Why Do I Feel Anxious for No Reason?

The frustration then amplifies these feelings and it's very valid. It's incredibly frustrating when your body and your brain are responding and you're like, I just want to live my life. Hey there and welcome to let's Talk about it with Laurie Streeter. A space to talk honestly and get real about mental health, therapy and all things wellness. I'm Laurie, licensed therapist, speaker and your host, here to bring you insights, tools and information you can actually use. Whether you're navigating anxiety, healing your relationship with food, or trying to figure out which techniques will work for your life. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in and let's talk about it. Welcome back to another episode of let's Talk About It. A question I get a lot or people want to address in counseling is why do I feel anxious for no reason? Why do I feel anxious when nothing major is happening or nothing's happening, or I quote unquote shouldn't feel like this, but I do that. This is something that's super common, this chronic low level anxiety, the worrying, the overthinking about everything, all of these symptoms that you think about when it comes to anxiety, but in regards to there's nothing happening that quote unquote should be triggering these feelings. And that's part of the frustration for a lot of people is that they're experiencing or overthinking or rumination when again, they feel like they shouldn't be or they're feeling physical symptoms of anxiety when there's nothing going on that again, quote unquote should be triggering this. From work to what to make for dinner again, things that don't seem like a big deal cause these feelings and or thoughts of anxiety. So this chronic low level anxiety becomes really frustrating because people are like, why is this happening? Why do I feel anxious when nothing is going on, when nothing is triggering this, this free floating anxiety, I like to call it. And if you kind of look this up, you'll see that term. It's that unease, that underlying feeling that doesn't feel like it's attached to anything. There's no reason that I feel like this, but I feel like this. It's often rooted in what people will describe as perfectionism, rumination, fear of not being enough. These things that cause us to think and think and think and feel these physical symptoms of anxiety. So this idea of free floating anxiety, these feelings and these thoughts that, that are occurring without being attached to a reason again can be so frustrating for people because they're like there's no reason for this. Why is my brain doing this? Why is my body doing this? Why am I reacting like this? This is just dinner. This is just an email or this is, you know, just a work meeting or just the frustration then amplifies these feelings. And it's very valid, rightfully so. Like, it's incredibly frustrating when your body and your brain responding and you're like, I just want to live my life. I just want to go to an event without feeling like I'm going to throw up. So when I go back to these things, that it's rooted in this free floating anxiety. When we think about rumination, the definition of rumination is deep or considered thought about something. Well, when it comes to anxiety, rumination is repetitive thinking, dwelling on negative feelings or distress. Right? We're generally not ruminating on things that are positive. I'm not ruminating on all of the things I'm grateful for or all of the good things I have going in life. I'm ruminating on that stupid thing I did in fifth grade or that goofy thing I said to the cashier at Target a week ago. Those are the things we ruminate on. And it causes this like excessive anxiety and this spiral in this almost habitual way of thinking. And then we just target all of the negative feelings, negative thoughts, the distress. And we think and we think and we think and we ruminate and we dwell and we overthink some more about it. And it just creates this cycle that we feel like we can't get out of. We see this a lot with gad, Generalized Anxiety disorder, because with GAD symptoms and the criteria have to be present for more than six months. Okay, there's other criteria, but because symptoms have to be present for more than six months, a lot of people who struggle with GAD will talk about this chronic low level anxiety or sometimes high level anxiety. It can be very disruptive. Because of the time frame of the diagnosis of gad, this requirement of these symptoms have to be present for more than six months. So we will often see this rumination happening, this symptom, because of the length of time it's been going on. And now again, it's become so disruptive that it can potentially disrupt regular daily functioning, regular daily life. It can get in the way of someone doing things. It can get in the way of meetings or accomplishing things, or getting out of bed in the morning or sleeping at night. Going back to this feeling of free floating anxiety, this thing that I'm anxious and there's no reason there Is some science behind this. And what I've learned in my practice is that if I can explain to someone why they are doing something or why we are working on a technique or why something is happening, they are more likely to do it because they know why it will work or why it will potentially work or help them. So when I teach clients about anxiety, part of it is that psychoeducation about what is happening. Because sometimes it's just like, oh, it takes a little bit of the power away because it's like, oh, I'm not broken. There's nothing wrong with me. My brain's responding in a way because of xyz. It can just help to understand what is going on neuroscientifically. So when I look at something like this, when someone says, why do I feel anxious? When nothing major is going on, why do I feel anxious for no reason, I will talk to them about this structure in the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is your alarm system, like your fire alarm that goes off. It's alerting you that there's a fire. But when that amygdala activation is too much or it's like over stressed, it is going to alert you to things that aren't a big deal. It's going to start essentially going off when there's again, quote, unquote, nothing happening, nothing major going on. So that would be like, you know, if you're cooking something on the stove and there's a ton of smoke in your house and you're fire alarm goes off, you're like, oh, I gotta take a towel and kind of like bat the smoke away from the fire alarm so that it stops like beeping, right? Like there's a reason that it's going off. It thinks there's a fire and you're like, well, I'm just cooking something, there's not a fire, but I still have to make the smoke go away from the alarm. So the alarm goes off or the alarm goes like stops going off with the amygdala under chronic activation. And there's a lot of reasons this happens. That smoke alarm is going off when you turn the oven on, right? When there's not even smoke. It starts to be super sensitive to things and it starts to go off and try to tell the body, hey, there's something here to be stressed about when there's nothing to be stressed about. The amygdala is what many, many people refer to as like the alarm system or that smoke alarm, when it starts to Experience again, these, these anxious responses. It creates this chronic anxiety. And. And again, that's why someone comes to me or someone who comes to me with anxiety that's been like, ever present for a long time. We especially want to address ways to turn down that amygdala activation to start to get their alarm system to regulate so that it's not so sensitive to. To things that aren't smoke, right? That it's like there's. There's no danger, it's an email, it's what to make for dinner. It's going to an event. And that amygdala isn't like, oh, my God, we're gonna die. Oh, my God, there's something going on. Oh, my God, we're in danger. Your amygdala is telling you you're in danger when there's nothing to be in danger about. It's like the sensitivity of that amygdala is too much. It's too intense for, like, what's going on. It's having a disproportionate reaction. So we have to find ways to turn that amygdala activation down, to dial it down so that you're not responding in a chronic way to things that, like, you say there's no reason now your amygdala is just responding. I'm having all these anxious symptoms for no reason. There's nothing major going on. There's no danger. And. Or it is quote, unquote, just an email, and you're, like, freaking out, you want to throw up, you're worrying, you can't sleep at night, even though it's quote, unquote, just an email. So we want to learn to crank that amygdala down. And that's kind of this scientific underpinning of why this happens and how this starts to happen. And that's why you can't just think your way out of anxiety. Sometimes you have to address the body and you have to know what's going on neuroscientifically so that we can kind of address the whole system as a whole in its entirety. The other kind of way we attack this when someone says, I'm just feeling anxious all the time, I have been for a long time. There's other reasons, right? There's what we eat, the caffeine, the sugar, inflammatory foods. I know that's kind of like a kitschy term, but all of these things can create issues like high cortisol and disrupted sleep, which in turn perpetuate anxiety. And if you didn't know these Are also reasons I have nutrition certifications because I want that extra knowledge so that I can really take a holistic approach with anxiety. It's super important for me to be able to help clients in all facets of life because I know there are many times we can't just think our way out of it. We have to address other lifestyle things that are going on in order to bring down this intense feeling of anxiety or start to feel better over time because someone has been living with these anxious feelings for so long. A lot of times anxiety will have somewhat of a trigger, but if you're used to living with it, you may not even notice these outside things. A change to your environment or a lifestyle change or something you're eating because you, you're just so used to living with these feelings of anxiety that, well, that wouldn't do it. Or I've been drinking energy drinks for so long. That really doesn't have an impact on my anxious feelings. But all of these things are an interplay in this brain body connection and these reasons we feel the way we do. So let's talk about a few things that you can do if you're someone who feels like they're anxious for no apparent reason. And these are good techniques. Even if you are someone who knows where your anxiety comes from or it's situational or it's more acute, these might work for you too. I tried to pick a couple things that do kind of specifically address that free floating anxiety that when you notice, hey, I'm feeling anxious, that you can do something in the moment about it or, or start to do something in a preventative way. These are things you can do before bed when you wake up and start to kind of address the whole system in a way that starts to again over time, crank that amygdala activation down and address lifestyle things. So I did mention caffeine sugar. Those are two really big things that can impact caffeine cortisol, it can impact anxiety and it can impact blood sugar levels, which then impacts anxiety. So again, the whole food area is super important. So I would really encourage you to look at your diet. Another thing that will address this is grounding. And if you've been around the social media world and looked into anxiety at all, grounding is probably a term you've heard. This is like ice on the back of your neck or your chest. This is engaging your senses. This works because it balances your nervous system in the moment and it gets you back into the present moment. It gets you back into like your Thinking brain and re engages you and interrupts that response that you're feeling. Grounding exercises activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is your relaxation response. So this is especially important in the moment if you're feeling a spike of anxiety. But just in general, to be able to do, to start to train your yourself, your body and your brain that, hey, we can be a little calmer. I try to tell people to use these techniques in the moment. They're super important and effective and also as soon as they wake up in the morning, before bed, throughout the day, when they're okay. Because if you can start to be preventative with this stuff and systematically put it into your life, you start to train your brain to calm down a little bit. You crank and dial down that amygdala activation, and your brain starts to say, hey, we don't have to be so activated. Again, not only in the moment, but do these things throughout the day, because you'll be able to start to turn it down on an overall basis. So here's a couple specific grounding things. You've probably heard of the five. Four, three, two, one. Five things you can see, four things you can touch, right? Like, that is often too overwhelming for people. They can't remember it. I can't remember it all the time. So something I like to use is just 3, 3, 3, 3 things I can see, 3 things I can touch, 3 things I can hear. Those are senses that are very easily accessed sometimes. You can't always be like, oh, let me taste a few things or let me smell a few things. Like, those aren't senses that are easily accessed sometimes in the moment. So three things you can see, three things you can hear, and three things you can touch. If you can't find three of each of those things, that's totally fine. But engaging your senses helps interrupt the pattern of anxiety. It brings you back to the moment, and it helps ground you, hence, grounding techniques back into the present moment. Using ice on the back of your neck or your chest, this helps you get back into the moment. Hang on a second, Let me take a deep breath. I'm here. I'm safe. This is anxiety. I've been here before. We're gonna get through this. Using the ice is kind of like a shock to the system to interrupt that pattern of whatever you're feeling. And another grounding technique that doesn't seem like it would be grounding because it almost seems like overstimulating, is chewing gum or humming while listening to music. This again, engages your Senses. It engages your senses, shifts your focus back to the present moment and interrupts the distress using these techniques. Picking some grounding technique that works for you that you like the best, that you can use not only in the moment, but throughout the day to start to train your brain to say, hey, we can calm down a little bit. We don't have to be so overactive all the time. I can find a moment of calm. And even though it might feel discomfort because you're used to this chronic level of anxiety, this underlying level of, I'm just used to feeling this anxious all the time, even though I don't like it, you can start to train your brain to like, relax a little bit. And you're like, okay, that was okay. Even if it's for a few minutes periodically throughout the day, starting to do things like that will over time turn that response down. And that's what we want. We want you to start to learn that, oh, I can do things to help in the moment, but also preventatively so that I can start to experience more relief throughout the day, multiple times a day. Going back a second to holistic changes, because this is important. Your lifestyle matters. Your lifestyle matters. Especially if you are someone who has been struggling with anxiety or any kind of mental health struggle for that matter. But we're specifically, obviously talking about anxiety here. The food you eat. Sleep is super important. When we lack sleep, we're not functioning, our brains aren't optimal. We know this. So working on your sleep hygiene, movement. So much of anxiety is pent up energy. So many people who struggle with anxiety are like, I constantly feel like I want to crawl out of my skin or my heart's racing or I'm shaking or I'm sweating, so much of anxiety can create a lot of extra energy in the body. So finding ways in the moment to move, whether you shake it out, or you do a few jumping jacks or you go for a walk, but also implementing movement. And I'm not talking about exercise to burn calories, think about it, like, I need to move my body in a preventative way. Because it's a discharge of energy and giving your body some predictable moments throughout the day, or half an hour a day or an hour a day where you can expend some of that extra energy, it will over time help significantly. Another thing is mindfulness. Even if it's a couple minutes throughout the day, a couple times a day, even if you're like, all right, I'm going to start ruminating in a couple minutes, when this mindfulness activity is over, starting to implement that stuff will over time make a difference and, and then track your patterns. If you are someone who's like, I don't love this, but this is just something I've been dealing with a long time. This free floating anxiety that's not really attached to something, but I'm, you know, just used to living with it. Track it. You might see upticks of anxiety in the morning or certain days of the week or during your menstrual cycle throughout the month. So often I can't tell you how many clients I have where I generally know their cycle and, and I'll be talking to them and they'll be saying things and I'm like, hang on a second, where are you at in your cycle? And they're like, oh man, yeah, like I do feel like this for a few days every month or you know, every however many days. So if you're someone who can start to track these patterns, you might notice some things where you can be a little more preventative and a little more responsive in how you manage it because you're just used to living with it. So you don't even think sometimes that these things matter. We don't even put the two and two together because it's like, this is just me, this is how my brain works. And you start to track it and you're like, ah, every time I drink an energy drink, this really does affect me, even though I've been doing this for years. So start to track things and pay attention to how your brain and your body responds. Look at your sleep, look at your food, look at your movement. Look at a couple mindfulness activities. Implement the grounding stuff. Track things so that you can not overwhelm yourself with a ton of things to do. But start to implement things that will overall make a difference. Remember, you've probably not just been feeling like this since yesterday or maybe a few weeks. This has been going on a long time. This feeling of why do I feel anxious in my body, in my mind, when there's nothing going on? Why is this free floating anxiety happening? And I'm used to it and I've adjusted to it, but I don't like it. So all of these things can help make a difference. Just pick something and start there and see how that works for you. There's so many things to implement. You have to remember anxiety is like this interplay of brain and body and lifestyle. That's why I try to take a holistic approach to this stuff. Sometimes we feel like we're anxious for no reason, especially if it's been going on for a long time, you've adjusted and while you don't like it, you're used to it. You're used to living like this. So if you're someone who struggles with anxiety for no reason, you're not alone. But there are things we can do about it. Look at those subtle triggers. Your environment, your lifestyle, hormones, any unresolved stress, the things that you might not be putting two and two together that might be impacting it. And remember the science behind this, behind chronic anxiety. It's real. But we can learn to turn down that alarm system, that amygdala response, with techniques so that we can address the underlying anxiety. Even if you're someone who has learned to live with it. I just want you to keep this in mind. Even if this is something that you're used to, and if you're listening to this, you probably don't like it, but you're just like, this is just. I'm just an anxious person. This is just who I am. You might struggle with anxiety, but your response can be less and you can feel more capable and confident and have more clarity and be more resourceful. Even if you continue to be more of an anxious person, you can feel more confident that you can handle this stuff and turn down the response and not feel like it's so intense. I always want to remind people that if you have been dealing with something or thinking about something longer than you wish you would have, reach out for help and support. So often we continue to struggle with something and it's like, this is just who I am. This is something I've been dealing with, even if I don't like it. I. I don't know, I've tried everything. If you are struggling and you've been thinking about something longer than you wish you would have, or you've been dealing with something longer than you wish you would have, there's always help out there. Reach out, reach out for help, reach out for support, reach out for some professional guidance. Don't give up on yourself. We can do things to help this free floating anxiety, this. Why am I feeling anxious even when there's nothing going on? Thanks for hanging out with me today on let's Talk about it with Laurie Streeter. If this episode resonated with you, it would mean so much if you'd leave a five star review, share it with a friend, or come say hi on Instagram at Laurie Streeter. Your support will help this podcast grow. And I so appreciate you being here today. I want to help people just like you. Feel like they're not alone and gain the tools they need to grow. Until next time. Take care.