Anxiety? Here’s Why It Happens at the Same Time Every Day

Some 40 million Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder.  And the Mayo Clinic says people who have these disorders “frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations.”

Desreen Dudley, a licensed clinical psychologist says anxiety is often “accompanied by physical symptoms of sweating, heart palpitations, stomach pains or nausea.”  She says that, because our brains can learn anxiety, “our bodies and brains often learn to react with anxiety at a certain time of day or in certain situations.”

Similarly, we can associate something anxiety-provoking that happened in the past with a time of day in our present.

Experts add that recurring anxiety could also be a sign of having generalized anxiety disorder, or metabolic and hormonal imbalances.  Previous research has shown that anxiety symptoms tend to be more severe in the afternoon or evening compared with the morning.

To overcome or prevent recurring anxiety, pay attention to when it happens each day, rate your anxiety on a scale of 0-10, note the accompanying thoughts and physical sensations you experience with your anxiety, and note any context that might be relevant (if you slept poorly the night before, the last time you had coffee, if you had a stressful work day, etc.).

Then, don’t avoid the anxiety, but try to do things that are meaningful without getting held back by it.  You could also distract yourself by taking a walk break or a stretch, or reading.
There’s more, here:  (Yahoo)

• Experts say anxiety attacks can sometimes happen at the same times of day over and over because our bodies learn anxiety, or because we associate something anxiety-provoking that happened in the past with a time of day in our present, etc
• You can make note of when your anxiety crops up and then try to distract yourself from it by talking a walk, or doing something else