Recently, in a brief departure from the usual photos of my (admittedly very cute) dogs, my mom sent me a link to a New York Times article discussing the likely reasons we’re seeing an unprecedented number of American teenagers who suffer from severe anxiety. The article concludes that a lack of familiarity with and a debilitating fear of failure together culminate in the present phenomenon of “acutely anxious teenagers.” Certainly, my time at Rice has awakened me to just how susceptible my peers and myself are to emotional and mental distress brought on by academic performance that fails to meet our high personal standards, standards that often prove unattainable given the rigor of college courses. Published by the HeartMath Institute, The Coherent Heart: Heart-Brain Interactions, Psychophysiological Coherence, and the Emergence of System-Wide Order provides a thought-provoking perspective on the interconnected nature of our physiological, cognitive, and emotional systems.
Because of personal experience, I was less than surprised to read in The Coherent Heart that our emotional state can impair the proper functioning of our physiological systems. As early as high school, I became well acquainted with the ways in which stress and anxiety physically manifest themselves in my own body. Homework, tests, extracurriculars, college applications, relationship drama, and self-esteem issues all took their toll. At times, the pressure I placed on myself to be as near “perfect” as possible felt almost incapacitating. It seemed as though I was never able to simply stop and enjoy the present, because I was too preoccupied with worrying about either the past or the future. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I ever had panic attacks during this time, but my body definitely took note of my emotional state, and reacted accordingly. Rarely did I find myself able to completely relax, and during periods of particularly acute stress, I would often get stomach pains for which there lacked any physical explanation, at least insofar as an underlying medical condition was concerned. In the aforementioned New York Times article, a teenage boy interviewed about his severe anxiety said that while a “normal” person may be familiar with the sensation of his/her stomach lurching when confronted with situations like a pop quiz, he began to experience that feeling all the time, a state of being I think many anxiety-suffers can empathize with.
The Coherent Heart taught me that the fluid, harmonious physiological regulation of life processes do in fact generate positive emotions, with the “rhythms and patterns” of psychophysiological activity being of particular importance. Often, it can be tempting to view stressors as entirely external in nature, and therefore beyond our control. However, this conception of stress diminishes the autonomy we have in choosing how to respond to anxiety-provoking situations, as well as the necessity of cultivating healthy and productive responses to stress, so that our bodies – and especially our hearts – do not suffer in consequence. That being said, I also believe due attention must be paid to reevaluating the norms and values that presently govern our society, in which the pursuit of a narrowly-defined understanding of “success” frequently comes at the cost of our physical health and emotional well-being. Of course, at the end of the day, persistent and/or severe anxiety should be treated by a mental health professional, so seek help if you’re struggling to cope.
For more information on anxiety and depression, check out the list of resources we previously compiled in conjunction with the Rice Alliance for Mental Health Awareness.