Like anyone else, stress and anxiety are part of every mom’s everyday life. Daily household chores, office work, taking care of children, and multitasking can cause a toll even on the strongest woman in the world. Knowing the most common causes of anxiety and how to deal with them will help you avoid burnout and handle problems positively.
Check some helpful tips to combat anxiety and effectively deal with it by reading below.
Brain Chemistry
Anxiety refers to the feeling of uneasiness, worry, or fear. It can stem from genetic factors and traumatic experiences that can alter the brain’s structure and functioning. Anxiety may range from mild to severe that can disrupt electrical signals and hormones in the brain.
New moms may feel anxious about their new role as a parent of their first baby. Others may worry about their children experiencing separation anxiety when attending their first day in school. While anxiety is considered a normal feeling, disproportionate levels of distress can lead to anxiety disorders that would require medical treatment.
If your anxiety disrupts you from doing your routines and duties properly, it’s a good idea to seek professional help for proper advice. Taking supplements with antioxidants can also help reduce your stress and anxiety, improve mood, and boost energy. Supplements help regulate neurotransmitters or chemicals found in the brain to help reduce anxiety.
Environmental Factors
Heavy daily workload, illness, death in the family, divorce, and other traumatic experiences may trigger anxiety disorder. Also, anxiety can be acquired from stressed and anxious family members, like children adapting their parents’ coping strategies.
A seemingly minor problem can cause generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), manifested by excessive worry that lasts for many days or at least six months. People with GAD usually feel restless, irritated, easily get tired, trouble getting restful sleep, and difficulty concentrating.
Here’s how you can deal with the environmental causes of anxiety:
- Avoid the source: Try to stay away from the source of stress until you’re calm. You don’t want to make impulsive decisions just because you’re too worried about something.
- Focus on your breathing: When anxiety is triggered, you might be unaware of your breathing. Focusing on your breathing will help divert your attention while increasing your brain’s blood flow and oxygen levels. This way, you can think logically about the next steps you need to do to resolve a problem.
- Seek professional counseling: Environmental factors are chronic sources of stress. Seeking professional help allows you to find more effective ways to cope with the major life events and circumstances you need to face.
Schedule a relaxation time: Many moms find it hard to relax or find ‘me time’ for themselves, causing extreme physical exhaustion and emotional drain. But proper rest is essential. Reduce stress by scheduling a relaxation time for yourself, such as taking a weekly spa or massage therapy.
Medical Factors
Diagnosis of chronic, debilitating, or life-threatening disease, like ectopic pregnancy, ovarian tumor, or cervical cancer, may cause extreme worry or anxiety. Medical procedures can be extensive, invasive, and expensive, causing major financial and mental stress.
Counseling and thorough patient education are required to help patients cope with the stress associated with medical factors causing anxiety. Ask questions and raise any concerns to your doctor about diagnosis and treatment.
Other medical conditions that cause anxiety include the following:
- Stress associated with a medical condition
- Pain
- Medication side effects
- Symptoms of disease
- Mobility problems
Illicit Substances
According to a recent survey, 83% of women experienced depressed mood brought about by COVID-19, significantly impacting women’s mental health. Some people resort to alcoholism or self-medication to alleviate anxiety symptoms. Some people take illicit substances to combat daily stress, such as cannabis, heroin, cocaine, ketamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and hallucinogens. The use of these substances and even withdrawal from them cause anxiety and make the symptom worse.
Stop using drugs or alcohol and resort to more acceptable and positive coping strategies, such as gardening, workout (like yoga and Pilates), meditation, painting, interior designing, or taking a family vacation.
Also, you can avoid illicit substances by following these tips:
- Stay away from easy access to illicit substances, such as your pot buddies.
- Throw away expired drug prescriptions.
- Throw away any leftover supply of illegal drugs to avoid being tempted to use them again.
- Seek rehabilitation treatment.
Conclusion
The common causes of anxiety include genetic factors, altered brain chemistry, illicit substances, medical conditions, and environmental. Avoid sources of stress until you’re prepared to face them. Early professional consultation is highly recommended if symptoms have gone worse.
