Anxiety is a big health issue that affects people in the UK.
According to Priory Group, in any given week in England, six in 100 people are diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and in 2022/23, an average of 37.1% of women and 29.9% of men reported high levels of anxiety in the UK.
Many people experience a feeling of fear, worry or general unease that we all get from time to time. However, if these feelings persist, or are so extreme that they considerably affect normal life, you could have an anxiety disorder, according to the experts.
If you feel like you’re suffering, the first port of call is to consult a GP, who may be able to recommend such treatment as talking therapies, medicines or a referral to a community mental health team. However, self-help coach and author Lisa Houghton also helps sufferers with her additional tips they can do at home.
Lisa, who says she ‘helps people break free from anxiety’, regularly shares her tips with her 231,000 followers on her @simply_anxious account. And in her latest reel, she spoke about three symptoms that show your nervous system is ‘waving a red flag’.
The anxiety expert shared a short clip of a coffee cup which had overlay text over it. This read: “I’m not faking feeling overwhelmed, exhausted or anxious. I’m just tired of faking being okay.”
The post also talked about someone ‘smiling when they were struggling’ and saying ‘I’m fine’ when their life is falling apart.
It added: “Life expects meta be okay. To pull myself together. It doesn’t give me the time or space to stop and heal.
“Well enough! I’m choosing me. I’m making healing a priority! My wellbeing matters. I matter!”
Lisa followed up in the caption by adding: “You can’t diet, sleep, or smile your way out of trauma and emotional depletion. And no amount of ‘positive thinking’ or faking it until you make it will rewire a nervous system stuck in survival mode.
“When your body has spent years gripping onto stress as a form of protection, it’s not doing it to betray you it’s doing it to keep you safe. It needs you to acknowledge why it learned to do this. Until then, it will keep taking centre stage, demanding your attention.”
Lisa then shared the three symptoms that your ‘nervous system is waving a red flag’. These were, anxiety, fatigue and brain fog. She added: “These aren’t random symptoms.
They’re not signs of weakness. And there definitely not something you can fake!
“They’re your nervous system waving a red flag, begging you to slow down, to listen, to create space for healing. Recognising this is the first step to recovery.”
Lisa concluded by telling followers that they ‘don’t need to push harder’, but instead should reconnect and support themselves ‘to create a life where your nervous system can finally feel safe.’
She added: “Your healing matters. You matter.”
People were loving the post, with it racking up hundreds of likes. One person wrote: “Love this reminder to choose yourself, above everything.” While another added: “You definitely matter! We all do, loving this.”
A third chimed in: “Coming home to self, honouring self, self-compassion. That’s healing, love this.”