives? Is our mental health changing over time?

Mental health is somewhat a moving target since it can fluctuate depending on what is going on in your personal life, what burdens you at work, and what forces you feel in your life. It can even change over the course of a lifetime.

Change and Your Mental Health

Does mental health change over time? The answer is yes. Studies have shown that your mental health can change as you age, although the actual changes may not be recognizable. But does age matter? Yes, and it affects your mental health. Change in Mental health doesn’t necessarily start when a crisis hits. The symptoms of a mental health condition can creep in slowly until you get to a point where you know you need help. For some people, mental health issues can be lifelong and can only be managed with psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two.

Mental health does not stay the same over time. Your mental health can change in many ways. It may be affected by a number of things. You may have had a trauma as a child, or you may be going through a divorce. Maybe you are unemployed and receiving government assistance or going through an office or family crisis. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, your mental health may be suffering. It’s essential to be aware of your surroundings and monitor how things are going. Dangers in mental health changes include but are not limited to the following:

• Headaches
• Insomnia or difficulty falling asleep
• Aches and pains in the intestines
• Backaches and muscle tension
• Heart disease and hypertension
• Anxiety and depression
• Irritability
• Obsession with overeating or undereating

How Can You Deal With Change

Change can be a good thing. It keeps us growing, improves our quality of life, and exposes us to new, interesting experiences. However, change can also be stressful. Our past changes impact our present and our future. If you are already struggling with thoughts of suicide, or you are concerned that you might be depressed, then it is difficult for you to process change. This can create anxiety and even make thoughts of suicide more likely to occur. Change can also impact your mental health.

Here are some effective ways you can deal with changes to improve your mental health:

Change how You Think

Your mental health is, without a doubt, something that can change. Someone with depression, for example, might begin feeling low and depressed over a single event, but it can be a gradual process for somebody else. One thing that can help change is to revamp how you view your mental health.

Be Flexible

Rather than being rigid when addressing the topic of mental health, the best way to approach it is to be flexible. Mental illness changes over time, but that doesn’t mean you need to change with it constantly. In addition, some people’s symptoms may actually improve over time. However, if you avoid addressing changes, it can lead to poor decisions.

Find Social Support

Your mental health changes throughout your life, so it’s important to learn how to recognize signs of mental health changes in order to stay mentally healthy. You can take care of your mental health by learning to recognize signs of mental health changes, getting social support, participating in activities you enjoy, and talking with people you trust. If friends or family members notice changes in your mental health, talk to them about how you’re feeling.

Never make the mistake of thinking that this is only applicable when you are in your younger years; in fact, it becomes even more important to pay attention to your mental health as you age. This is a given, but there is plenty of help in the outside word. Due to the myriad problems that an older adult may face with his or her mental health, healthcare organizations and senior living communities provide a range of therapy and other support programs. At places like Chelsea Senior Living – mental health services are considered a norm and are often offered to all senior residents. So, our minds can trouble us irrespective of age, which is why it is crucial to take care of it.

When to Get Help

Many people believe that their mental health is static throughout their lives. While we all experience ups and downs at certain points, we remain the same throughout our lives for the most part. If you experience any changes in your mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings about yourself that concern you, it is best to seek professional help. These may be signs of depression, anxiety, relationship or relationship problems, a psychotic disorder, or bipolar disorder. Regardless of the level of concern, it is important that you take the necessary steps when you are seeking treatment.