Firstly, let's define what 'anxiety' actually is.

Fear and anxiety are not the same. Fear is a core response involving all bodily systems. It is activated by the brain after receiving signals by the senses - it's primary action is to prime the body to address a perceived threat.

Fear is not an emotion - it is an endocrine response.

When fear activates repeatedly when no threat is detected by the senses - it is called anxiety. Anxiety is disordered fear.

Anxiety Treatments

Regardless of whether the response is appropriate fear or inappropriate fear, anxiety, it cannot be deactivated by resting, sedation, meditation, medication, counselling, EMDR, EFT (tapping), alternative therapies or hypnosis. In fact, it cannot be deactivated or even reduced by anything other than the process that developed in humans through evolution, that switches fear and off. This is why all therapies and medications fail to create true recovery.

Is it menopause, my hormones or something else?

Many women are diagnosed with menopause or peri-menopause when anxiety disorder is the real culprit. But why is that?

Female hormones are controlled by the endocrine system just like the hormones that control fear, namely and primarily adrenaline and cortisol.

The endocrine system is finely balanced and implicates every chemical, system and soft-tissue in the body and mind. When part of that system is disordered, the rest becomes disordered too.

It is common in anxiety disorders, to experience disrupted hormonal responses that affect, amongst many, the sex hormones in both men and women - this can cause issues with libido, mood, impotence, perceived anxiety, aggression and more.