Your Anxiety May Not Be Psychological: 3 Potential Influences

We’ve been led to believe that struggles such as anxiety or depression are psychological, but for many, these are just symptoms rather than a disease.

While I won’t encourage you to disregard professional diagnosis from your primary care physician, I do want to challenge you to take a different approach to how you view your mental struggles outside of the conventional path.

The Bigger Picture of Mental Health:

More than 337 million antidepressant prescriptions were made in 2021. That’s a radically high number! While the mental health field has expanded with the rise of people struggling, the approach has gravitated to “treat the symptoms” vs the problem.

I can’t deny that antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications can provide immediate relief to those who suffer. We should strive to understand the root problem vs. the surface-level experiences.

Research I did during my Master's Degree, I found that 80% of research done in the psychological field doesn’t reach clinical practices!

This means that those who are seeing patients aren’t also benefiting from the expanded understanding of psychological and neurological advancements we are making in the field.

This isn’t to discourage you from seeing your primary care physicians, but to help you do your own research. With anything in life, we can’t always rely on others to make the best decisions for us. We have to listen and then do our own research. It’s a basic practice for critical thinking. It’s not to deny the help of others, but to make an educated guess!

Influences of Anxiety:

1. Vitamin deficiencies: GET YOUR BLOOD WORK DONE! This will tell you if you are low in any vitamins. Don’t just take vitamins because social media says you should. While it's easy to go with the trends or the girl on Instagram who is describing your exact symptoms. Blindly trying supplements can cause more harm to an already dysfunctional system. Get a clear picture of what your health is saying. Often, we are taking way too many supplements and influencing the naturally occurring hormonal state that has its own biological intelligence. Sometimes, we are eating clean but not getting everything we need because we haven't discovered our biological blueprint. When you take the initiative to understand your body, you get to be empowered to make health decisions for YOU. Not societal influencers.

2. Unhealthy gut: Your gut is your second brain. It has what’s called the enteric nervous system, which holds over 100 million nerves. 70% of serotonin, which regulates our mood, comes from the gut. The enteric nervous system regulates communication between the gut and the brain. You are supposed to have healthy bacteria, called microbiome. With an increase in unhealthy bacteria or a lack of healthy microbiome due to antibiotics, ultra-processed foods, histamine intolerances, chronic diseases, or the gut's inability to break down foods, it sends signals to the brain and nervous system that often increase anxiety responses and symptoms that mimic panic and anxiety disorders.

3. Behavioral Pattern and Habit: While this is psychological, it doesn't suggest a true chemical disorder like many of our diagnoses suggest. All of our responses to life are learned. When we've been high-functioning due to trauma and prolonged stress to our nervous systems, anxiety patterns can become a habit. Not because something is wrong with our brain, but because we have practiced living in this state for so long that it's like speaking a second language. When we take a cognitive behavioral approach to healing vs. traditional talk therapy or medications, we focus on relearning safety and building protocols within ourselves through action that allows confidence and peace to be practiced in a way that is natural to our individual blueprint.

   
   

These are just my top factors, for now.

I’m not a doctor. All of this may just be speculation. But I share this to inspire you to take another approach to your mental health if you’ve:

1. Tried therapy, and it hasn’t helped you

2. You have a healthy routine and are still experiencing anxiety

3. You’ve done somatic healing practices, and they still aren’t working for you

Taking a look at the bigger picture won’t harm, but can enhance your healing journey. AGAIN, THIS IS NOT MEDICAL OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.

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I’m rooting for you and excited to continue to share findings from research, psychological principles, life revelations, and explorations to help us all elevate & grow. ❤️