Anxiety and Parkinson's

Anxiety is an emotion that we all feel at sometime or another in our lives. When we are very young, we express it as a “funny feeling” or just act out in anger or simply revert inward. Remember those days when you had a belly ache and just could not go to school? Often it was a defense mechanism to avoid something at school, like a bully, or a test or gym class. We did not even know there was a word for that feeling until later when we realized what we were experiencing was anxiety.

People become anxious for all sorts of reasons, but mostly it involves insecurity, fear or something about the unknown. Sometimes being anxious is actually a good thing because it changes us physiologically to react by producing more adrenaline which increases our heart rate and breathing. Often this works in our favor when we are in a fight or flight dilemma. It is good to feel anxiety when we are in the path of an ongoing vehicle so we do something about -and quickly! The problem comes when we feel anxious often and many times for “no good reason.” Eventually, your body and mind feel the repercussions of prolonged anxiety and your daily life becomes impacted. We experience headaches, ulcers, fatigue and depression.

Everyone has anxiety in his or her lives and most are able to find ways of handling it. Some of the better ways of managing the signs and symptoms of feeling nervous and anxious are: yoga, meditation and exercise. However, many of us go down a different road and have some wine, Haagen-Dazs and binge watch TV shows. Somehow we find a way to get through our anxious time, except when there are circumstances beyond our control, like having a chronic degenerative disease, such as Parkinson’s, in which anxiety is a major factor.

I belong to an online support group for patients who have Parkinson’s and so many posts are on the topics of anxiety and depression as a part of the disease. Of course, it makes perfect sense when you understand that Parkinson’s is a result of a lack of dopamine getting from the brain to the body. So when your hands, legs and head tremor and you tell them to stop, it is frustrating and tiring when nothing happens. It is scary and you do feel out of control. In addition, dopamine relates to your overall mental well being. So a lack of this neurotransmitter (a chemical that transmits or carries messages from the brain to the body and other parts of the brain) leads to feelings of anxiety and depression.

So what is there to do??? Many patients with Parkinson’s are prescribed medication that helps with anxiety and depression. Be honest with your health care provider and admit if you have bouts of feeling anxious and/or depressed. Your body needs help to cope with these disease-specific conditions. You do not have to suffer. There are new generations of antidepressants that are very effective. Help yourself to help yourself.

In addition, practice mediation where you self-talk yourself through an anxious episode. Join a support group. It is very helpful to listen and to talk to others who understand your specific problems. Get out and about as much as you can. It is important to continue living a normal life, especially when you just feel like hiding. Also, I find so much strength in my faith, so I pray a lot. It calms me to know I am not facing these tough times alone.

Finally, it is important to reach out even when you do not feel like it. Find joy in your life by asking your friends and family for help. Even a small gesture like going to lunch may take your mind off things for awhile. Anxiety can be handled…..you can do it!

Reference: Image from Pinterest