Understanding Anxiety in the Highly Sensitive: Techniques to Live Balanced & Calm
Anxiety is the most common mental illness. “An estimated 31.1% of U.S. adults experience any anxiety disorder at some time in their lives.” (1) I would estimate that the number might be double for highly sensitive people (HSPs). In fact, most sensitive people I have worked with across the globe experience increased anxiety. What’s interesting is that during my years of practicing psychotherapy, every person that came to me with problems with anxiety was also an HSP (had the trait scientifically known as sensory processing sensitivity), whether they knew it or not.
Part of the culprit for seeing such high anxiety in sensitive people is the overactivation of the amygdala in the brain, which is responsible for the fight or flight response. It’s job is to protect us so we can fight or run from danger.2
Anxiety Explained
The amygdala, in the emotional center of the brain, identifies something as a threat, and that triggers the release of adrenaline, so it is preparing the body to face the threat (to fight) or to flee.
Your heart starts racing and breathing quickens. Blood passages expand to get more oxygen through the blood into your muscles so you can fight or flee. Muscles get tense and ready for action.
Your pupils dilate and your peripheral vision shrinks so you can focus more on the threat in front of you.
Digestion and other systems shut down so all energy can be directed to fighting or fleeing. This is why you might experience digestive issues or stomachaches when anxious.
You even stop salivating, which is why you can get a dry mouth when anxious.
Blood flow is diverted away from nerves involved in arousal, causing your sex drive to turn off.
Anxiety evolved as a way to protect us so we can escape danger. But for humans, we worry and stress about a lot of things, which triggers the fight or flight system even when we don’t need it. Stress caused by traffic jams, money issues, upcoming events, and even criticism can all trigger the same physiological response as it would if a lion were about to attack you. This is increased even more for those of us who are sensitive.
Our hectic urban lifestyle triggers a lot of stress in everyday situations for the highly sensitive nervous system.
Symptoms of High Stress
Racing heart
Tense muscles
Dry mouth
Stomachaches
Lack of sex drive
The cognitive (logical) part of the brain can help support the emotional part of the amygdala, but many HSPs lose access to the cognitive part at some point every day. When the emotional brain is too overactive, we lose access to the cognitive part.
If left untreated and the fight or flight system is too overactivated, anxiety can become debilitating and sometimes lead to panic attacks that can happen at any moment. Whatever we keep activating grows.
Some Types of Anxiety
Separation anxiety
Certain intense fears or irrational phobias
Social anxiety
Fears of being watched or judged
Fear of losing control
Fear of uncertainty
Obsessive compulsive disorder
If you didn’t get the support you needed as a sensitive child, you are more likely to experience anxiety. You are also more likely to be anxious if you have a parent with anxiety or experienced a traumatic event. Many people turn to alcohol or drugs to try to numb the effects of anxiety, but these can actually make it worse.
Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to manage anxiety naturally. Seeking mental health counseling is a sign of strength and can be a great way to support you at your core.
In my course, Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person: Techniques to Reduce Anxiety and Overwhelming Emotions, I teach methods that help purposefully activate the cognitive brain to support the emotional brain. One of those methods is a breathing practice that helps slow your heart rate and lets your brain know to activate the calming centers.
Close your eyes (80 percent of our stimulation is in our eyes).
Breathe in for the count of 4.
Hold your breath for the count of 2.
Exhale, counting to 7.
Because you do not breath this way when you are in danger, it sends a signal to your brain that you are not being threatened and you don’t want the fight or flight system activated. The long exhale activates a calming center in your brain that de-activates the stress center. They can’t be activated at the same time so if you do practices that activate the calming center you will feel so much better! Do this up to seven cycles at a time, and you can practice this technique throughout the day. So many HSPs have shared how much this has helped them.
Many HSPs can be sensitive to medications and their side effects so it is worth trying some natural techniques and alternatives first.
Natural Alternatives and Techniques to Try
Turn off notifications on your phone. Every time you hear or see a notification your brain goes into action mode.
Practice the 4/2/7 breathing technique.
Become mindful in nature. Notice all the beauty around you. Being present in nature is incredibly calming to the sensitive nervous system.
Meditation helps slow the nervous system down and activates calming centers. What you activate grows, so if you practice meditation daily, you will also be activating calming centers daily!
Therapy can help you work out issues at your core and better understand how to support yourself in your daily life.
Connecting to other HSPs can be so important. Because only 20 percent of us have this trait, we can often feel very different than those around us. It’s one of my favorite things about my Sensitive Empowerment community that helps normalize and validate our experiences.
~Julie Bjelland is a licensed psychotherapist, author, and founder of the online resource, Sensitive Empowerment. As a leader in the field of high sensitivity, Julie has helped thousands of highly sensitive people (HSPs) around the world reduce their challenges, access their gifts, and discover a sense of inner strength, calm, confidence, and resiliency they have never thought possible. Giving people a sense of true connection, Julie is featured on national media regularly and on a mission to empower sensitive people to live their best lives. www.SensitiveConnection.com
1. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml
