Understanding anxiety and the body

From the book – Chapter 8: Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety and the body

Cardiovascular: palpitations, chest tightness, increased blood pressure during spikes.
Respiratory: shortness of breath, hyperventilation.

New chest pain that is severe still belongs in casualty until a physician says otherwise. Then the panic plan can begin.

The Night My Heart Raced – Arjun, twenty-nine, was in a crowded Mumbai local train when his heart suddenly pounded, his hands tingled, his chest tightened and he felt sure he was…
What If Tonight Goes Wrong? – Meera is a forty-two-year-old mother in Hyderabad who cannot remember the last day she did not worry. What if her son fails? What if her husband's…
The Back Row – Tomás, nineteen, studies engineering in Lisbon. He is clever, but he sits at the back of every class, never asks a question and hurries out. Eating…
The Lizard on the Wall – Sunita, thirty-eight, lives in a village near Nashik and cares for her family with great energy, except when a lizard appears. Last month one dropped near…

Bhagavad Gita 6.34 – The mind is restless, agitating, strong and stubborn. To hold it, I think, is as hard as to hold the wind.