Anxiety

Welcome to Brevis Talk. The talks you are about to hear will be honest, revealing, and unfiltered. Join us as your host. Pastor Wayne Whiteside lifts the lid of silence and has conversations about mental illness and health in the church. The goal here is simple. It is to help someone along this journey of life who is struggling. It is to tell the truth to the unsuspecting and it is to lighten the load of a fellow traveler. This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as medical advice or to replace consultation with your physician or mental health professional.

If you are experiencing a medical crisis, call 9 1 1 or go to the nearest Emergency Room. Now here's your host, pastor Wayne.

Speaker 1 (42s): Welcome back to another brevis talk. Today our topic is anxiety. Anxiety is a very complex problem on so, so many levels. There is a physiological cause, a physical cause that is behind many types of anxiety And. then there is a spiritual emotional cause behind many types of anxiety. There are various types of anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety, and other health conditions that are similar to anxiety disorders.

And one of those happens to be post-traumatic stress disorder, which is so, so common in our day. Anxiety is often accompanied with depression and some experts believe that it is often more difficult to treat the anxiety than the depression. And if you're suffering from anxiety, it is important that you get help rather than allowing the problem to continue to be unchecked and to increase.

Now, I'm not a medical doctor. I have studied a great deal about anxiety through an interest because of parishioners down through the years and then a few years ago being someone who's experienced anxiety. And so I can only tell you from my experience, and that's from once I'm coming again, the no medical diagnosis here, I'm not diagnosing a problem. Please always seek professional help concerning your mental health issues.

Now there are some practical things that we can do that will help us in battling anxiety. Now, one of them is so simple and yet so ignored, And, that is to limit or quit caffeine intake. Caffeine is a stimulant and it will cause anxiety to be worse than it might be without its being on board. So use wisdom and do consider that caffeine may be working against you and you may even be surprised at your daily caffeine intake.

Coffee is loaded with it. Tea is loaded with it. Soft drinks are loaded with it. And I'm not even saying what to do to take it out of your, your daily routine, but I'm telling you to please be mindful that caffeine is a culprit sometimes concerning anxiety. By all means, do something and what do I mean by that? I mean, do some sort of exercise, move around expend energy.

I'm not sure the experts completely understand all of the positive effects of exercise that there are, but there are numerous ones for sure. Do what you can do and do more than you are doing now. And expend energy. A tired mind and a tired body sometimes produces good sound, restful sleep and rest. My testimony, I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ and I have experienced panic attacks.

They are awful. They come out of nowhere often for no understandable reason. They come suddenly and it feels like you are totally captured or arrested. In that moment, I really thought I was having an episode of heart problems. The first time that I experienced a panic attack, my chest was tightened. I had a cold sweat. I became lightheaded, And. then there was this overwhelming feeling of defeat that I just wanted it to be over with.

Panic attacks seemed to grip an individual. It was a horrible, dreadful occurrence. I have had a few others. Again, there's never a rhyme or a reason. It's not necessarily where something is stressful at that moment and I cannot explain it, but it part of my regimen and treatment for mental health covers the some of this. As far as beating this back, And I believe it has been successful and I'm most most grateful for that.

Having an anxiety disorder, having a panic attack does not mean that you are weak. If I'm speaking to any men here, you are not bulletproof. You are not invincible. You can be depressed, you can suffer anxiety. You can suffer from panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder that does not make you less of a man or less of a human. Please, please get help.

I often think that there are circumstances in life that are not so easy to discern. Anxiety for me is not an either or situation. Rather, I would say it is a both and situation. There is a physiological cause and there's a spiritual cause. As a result, I do the things that my doctor tells me to do, and I'm also comforted, encouraged and strengthened by the reading and meditation of God's word.

Let me share a few verses of scripture with you that have been a great help and continue to be a great help with me as I combat various challenges of anxiety. Isaiah 26 3 says, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trust in you. One Peter chapter five, verse seven, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Philippians chapter four, verses six and seven, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And. then there is Matthew chapter six, verses 25 to 34.

They are invaluable and I, I wish you would consider those, but scripture gives me strength. I believe the Bible is God's word. It's all God's word. I believe it is a powerful book. I believe that it God speaks to our hearts, our minds, our souls as we meditate on scripture, and it has been a tremendous help to me and continues to be a tremendous help to me in this area and various other areas.

This area of anxiety. Well, that's all we have for today. Remember, life is tough, so be a person who lightens someone's load and be kind. Always be kind.

Speaker 0 (8m 52s): And. that concludes our broadcast today. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Plus, check us out at our Facebook page or brevistalk.com and take a look at our blog and remember, be kind. Always be kind.