Anxiety from Being Inside (A Comprehensive Guide)
In this brief guide, we will look at anxiety from being inside and how to cope with it effectively.
Anxiety from Being Inside
Anxiety from being inside usually comes about as a result of worry about what the person might do if they are not able to take care of things that might go wrong or what they may be missing when they are stuck inside.
Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, most of the world was stuck inside, and there has been a steep rise in depression and anxiety due to this, so much so that people are not able to cope with it on their own.
If you have decided to go outside, wearing masks is crucial for our safety. Masks made out of breathable fabrics offer a viable solution to this problem. That’s why, we’ve made a list of the Best Breathable Face Mask for Anxiety.
The rise in mental health issues due to people being stuck inside is because when people are stripped of their choices and alternatives, they start to feel like they are spinning out of control, which in turn is something that leads to and worsens anxiety.
Even though human beings need and want shelter very much, so much that it is a basic human need, being inside for too long periods of time can still be a problem because we were not evolved as a species that were meant to be stuck indoors, and we need to get out and do things.
As such, anxiety from being inside is something that may be thought of as coming about because the person simply is not doing what they are primed to do because of how their ancestors lived.
Anxiety from being inside is also likely to lead to insomnia and other related problems like depression or panic, and in some cases it can also lead to a breakdown in the experience of the outside world, and the person may become more likely to experience panic and agoraphobia when they are outside.
Specific phobia is a form of anxiety that is related to internal fears of specific things or objects. For example fear of airplanes. If you’re fear of airplanes, you might use sedatives for Airplane Anxiety. Also, check the Best Airlines for Anxiety and things to take for airplane anxiety,
Being inside is something someone may choose because they want to be in their familiar environment, but this is nto always ideal, and in some cases can hurt more than it helps because of how much we need to mingle with people outside, as well as the general world outside our homes.
When someone at home constantly, they may experience anxiety from being inside because they are not coming in contact with the necessary elements that exist outside, like fresh air or sunlight, which are crucial for the person to feel healthy and mentally fit.
Exposure to sunlight helps calibrate the body’s circadian “clock”, which one might know as being immensely important to the day to day functioning of the human body.
This circadian rhythm manages just about every major bodily function, like appetite and sleep schedules to mood and energy levels, and there have been many studies on how it is altered when someone is constantly inside.
Kenneth Wright, director of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at University of Colorado, Boulder, is one such person who has studied the intricacies of the circadian rhythm, and he is of the opinion that getting otuside is something that everyone absolutely needs to do for their optimal wel-being.
In the study done by Wright it was shown that electric lighting and an absence of natural light can disrupt the body’s internal rhythms significantly.
He gives the example of problems like jet lag and an erratic sleep-wake schedule (the kind shift workers endure) which have been known to disrupt your circadian clock, and how much anxiety it can cause.
Aside from Wright’s conclusion, it has also been seen that disruptions of circadian rhythm, like that from anxiety from being inside or from jet lag or working nights can be easily linked to impaired health and wellbeing, increased risk for obesity, diabetes, substance abuse, depression and other diseases.
Anxiety from being stuck inside is something that can be rectified easily if it is recognised early and efforts to change the situation are made, otherwise the person may run the risk of getting to a point where they simply get so used to their situation that they may start feeling anxiety even when they do go out.
When someone expereincing anxiety from being inside gets to a point that they are also anxious about going out they may also be at risk of experiencing a panic attack when they go out, which is something that can even turn into agoraphobia.
Anxiety from Being Inside in the Pandemic
The COVID 19 pandemic is one of the biggest causes of anxiety from being inside, because it is something that has truly forced people to be stuck indoors for extended periods of time, and this is not a natural state of being for anyone in the current world.
Being out and about in the world and doing things, or going places, is something that just about everyone does, and so when there is a threat of illness that forces everyone to go against their core and basic nature, it can obviously lead to massive problems lke anxiety and depression.
The somewhat official name for the experience of negative emotions from being stuck inside is Cabin Fever, and the symptoms may be something along the following lines:
- Food cravings. For instance, drinking coffee or eating something spicy can only make the situation worse.
- Frequent napping.
- Hopelessness
- Being Irritable or restless.
- Decreased motivation
- Difficulty waking
- Lack of patience
- Agitation
- Lethargy
- Sadness or depression
- Trouble concentrating
Even though these symptoms look more like depression, cabin fever is also something that can look like anxiety from being inside, as it generally involves a great deal of tension and stress because the person is going against something they are meant to be doing.
Anxiety from being inside in the pandemic has been made easier by the moving of therapy and mental health services online and the fact that help has becmoe more accessible to people.
There are now many online portals that offer help in particular to the people suffering from various types of mental health issues because they are stuck inside or because they feel like they are losing control.
Another reason for the anxiety from being inside is simply that people are experiencing extreme uncertainty about what they can do to stay safe and the lack of knowledge of when this will end.
In fact, studies show that this is also one of the chief reasons that people act out violently or become mean to each other as well, because they are simply not able to deal with the new situation of being stuck inside without knowing when it is going to end.
Another issues leading to anxiety from being inside during this pandemic has been the fact that the threat of a virus or of an illness is something that cannot be seen and the person essentially has to fight this thing that they cannot see, and they don’t even know if the situation will ever resolve.
Other Problems from Being Inside
While anxiety from being inside is something that many people experience, there are also other problems from being inside, like depression or stress, and in some cases even physical problems that can arise from not getting enough exercise or not being able to get fresh air or sunlight.
Being inside for extended periods of time can also lead to sleep troubles and harm the person’s sleep-wake cycle tremendously, because they are not being exposed to the necessary elements anymore and their body clock stops functioning the way it is supposed to.
Exposure to sunlight helps regulate our body’s circadian rhythm, mentioned before, and when we don’t receive that it can lead to big problems in the sleep wake cycle.
Being inside for extended periods of time can also lead to big Appetite Changes, because the circadian rhythm can also affect your appetite and if you are being too sedentary while you are stuck inside, you may fnid yourself getting hungrier than usual or on the contrary, losing your appetite.
There may be some people who are stuck inside and to find some comfort or even pass the time they may look towards junk food, and some skip meals.
Furthermore, being stuck inside for long periods of time can also lead to big Mood swings, so much so that you may not be able to predict your mood states yourself anymore, and naturally this is something that needs to be rectified as soon as possible.
Signs you are staying inside too much
Here are some signs that you are staying inside too much:
- Muscle Weakness
- Overall weakness in the body
- Depression or anxiety
- Fatigue
- Not feeling like going out
- Not getting enough sleep
- Not feeling sleepy when you get to bed
How to cope with anxiety from being inside?
Here are some ways to cope with the anxiety frmo being inside:
- Get some green plants and spend time around them.
- Work out as much as your space and time permit
- Eat healthy and maintain a journal of the junk food you eat. You can add mushroom to your diet, check the best Mushrooms supplements for anxiety.
- Meditate. Check the list of helpful meditation apps that have reduced anxiety in people.
- Get some sunlight as often as you possibly can
- Make sure your sleep cycle does not change
- Talk to an online counselor or therapist about the negative feelings
- Stay in touch with family and friends through audio or video calls
- Take some time out to get fresh air or to do some deep breathing
If you need help with this, you should take a look at Hemi-Sync Complete Review. You can use these to meditate, relax, or concentrate.
BetterHelp: A Better Alternative
Those who are seeking therapy online may also be interested in BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers plenty of formats of therapy, ranging from live chats, live audio sessions and live video sessions. In addition, unlimited messaging through texting, audio messages and even video messages are available here.
BetterHelp also offers couples therapy and therapy for teenagers in its platform. Furthermore, group sessions can also be found in this platform, covering more than twenty different topics related to mental health and mental illness. The pricing of BetterHelp is also pretty cost-effective, especially considering the fact that the platform offers financial aid to most users.
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we looked at anxiety from being inside and how to cope with it effectively. If you have any questions or comments about anxiety from being inside or are suffering from another kind of anxiety please feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAqs): Anxiety from Being Inside
Does staying indoors increase anxiety?
Yes, staying indoors can increase anxiety because of being isolated from society and needing to depend only on oneself for the betterment of just about every negative feeling one is experiencing.
Staying indoors can also increase anxiety if someone is suffering anxiety related to being isolated from others and is panicking about what can go wrong when they are home alone or unable to go anywhere.
Does staying indoors cause anxiety?
Yes, Staying indoors for long periods of time can cause anxiety, because when someone stays indoors for extended periods of time it can make them too isolated and given how much we need our social system to survive and evolve as a species, this can be very problematic.
When someone stays indoors for too long they can start to feel anxious because they may start worrying about the things that can go wrong while they are stuck indoors.
What can I do to cope with anxiety?
To cope with anxiety you may do the following things:
See a therapist regularly
Practice meditation
Practice deep breathing
Keep a journal
Keep a thought diary
Learn to recognize the situations where anxiety is at its peak
Exercise and eat right
CItations
https://time.com/4306455/stress-relief-nature/
https://damselindior.com/when-staying-indoors-gives-you-anxiety/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anxiety-files/202003/staying-home-during-the-pandemic