Mental Health

How to Deal with Three Universal Threats Causing Stress and Anxiety

The awareness of universal threats and the ability to combat them can reduce the sense of helplessness.

Knowing What the Brain Loves and Hates

The brain fears incertitude, lack of knowledge, and loss of control. Thus, it detests them.

However, as I explain below, the brain loves opposites in certain conditions. It deliberates over internal and external threats, processing suggestive information, creating meanings, and attempting to create a sense of control.

As a result of this lengthy and arduous process, the body and brain are subjected to a significant amount of stress. Unless brought under control, this could cause chronic conditions and lead to unbearable problems.

Stress is unavoidable and cannot be eliminated completely as it is essential for our survival and growth. The body and brain possess an integrated stress management process.

While a little acute stress and mental reflection are great for our well-being, chronic stress and disproportionate anxiety are the root causes of many physical and mental health disorders.

From my reviews, observations, and experience, we can categorize the threats under three interrelated points: fear of uncertainty, lack of information, and loss of control, threatening our homeostasis.

In this post, I provide an overview of the key points and offer a few practical solutions in the final section.

As the topic is very complex and broad, I only provide glimpses from my perspectives for each point. Furthermore, since I aim to give an overview of practical solutions, I don’t cite scientific papers detailing the research for these well-documented universal threats.

1 — Lack of Information

Humans have tried hard to obtain information from their bodies and environment throughout history. Every bit of information helped them survive and thrive better.

Thus, adequate information to make our decisions and create lifestyle choices is essential for survival and well-being.

Lack of information is a known stressor because it can create uncertainty and the fear of losing control in some brain regions. I cover these two critical points in the subsequent two headings.

One essential function of the brain is seeking novelty. When information is inadequate, the brain works harder to fill the gap. This process consumes too much energy leading to excessive stress.

While adequate information is essential, paradoxically, too much information can also create excessive stress for the brain.

From my experience, two of the stress-creating aspects of excessive information are confusion and analysis paralysis. These two states lead to more stress and anxiety due to a lack of control and fear of uncertainty.

2 — Fear of Uncertainty

There is no certainty about life. We have no clue how the weather can be next week or month, how traffic can be in a crowded city, how the stock market can behave, and what other challenges might manifest in our life.

There are myriads of variables. If we accept this fact, we can prime the brain to accept uncertainty and deal with them more effectively.

Uncertainty creates two painful emotions. They are anxiety and fear. The fear of the unknown theory is well documented in the literature.

For example, this review paper on Frontier provided credible citations from the body of knowledge, also highlighting the theoretical gap.

While many people don’t like uncertainty and strive to be sure about situations, some adventurist people embrace it and include it in their lifestyle. Gambling, mystery fiction, and adrenalin-pumping activities are a few examples.

Interestingly, some people cannot enjoy life without excitement from these hobbies producing uncertainty. Thus, they seek them and invest in them.

3. Loss of Control

The thoughts and sensations created by losing control can create significant stress in the body and anxious thoughts in the brain.

More precisely, a lack of control in one’s life can develop a sense of helplessness, which is a stress and anxiety-inducing mental state.

Unsettled thoughts and unresolved emotions can cause a loss of control. From my experience and observations, people who lack emotional maturity and cognitive flexibility experience severe impulsivity.

Impulsive behavior is one of the major root causes of chronic stress. Repressing and numbing emotions can also cause loss of control in the long term.

Gaining control over the sources of stress is a valuable technique used by mental health professionals for chronic stress prevention and therapeutic interventions.

Our physical health depends on maintaining homeostasis. When the body loses balance, it takes instant and potent actions to bring it normally functioning state.

Lack of balance in our biological system is seen as losing control. Hence it creates substantial stress on the body and the brain.

What can we do to address these universal threats?

From my observations and experience, I can think of three broad approaches to consider in dealing with these threats.

As each point is comprehensive, I only highlight them in a statement format.

Firstly, using mindfulness practices, awareness of these three well-known threats to our survival is critical. Therefore, I briefly introduced their effect.

Secondly, we can improve our emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility using mindfulness practices leading to grit and resilience.

Thirdly, we can take personal responsibility for every situation in our life and obtain support from others like friends, thought leaders, and qualified medical professionals.

Previous articles provided practical tips about mindfulness practices, emotional regulation, emotional maturity, and cognitive flexibility. Thus, I won’t repeat them in this short post.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Whenever I feel excessive stress, I repeat the mantra, “everything is under control” and “everything is Figureoutable”. It helps me ground myself and gives me instant relief.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.

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