Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common psychological situation affecting over 40 million people in the US and it has increased by more than 25% in children since 2015! And in our current global world, anxiety is even more common due to the large amount of media when a negative event occurs. Crises like the Covid-19 pandemic can create or increase anxiety for almost everyone! Anxiety can show up in many ways, wreaking havoc on our sleep, behavior, mood and even negatively impact our immune system.

Ongoing anxiety is more common in individuals with ADHD, Aspergers and Autism than in the general population. This is true for both children and adults. There is a relationship between ADHD/ASD and stress. Stress exacerbates symptoms of ADHD and the many challenges in day to day functioning.

It is especially important to manage stress when experiencing ADHD and/or ASD symptoms. Chronic stress can also lead to impairment in cognitive abilities, with decreases in executive functioning, ability to organize information and activities, and manage emotions.

When an individual becomes stressed or anxious, the autonomic nervous systems become activated. The individual will experience psychological and physiological arousal such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, feelings of anxiety and irritability. Our heart rate is especially sensitive to these changes in emotional states as well as cognition, leading to stress, fear, negative self-talk, excessive worry, and ruminating thoughts.

Luckily, anxiety is highly treatable. Treatments such as Heart Rate Variability (HRV) biofeedback can be effective in addressing in anxiety. HRV Biofeedback can be learned in a few sessions and is one of the most advanced ways to help reduce symptoms of anxiety allowing you to be in control of stress responses both in short term and the long term without the use of medication.

If you feel that you suffer from anxiety, please contact Crossroads Institute today and we can try to help find the best approach in addressing your needs.