3 Steps of Anxiety Overload - and How You Can Take Back Control | Lisa Damour | TED 

Pretty good summary by ChatGPT: I. Introduction - Anxiety has both healthy and unhealthy forms - Healthy anxiety serves as an alarm system that keeps us safe - Unhealthy anxiety occurs when there is no threat or when the anxiety response is out of proportion to the event II. The Three Steps of Anxiety Overload - Body Reacts - Physical reaction includes increased heart rate and quick, shallow breathing - Sympathetic nervous system prepares body for fight or flight - Decision to Call It Anxiety - We decide to label the physical reaction as anxiety - This can be arbitrary but can also be helpful - Catastrophic Thinking - Overestimating risks and underestimating our ability to manage the risks - Leads to a feeling of helplessness and misery III. How to Take Back Control - Calming the Body - Controlled breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system and reset the body to its resting state - Square breathing or box breathing can be helpful - Reframing Thoughts - Shifting our thinking from "I must be anxious" to "I'm excited" can make a difference - Questioning our own thinking and assessing our ability to manage risks - Exposure - Avoidance feeds anxiety and makes it worse - Exposure can help reduce anxiety by facing our fears IV. Helping Others Manage Anxiety - Validate that anxiety makes sense most of the time - Teach people to use breathing, reframing, or questioning their thinking to turn down the dial on anxiety - Encourage children to describe their feelings in more detail to bring more nuance to the language they use around anxiety Overall, anxiety can be a normal and healthy response, but it can also become overwhelming and unhealthy. Understanding the three steps of anxiety overload and how to take back control through calming the body, reframing thoughts, and exposure can help us manage anxiety and feel more in control.

One of the best TED talks I have listened to! It's helpful to remind ourselves that anxiety isn't inherently bad, but it does require our attention to examine it more closely. Plus, it is always a good idea to try to be accurate with your feelings, especially when it's the conversation you are having with yourself. Although the answers as to why you are feeling what you are feeling may not be pleasant for you, accepting the situation you are fighting in is a first step to healing and recovery.

Anxiety is alerting us what we need to take care of internally. Not easy but can be incredibly transformative. Great tips

Wow, this is the most articulate, clear and helpful thing I’ve ever seen about anxiety, thank you for that!

THIS CHAT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES!HONEY THANK YOU FOR SO MUCH EXPRESSING, EVERYTHING!!!GOD BLESS YOU 🙌

In my opinion anxiety have 6 stresses agent n have gotten into a few category stress agent like : ~. wake up in the morning but feeling in the body tire more than usually.. ~. our body have limped at work moments.. ~. and then drowse easier .. ~. from can ate pattern didn't directed ~. our body have feeble to wake up on evening day.. ~. after this spirit to work more than usually.. ~. hard to goes to sleep again.. (Can be too from pattern sleep didn't directed).. Etc Instead many other stresses agent didn't to instructions .. But thanks for sharing your experiences Mrs. Lisa damour.. Nice too meet you .. Thanks ..

On her point with teenagers, don't immediately dismiss the anxiety. This generation of teenagers is the first generation raised with the modern internet and connection surrounding them since birth, we weren't designed to handle this amount of connection. Combine that with the hormonal soup that comes with puberty and adolescence and it's no wonder more kids are anxious these days.

If only every therapist was this clear. Truly anxious minds are reeling in a soup, and a beginner clearly plain statement like the one relayed in this video is necessary to cut through the noise. Then it can be followed by exploration of catastrophic thinking.

Glad I found this. I was diagnosed with severe anxiety many years ago (it seems to run in my family, my father and brother have it) and have been on Zoloft twice and am now beginning Lexapro, almost 3 weeks in and my anxiety is a lot higher and seems to be slowly settling. I am searching for a therapist fit and hopefully I will find one. This did help give me a better understanding and a proper way to use breathing. Thank you.

Great message but I can't help be impressed by how amazing her apartment is! Lovely furniture, colors, and use of space

One of the most useful videos I've seen about dealing with anxiety. (and she's beautiful to boot)

I love her energy, just watching the video improved my mood! Great topic aswell.

It's just unfortunate that we'll know that watching this doesn't change a thing but ourselves do change us

I found this incredibly helpful with concrete exercises and simple explanations. Thank you, Lisa and David!

I'd like to know what tips & advice she'd give to corrections officers & 1st responders who HAVE to deal with traumatic incidents, anxiety & distress on a regular basis. Not much time for square breathing in the middle of a stabbing.

I love this Ted talk so much. She explained anxiety in a way that's very easy to understand and offered ways that are practical to use. She also answered those questions really well!!!

Wow, thank you Lisa. Now I can work on things that makes me anxious.

Thank you very much for this, Lisa and TED!

anxiety stops you from getting too fat, from wasting money, from crossing the road with out looking etc etc etc. But too much stops us from doing Everything!

I nev would believe that slow breathing works. did yesterday with an anxiety attack and it totally worked. you have to focus though.

Thank you for box breathing hack. Really help ❤

This reminds of of the zoom talks we'd have from my previous employers health and well being executive. She was a very similar looking well spoken blonde, white woman giving us advice on how to cope with lockdown. The irony of it was that like this lady she was talking from a home office whose area looked almost as large as the ground floor of my house. Others in the call were listening in from their tiny bedrooms, some with bikes behind them.

I've been suffering with anxiety ever since I had neighbours during the pandemic playing loud music all the time into late hours of the night. Now, everytime I ear my neighbours, no matter what they are doing, or even if it is low, my Anxiety spikes to the point I have to use earplugs to take a nap or just leave the house altogether. The loud neighbours are gone and the breathing exercises help so I can sleep well, but I stil struggle with it everyday.

1. breathing（biological feedback） 2. mind shift（anxious excited） 3. narrow the gap（imagination and ability）

Breathing…wow…how insightful. Really sick of mental health professionals thinking someone who suffers from debilitating anxiety can just cure themselves with some deep breaths. It’s obvious she’s never been a sufferer. If breathing was the cure, there wouldn’t be months long waiting lists to see therapists.

"We suffer more in imagination than in reality." -Seneca

I went to the party and it was just as bad as I thought. Now, I'm making the most of the rent I pay 🤷‍♂️

What can someone do if the body doesn’t get in the fight or flight modus and rather freeze and is unable to do anything?

Should I go down that dark alley or not 🤔 .✌️ It's Extremely useful.

breath，reframe thought， exposure， three steps

Yea laws and people make it impossible we have no control

Hello! When I have panic attacks, my breathing doesn't change. I don't like breathing techniques and I don't believe in those techniques.

Being anxious all the time bc there are countless legitimate things to worry about still sucks. It's like yes I know this is a problem thanks, I noticed. I can't change it though so shut up you're making it worse. So in theory I get how it can be helpful but that would be in a world where there's only a few things to worry about not an endless number. So I would add no 3 - anxiety is bullshit when you can't change what gives you anxiety. Like having to work for money. Just generally having to interact with people. Etc.

Step 1: change the world

I think that its the mind more than the lungs but it totally works.

anxiety is the BODY's response to fear. So, what are you afraid of ? Be a 'witness' _ _ face it, embrace it and chase it. Be fearless, timeless & self-reliant. Fear stands no chance.

♥️

This is not helpful for those of us that feel anxiety and despair due to events beyond our control that will harm us (like a deteriorating medical condition that will kill us - particularly associated with breathing in my case - or a condition that will cause ongoing pain where doctors have exhausted all options, like my brother).

انا عبدارحمان

Funniest comment I've read for many a year.

When I feel one coming on I close my eyes and think of Sun shining on me with deep breathing. That helps me.

My Indian therapist misdiagnosis my anxiety as a result to my predator living under the same roof as me

In Europe, and possibly everywhere, we are in the brink of a (nuclear) war, facing huge and uninterrupted immigration from Africa and Middle East, experiencing uncontrolled climate changes..... !!!! If today you are not anxious, you probably live in another planet. Sorry, but I find this speech to be so banal and insignificant!

first

All these scientific explanations still does not address the root cause and cure for anxiety. No offense lady, but over-anxiety can only be eliminated by one and only one solution and it's not these scientific jargon. I mean, it's good to know the biological aspect of all these but the fact is, anxiety is foundationally a problem of lack of self awareness (little understanding) and wrong positioning in life. In other words, ignorance of the spiritual aspect of our existence on this planet. When you ignore this and attempt to tackle anxiety by this so-called scientific whatever, you will end up with wrong attitude, false life and believing your own lies. No human being can avoid over anxiety (anxious spirit) if there soul is all messed up. I really feel sorry for anyone who does not believe in the existence of God and doesn't want to know him. If you do not want to end up like a lab rat for some scientist out there seek God now.

Step four, benzodiazepines.

Oh please. Do not use the term 'Hack'. It's so 2020 and you do yourself a disservice by using it. That was trendy a minute ago (see what I did there?) Nothing you can teach me to manage anxiety is a 'Hack', certainly deep breathing is not. What you're trying to convey here is fundamental, useful and I thank you for that but don't suffer the pitfalls of trendy language.

Sorry,but I haven't heard anything knew...