Dealing With Anxiety
Do you feel overwhelmed by anxiety? I was listening to something Rick Warren said this morning on a downloadable message. He said, when you put God in the center of your life you worship. When God isn’t in the center of your life, you worry. How many of us worry? I would say a lot of us.
Two out of five Americans say they worry every day, according to a new white paper released by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Among the findings in the “Worry Less Report”: Millennials worry about money. Single people worry about housing (and money). Women generally worry more than men do and often about interpersonal relationships. The good news: Everyone worries less as they get older.
“People have a love-hate relationship with worry,” said Michelle Newman, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Pennsylvania State University, who was not involved in the writing of the report. “They think at some level that it helps them.”
We know that up to sixty million Americans are on medication for anxiety or depression. Worry is a big problem. Stress, anxiety, and just dealing with day to day survival is tough. It’s easy to say that if we put Jesus in the center of our lives, our worries disappear. For me personally, it’s not that I don’t trust Jesus or that I don’t have faith, sometimes I know that he will allow trials or waves in our lives to build up our faith even more.
We are all in the same boat. Even if my faith grows exponentially, I am still going to have concerns, trials and troubles. I have just gone through a litany of troubles and I’m in the midst of several tough circumstances right now. That is why we’re here. To help each other. Support each other. Encourage each other. There are fifty nine “each other” or “one another” phrases in the New Testament.
I believe God allows trials and troubles in some instances to bring the community together. I remember right after Hurricane Harvey watching an interview with someone who was rescuing people from their flooded out homes. In the background you could see people walking in waist deep water carrying black trash bags over their heads filled with their possessions. The gentleman being interviewed said something that caught my attention, “if you look around, you can see a lot of water as these people are trying to escape. But there is more love around here than water.” Boom. Ka Ching. That is what God is interested in. He wants us to grow in love and he wants us to support and love each other. So depending on our social support systems, family and friends is one place to go to when we are feeling anxious and stressed.
The Prince of Peace
Look at this excerpt from “Brave The Wave”,
Let me give you a typical conversation at work that happens so often it’s mind boggling. It usually starts by my saying, “Well, Mr. Thomas, we’ve received all your results, including the CT scans and all the blood work. Everything looks really good. I’m not sure why you’re having the dizziness and the tingling-all-over feeling, but it looks like there’s nothing dangerous going on here.” The patient looks down and seems disappointed. Slowly he looks up and asks—wait for it— “Doc, do you think it could be stress?”
Boom. There it is. Stress and anxiety.
More than one in five American adults took medications for psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression in 2010, according to new research by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Titled America’s State of Mind, the report released this November by the pharmacy benefit manager was based on its prescription medication database of 2.5 million insured Americans.[i]
What these trends do not reveal is that those are the people who went to a doctor and got a prescription. Think about the number of people who didn’t go see a physician, but instead have a few glasses of wine in the evening or a six pack of beer to “take the edge off.”
[i] https://www.anxiety.org/antianxiety-medication-use-soars-in-past-decade.
When it comes to anxiety and worry, Jesus wants us to come to him. To depend and rely on him. He wants us to focus on our relationship with him. He tells that worrying about our circumstances does nothing with regard to peace.
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27 NLT)
So really we start with Jesus and then we can spend time with our friends and family. Spending time with others is a good way to help deal with a stressful situation. It helps to know that you are not alone. If we start with a quiet time with Jesus in prayer and meditation and then have lunch with friends or family, we are well on our way to decreasing our level of stress. We know that we aren’t alone. That is really helpful when it comes to dealing with anxiety.
The Power of A Hot Bath
I love Seth Godin. He has some great insights and ideas. He also believes in the sharing of ideas. I’m a big fan of that also. If I learn something that is helpful when you feel overwhelmed by anxiety and you are struggling with the stress of every day life, I want to share it. I just went through a very stressful situation and I was suffering spiritual pain. The kind of hurt you feel when someone dies or when someone you love rejects you and leaves you. There was an intense pain that could only be described as spiritual.
I’m going to recommend something that isn’t very manly, but it works. What I discovered was soaking in a hot bath tub is a great anxiety reliever. Most of the time when we think of soaking in a hot tub and a bubble bath, we think of women. Well, women have it right when it comes to stress relief. Here are some of the physiologic responses to a hot bath that bring serenity and peace.
“Stress causes the muscles of the body to contract,” says Dr. Mark Khorsandi, a migraine surgeon in Houston, Texas. “A hot bath can relieve those symptoms and keep the muscles loose.” Stretching and moving in the water also provides a low-impact workout for discomfort in muscles, joints, and bones.
This has been true for Alaina Leary, 24, who regularly takes hot baths to help manage chronic pain from living with Ehlers-Danlos, a disorder that affects the connective tissues. When she was first diagnosed at the age of 9 in 2002, she recalls feeling extremely breakable. “I was slower than other kids. I had trouble running [and] walking one foot at a time.”
After working with different physical and occupational therapists, she began using warm baths during pain flare-ups. In the evenings, she would set aside time to ease into the tub and let her muscles relax.
Many people who have chronic illnesses report feelings of depression and despair. Khorsandi says hot baths can provide physical comfort and contentment, and can ease the blues that are associated with chronic pain.
https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-pain/hot-bath-benefits-sento-furo-japanese-bathing#3
When it comes to hot baths, the Romans were doing that 2000 years ago.
Ancient Rome had hundreds and hundreds of bath houses. This is a steam room in Pompeii, Italy. If you get a chance to visit Pompeii, I would do it. It’s the closest thing to traveling back in time that you can find.
So when we are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, start with a quiet time with Jesus. Maybe read a devotional like “Jesus Calling”. Spend time in prayer and in the Word.
Second, spend time with friends and family. Remember that with a good social support system, its easier to deal with anxiety and stress because you know that you aren’t alone.
Third, take a long hot bath. It will relax your muscles and help you to feel more at ease.
We are all in this together. We are here to support and love each other. But Jesus reminds us that we are never alone. We should always remember that.