Anxiety is one of the worst mental problems you can have. Unlike the popular notion, it isn’t just panic and nervousness. Anxiety is a mental condition that even if you have nothing to worry about, you’re feeling anxious for no reason. You can be surrounded by a lot of people and feel this panic rising in your chest, making you unable to breathe. It happens abruptly, out of nowhere, and that’s one of the worst parts of it. Anxiety can easily affect the entirety of your life, just like that. Read on to learn about a few common causes of anxiety.
1. Caffeine
In a world that loves coffee and every beverage that has caffeine in it, you may not realize that caffeine can cause anxiety. In fact, people who have anxiety try their best to limit their caffeine intake as to have fewer panic episodes. The reason behind this is because caffeine is a stimulant and it highly causes palpitations and jittery effects.
This is also why even for people without anxiety, having caffeine before a big event isn’t recommendable. Caffeine is capable of stimulating your “fight or flight” response and this is precisely what makes it one of the anxiety triggers.
2. Alcohol and Other Recreational Drugs
A lot of people run to alcohol and drugs to make them deal with their anxiety better, including social anxiety. In a social event, alcohol and drugs make you socialize better. However, what causes social anxiety even worst is when you’re intoxicated. Research has proven that those with social anxiety had worse symptoms when they took alcohol and drugs than those who didn’t. Intoxication may seem like your way out of anxiety, but it’s the opposite that actually happens.
3. Negative Thinking
This is one of the most common answers as to what triggers anxiety. Unlike the mentioned above, this happens in your mind, which is the most powerful tool you have. Negative thinking triggers a spiral of self-destructive thoughts of problems and scenarios that may not even exist in the first place. In short, you feel anxiety for no reason because of negative thinking. While you can’t always control your thoughts, it’s easy to have your anxiety triggered all because of your thought pattern. If you’re not careful, it can also be one of the causes of panic attacks.
4. Social Events
If you don’t know what social anxiety is, it’s a type of anxiety where you fear being judged or watched by others. Social events can be a huge trigger for your anxiety, especially with a huge crowd around people you don’t know. You have it in your head that people are constantly talking about you behind your back. The worst-case scenario is that it becomes one of the panic attack causes and this normally happens in big social events, in situations you’re uncomfortable in.
5. Skipping Meals
Many people aren’t aware that skipping meals can trigger your anxiety. By refusing to eat for even just a meal, your blood sugar drops, which can lead to a jittery feeling. This is especially true when you’ve had coffee and you’ve chosen to skip a meal, it’s easy to feel anxiety in your chest, heart, and stomach. Eating complete meals isn’t just for your physical health, but for your mental health as well. Another reason behind this is food easily affects your mood. This is why when you’re hungry, your mood fluctuates and the same concept applies to anxiety.
6. Stress and Exhaustion
Stress can be felt by various events- being tired from work, exhaustion from personal problems, or even conflicts in personal relationships. People feeling huge amounts of stress can easily have their anxiety triggered, especially when you have a low tolerance for negative emotions. You can easily feel exhausted and feel your energy robbed from you in circumstances like these.
Research also suggests that stressful events can contribute to a trigger in anxiety and panic. In addition, stress is the factor that may cause you to run to substances such as smoking, alcohol, and drugs- which can all worsen your anxiety effectively.
Anxiety can easily affect the entirety of your life, just like that. In this article, we’ll be talking about what’s the cause of anxiety.
7. Medications
Certain medications have side effects that may act as an anxiety trigger. This doesn’t go for all medications, but most over-the-counter medications can trigger anxiety symptoms. Examples of these medications are birth control pills, weight loss supplements, and cough and congestion medicines. If you have anxiety, it’s best to talk to a medical professional on the best alternative for medications that wouldn’t trigger your anxiety.
8. Conflict
Similar to stress, conflict happens when there’s a disagreement or misunderstanding that takes place. Conflict is often present in relationship problems or even in the workplace and can act as an anxiety trigger. This is especially true when you’re not someone who handles with negativity and disagreements often.
9. Personal triggers
People are entitled to different triggers, with some of them being personal triggers such as a trauma or abuse that took place in your past. It’s easy to be triggered if something reminds you of that trauma, and this is also often known as PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Individuals with PTSD experience anxiety triggers often from their environment, so it’s best that you know about your personal triggers. Unlike the ones mentioned above, personal triggers aren’t concrete and what may trigger one individual may do different for another. You can be triggered by a childhood memory or even as simple as a song.
In conclusion, I hope this article was able to shed insight on the certain anxiety triggers you can have. Anxiety isn’t an easy mental condition to have. Just like other conditions, it can affect your entire life. It’s essential that you know the factors that can trigger your anxiety so you know which ones to avoid to help cope with your anxiety.
For instance, by knowing that caffeine triggers you and you’re someone who drinks coffee regularly, you may want to reduce your caffeine intake from now on. To identify triggers, always choose to be honest with yourself and you can take it from there.
