Our brains are hardwired to prioritize threatening information. It’s a survival mechanism that served our ancestors well when predators were a real daily concern. But in the digital age, the “threats” never stop coming. This constant influx of negativity tricks the brain into believing the world is in a state of perpetual catastrophe, quietly sending our baseline anxiety into the stratosphere.

If anyone has ever told you, “You’re just shy,” or “That’s because you are an introvert,” you are not alone. Social anxiety is often misunderstood and frequently minimized as nothing more than a quiet personality or a preference for solitude. But social anxiety is not the same thing as introversion, and confusing the two can prevent people from getting the understanding and support they need.

If you’re a woman experiencing anxiety, you might wonder why it feels like your mood shifts throughout the month or during certain life stages. The answer often lies in your hormones. While we typically associate women’s hormones with fertility, they play a much broader role in mental health and emotional well-being. Women are diagnosed with anxiety disorders at higher rates than men, and their hormonal fluctuations play a significant role in this disparity. Understanding the connection between hormones and anxiety can help you make sense of what you’re experiencing and take steps to manage it more effectively.

Anxiety has a sneaky way of making us believe that avoiding what scares us is the safest choice. That job interview you keep postponing, the social event you decline, or the difficult conversation you sidestep can all feel like relief, but only in the moment. Here’s what anxiety doesn’t tell you: the more you avoid it, the stronger it becomes.

Soothing your nervous system might sound easier said than done. But there are practical steps you can take each day to calm down, center yourself, and soothe your nervous system from the inside out. Doing so can help you reduce the risk of some of the issues above and leave you feeling more relaxed and healthy.

As parents, we feel it is our job to protect our children from fear, discomfort, pain, and failure. Unfortunately, as hard as we try, we cannot protect them from everything. The key to helping an anxious child thrive isn’t to remove all the obstacles; it’s to gently guide them toward independence while validating their emotional experience.

The fear of rejection can profoundly affect our relationships. This anxiety goes beyond normal disappointment, manifesting as an intense worry about being disliked or abandoned. It stems from our fundamental need for connection and belonging, potentially casting a shadow over romantic, platonic, and familial bonds.

Social anxiety can feel crippling and overwhelming and one of the best ways to deal with any kind of anxiety is to understand the root cause. When it comes to social anxiety, neuroscience has revealed that the fear of being evaluated is the underlying cause. Let’s take a closer look at what that means for you.

Social anxiety is a diagnosis; fear of failure involves distorted thought patterns. Either of these issues can seriously hamper your daily life. You can get stuck in patterns of behavior that hold you back and negatively impact your physical health, too. Plus, these two conditions are often connected. 

The holidays are right around the corner, and while for many people they are a time of joy, fun, and celebration, there’s no question that they can also be a little overwhelming. In some cases, they can even cause a lot of anxiety. 

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) impacts millions of people across the globe. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 6% of all U.S. adults will experience it at some point in their lives.  It can be crippling, controlling, and leave you with a variety of symptoms that will negatively affect your quality of life. 

Anxiety can largely affect your physical health, too — including your heart. While it is, indeed, a mental health condition, the lasting impact of anxiety on your heart can be a serious risk to your health and pose lasting negative consequences. 

Maybe you didn’t have that comforting, reassuring relationship. Maybe issues from your childhood actually do more harm than good today when it comes to bolstering your anxiety. Thankfully, there are ways to reparent yourself. Doing so can help to heal childhood wounds so you can feel a sense of security when faced with anxious thoughts.

Research suggests that anxiety tends to get worse at night. That can lead to bedtime procrastination. Some people with high anxiety might put off going to bed because they know it’s a negative experience and their anxiety is likely to peak.

Millions of people across the globe struggle with anxiety. If there’s a silver lining to anxiety wreaking such havoc on the world, it’s that there are a variety of treatment and management solutions to keep it under control.

No matter if it’s related to work or your personal life, something is always troubling you. You’ve done the research, and you’ve narrowed your signs and symptoms down to two different diagnoses: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or anxiety.

For children with social anxiety, a social outing could mean emotional explosions, sudden bedridden stomach aches, and refusals to get out the front door. While shyness tends to go away on its own, social anxiety sticks around. How do you know which one your child is exhibiting?

We often associate anxiety with adults. Children can experience it just as often, and it can wreak havoc on their young minds. When you consider all of the things kids could potentially be worried about, it’s overwhelming.

Anxiety isn’t always something you can just brush off and push through. When it becomes chronic, symptoms can affect your daily life and school performance. So you’re not being “dramatic” if things get difficult whenever your nerves feel high.

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, mindfulness has emerged as a powerful tool to manage and overcome anxiety. This ancient practice offers a contemporary approach to mental health and is supported by science. Let’s explore how mindfulness can improve anxiety.