Anxiety, a friend that keeps you alive, but might stop you from living.

Acute anxiety can save your life quickly, chronic anxiety can kill you slowly.

Let’s look back at the bear in the woods analogy. Imagine the initial feelings at first sight of the bear making its way towards you. Can you imagine the fight or flight response? Your body has instantly issued you with the necessary chemicals and you make a run for it. You find a small cave and scramble inside. "Excellent, good job anxiety, you have saved me from the imminent threat of being eaten alive,” you think to yourself.

Now, depending on the type of person you are and how your mind responds to these situations, different scenarios are presented to you. At one end of the scale, the avoider will never feel that it is safe to leave the cave. The manifestation of fears of being attacked, dismembered or eaten will render this person frozen. Ultimately this person will starve to death, and most of the potential they had in life will be lost. Another option would be to resort to alcohol or drugs, which can dilute fears of leaving the cave. If the bear still happens to be there and you get attacked and eaten, well, at least you will be quite relaxed about the whole affair.

I’m going to assume that neither of these scenarios sounds entirely appealing, so we have to consider option 3. Dealing with the situation in a calm, controlled manner that works for you. If you are a fast runner, perhaps you could outrun the bear. If you are smart, perhaps you could distract the bear. If you are patient, perhaps you will wait until the bear is gone to pursue another victim or has fallen asleep. Whatever it takes to get you past the danger. This is how anxiety should be handled. Some people do this automatically but for a growing number of people staying in the cave is a more appealing and safer option. Getting out of this perceived “safety zone” is gradually becoming an impossible impasse.

Let's replace the bear with today's current mental health hazards lurking around every corner.

These include, but are not limited to:

• Financial uncertainty

• Social media

• The need for constant connectivity

• The fear of missing out (FOMO)

• Never-ending wars

• Political disillusionment

• Performance anxiety

• Climate change

• Inflation

• Endless swiping of reels, products and potential partners

How can we expect to process such a constant stream of information and emotions? Several "bears" are now after us daily. They are often too much to handle.

We are overwhelmed on so many fronts that masking, avoiding and 'staying in the cave' appear to be the only manageable solutions. This often involves withdrawing from social activities, procrastinating on important tasks and for some people, never leaving their house.“If I don’t interact or pay attention to the problems, they'll go away.” But they don't.

The other common coping strategy is suppressing feelings, for example with alcohol and/or drugs. While they might offer a temporary sense of relief, their effects are short-lived and can worsen the situation in the long run.

And then there is prescribed medication. In my work with clients struggling with anxiety, I've noticed a high prevalence of the use of medication to manage their condition. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most common medication prescribed for anxiety. From my own experience and conversations with clients and GPs, these give mixed results; while the side effects outweigh the benefits for some, for others they can be the difference between life and death. I can’t stress enough how important it is to speak with your GP about any prescribed medications to treat anxiety. However, it is important to remember that medication is often one piece of the puzzle and that it needs to be combined with therapy, mindfulness and self-care.

So how can we cope?

Anxiety is a complex emotion trying to work out its role in an evolving world. Like apps on a phone that need constant updating, we must upgrade how we think and process information if we hope to thrive. The last part of the series will explore practical tools to help you manage anxiety. We'll look at strategies that can be effective when you're feeling stressed and the critical steps to follow when it all gets too much.