What is Anxiety?
The term ‘anxiety’ encompasses a group of mental health conditions characterized by excessive worry and fear that impacts your day-to-day life. Many people will struggle with anxiety or worry at some point in their lives; however, some people will experience symptoms that are more severe, last for prolonged periods or significantly interfere with their quality of life. These people may meet criteria for an anxiety disorder.
Kinds of Anxiety
There are many forms of anxiety. The tips and tricks included within this resource apply to all types of anxiety. So thankfully, you do not need to know what form of anxiety you are dealing with before you begin your journey.
Some types of anxiety are:
Generalized Anxiety
This is a very common form of anxiety where there is generalized worry in one’s day-to-day life.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is anxiety related to socializing or social situations. It is often characterized by self-consciousness and fear of speaking.
Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder
OCD is a disorder where one experiences repeated cycles of uncomfortable or unsettling thoughts where the reprieve is performing small, repeated actions.
Separation Anxiety
This is an anxiety disorder related to worrying about loved ones or comfort spaces when one is away.
Panic Disorder
A disorder where one experiences frequent but random panic attacks.
Where Does Anxiety Come From?
Anxiety is a collection of feelings like fear, apprehension, and worry. While these are all completely natural emotions, when they start interfering with your day-to-day life, these feelings may hint to an underlying anxiety disorder.
Anxiety first evolved as a helpful tool or ‘gut feeling’ to keep humans out of danger. For people with an anxiety disorder, this evolutionary response becomes hypersensitive to many different experiences, even those that do not pose an immediate danger or threat to your safety.
Anxiety can be triggered by several factors, such as stress, life changes, or a physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually taxing environment. You are also more likely to develop an anxiety disorder if you have other health conditions, a traumatic past, or a close family member with an anxiety disorder. This means Indigenous families are more likely to deal with anxiety because of a combination of generational trauma and genetics.
The history of Indigenous people being persecuted has created such stressful environments that many people have developed mental disorders like anxiety as a result. For the people that directly experienced traumas like residential schools, the anxiety was a way to survive the legitimate dangers brought on by the environment. However, once the direct threat was gone, many of the mental conditions stuck around, being passed through both behavioural patterns and genes. This led to multiple generations of Indigenous people not knowing how to raise their children in a mentally and culturally healthy way.
Until this day, there are also realistic dangers still threatening Indigenous people at a higher rate than non-Indigenous people, leaving them with a greater likelihood to develop a disorder due to the higher amounts of fear and stress in their lives. This is understandable. It is your body’s way of protecting you and is not something to be beaten or bested, it is something to work with.
The historical persecution of Indigenous peoples has fostered highly stressful environments, leading many individuals to develop mental health disorders such as anxiety. For those who directly faced traumas, like attending residential schools, anxiety served as a survival mechanism against genuine threats in their surroundings. However, once these immediate dangers subsided, many mental health issues persisted, passed down by generations through both behavioral patterns and genetics.
Consequently, multiple generations of Indigenous people have struggled to raise their children in a mentally and culturally healthy way. Furthermore, present-day realities still pose significant threats to Indigenous communities, increasing their likelihood of developing disorders due to heightened levels of fear and stress. This response is completely understandable; it reflects your body’s instinct to protect you and is not something to be beaten or bested, it is something to work with.
Many Indigenous people also struggle more with their mental health due to the drastic differences between their traditional ways of life practiced only generations ago and the colonized way of life forced on Indigenous people today. Modern Indigenous people have less access to the land and being outside due to current jobs being focused on technology and largely indoors. Current jobs can also make it harder for many people to feel fulfilled and can lead to decreased mental health as it is harder to see progress in a lot of work, different to the tactical work done for centuries.
There is also a significant decrease in community among Indigenous people. For example, Michif Old Ones talked of everyone within their Métis community taking care of each other when they were growing up but say that they notice it is much more difficult to rely on each other now that Métis people have mostly urbanized. Where Indigenous people were traditionally able to rely on each other, there is now a large disconnect. All these differences in life can lead to unbalanced health, affecting your spiritual connection, mental fulfillment, emotional ties, and physical health.
The Impacts of Anxiety on 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous People
2SLGBTQ+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, et cetera) Indigenous people experience all the same types of racism and racial discrimination but also experience extra stress due to gender and sexuality related discrimination. There is a long history of erasure of 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous people in North America on top of discrimination towards the LGBTQ+ community in general. Because of all of these extra stressors and discrimination, 2SLGBTQ+ Indigenous people are more likely to experience anxiety disorders.
Culture and ceremony do not work for all Indigiqueer, Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ people as a source for mental health support. It can sometimes be a space where homophobia and transphobia are present, and it can make mental health worse. If you are seeking cultural or ceremonial supports, it is often helpful to know or seek an Elder, Old One, or Knowledge Keeper who is willing to create safe spaces for Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer and LGBTQ+ people. Talking to other self-identified Indigiqueer, Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+ community members is one way of finding Elders who are accepting and getting ideas about where to access more culturally relevant and traditionally based supports. This also brings along a community of other 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigiqueer people which can help bring understanding and grounding. It is also empowering to know that there are practices and ceremonies that you can do on our own like cedar baths, hunting, and tea.
How Anxiety Impacts Each Aspect of Your Being
Anxiety is not just a mental or emotional feeling of fear, it expands out to every part of your being. Noticing the different effects anxiety can have on the components of your being can help to work with them or alter them so that you can work towards a more balanced life. This list is not extensive, and you may experience other effects, so reflection and observation are key.
Emotional
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Panic or anxiety attacks
- Often feeling “on edge” or as though you are “in fight or flight mode”
- Sense of dread
Mental
- Brain fog
- Difficulty concentrating
- Having thoughts of the worst possible outcome
- Dwelling on fears
- Overthinking
Spiritual
- Difficulty connect to your spirituality
- Feeling of disconnect or fear towards your community and the world around you
Physical
- Sweaty palms
- Tight or clenched muscles like your jaw or hands
- Shallow breathing
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Fidgeting
- Fatigue