What makes anxiety come and go?

[C1239]

I know sometimes there is a reason for the anxiety but other times it’s sometimes there for no reason. I was wondering today what exactly is anxiety and what makes it pop up for no reason? And any tips of how to ignore it or make it go quickly? Sometimes if I’m due to go somewhere I ll feel anxious even if I know there is no reason at all to feel it and other times I ll feel fine. Sometimes it presents itself with symptoms similar to a cold coming and I struggle to know if I’m coming down with the lurgy or if it’s just anxiety . It’s so annoying!

I don't know. I wish I did, & then might not be tormented at times with the slightest things I've ever done or said wrong from when God was a lad..

I found it was often linked to hormonal changes.
What helped me was recognising it as my body's response to a sense of danger (either completely false, or arising from something outside of my comfort zone) and that the jitters were adrenaline preparing for the threat. The adrenaline needs to be channeled into something physical, so movement, walking, dancing, excercise would help. This is obviously just personal. I'm no doctor!

Hormones, conflict and lack of structure for me! I think it's different for everyone x

When I had post natal anxiety, I found the less sleep I had the more anxious I was the next day.

Hormones, tiredness, mini stresses that you don’t notice. Who knows. But it’s not your fault and best to just lean in and recognise you need a few kind things to yourself that day.

Let go of your imagination.

I really stuggle to turn my brain off! I always think about the worst case scenario! Panic about leaving the house and time! I've got to be on time,never late and the same for people im meeting, I never trust anybody either.
I'm currently losing sleep over Christmas staying awake all night thinking about it! After Christmas it will he something else!

Anxiety is your brain’s emotional alarm system. With alarm systems, it may be going off because there’s a burglar, it may just be a cat. So anxiety can rise because of a reason that requires action or it could be a false alarm.

There are things that make it more sensitive. Lack of sleep, caffeine, drinking alcohol regularly, background stress levels can all contribute.

exercise is a good suggestion to reduce it in general. Lifting weights particularly helpful for me. Meditation also good. Cut caffeine and alcohol completely if possible.

in the moment, I mainly use mental maths as a distraction (100-7 for example and then keep going down, or count the number of blue cars, or whatever). Or the 5–4-3-2-1 method: name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste (carrying sour sweets or strong mints and some lavender hand cream helps with this one). Key thing with the coping strategies is to try them out when the anxiety isn’t too bad and decide which ones you like. And remember none will work all the time - so it’s good to have a repertoire.

And when my anxiety is up, I sometimes have to stop listening to the news for a bit and step away from social media. Seems to make it worse.