Mica's Story Part 2: Not Eating Increases Anxiety
/Welcome to part 2 of our new newsletter format: storytelling (catch up on part 1 here). We thought we would embed the principles that we promote into a storyline. The people in this story are fictional; any similarities to real people are by chance. At the end we provide commentary and material that you might find interesting. We are continuously looking for ways to help you and the people you connect to be at your best. This is a new approach for us; your feedback and engagement will help determine if we continue in this new format.
Mica heads to her second therapy appointment early. Parking can be tricky in the part of town that her new therapist, Tanya, practices. Sure enough, the first parking spot she finds is three blocks from the office. At first, she is annoyed. Her annoyance quickly moves into panic; she’s afraid she’s now going to be late for her appointment. Her inner critic starts to tell her that Tanya won’t see her if she arrives late. Part of her doesn’t believe that, but she doesn’t want to find out that it’s true so she’s walking as fast as she can. As she’s rushing down the street it occurs to her that it’s almost 5 pm and she had lunch at noon. Mica remembers that Tanya had offered some education about how food and anxiety are related. In her first appointment with Tanya, she had provided some juice and nuts, a lizard brain treat, which had really helped reduce Mica's anxiety in the moment.
Mica had tried the lizard brain treat idea once during the week. She had been at an after-work social gathering. Just as she had walked in the door, a co-worker had called her over to meet one of his friends, who had also just lost her mother. Mica knew that he was trying to be kind; however, as this woman started to talk about her mother and hospice, Mica could feel her panic begin to rise. Instead of standing there until it was a full-blown panic attack. Mica excused herself to get food and a drink. There were eggs rolls for appetizers, and she got herself a beer. The beer instantly helped. But Mica worried about the attractiveness of using beer to manage grief and anxiety. Mica's mother was an alcoholic and she didn’t want to follow in those footsteps. As Mica sipped her beer, she had wondered if a virgin bloody Mary might work just the same. As Mica reaches Tanya's office, she wonders if she can discuss using beer to stop panic attacks and ask if virgin bloody Mary’s will work instead… Or is it better to not discuss alcohol at all?
When Mica reaches Tanya’s office, she sees the basket of juice and nuts and feels grateful. Tanya said in the first appointment that she could help herself to the snacks. This seemed to be a good time to try the experiment. Mica realized that she was 5 minutes early for her appointment, but some part of her still felt panicky about being late, that she was drinking to control her anxiety, that she might have to discuss her mom in her second appointment with Tanya.
Mica drank the juice and had just started eating the small bag of nuts when Tanya opened the door to her office. With a smile, Tanya says "I’m glad you helped yourself to the juice and nuts? Come in!" They both settle into their respective chairs. Tanya asks, "Do you have any thoughts or questions from last week?" Mica says, "Yes, last week you gave me juice and nuts to calm my anxiety. I noticed this week that my anxiety is much higher the longer I go without eating and getting food seems to help. Do you know why that is?"
Tanya says, "I’ve had some training on this. How I understand it is that your smart-responsive-cortex brain needs glucose to think. When it’s running low on glucose for dealing complex situations, the brain hits the panic button and releases adrenalin. This will be additive with whatever adrenalin that is already in your system and escalates your sense of panic. Juice and nuts provide the brain with fuel, so there is no need for the extra adrenalin. So less anxiety. I have a handout on how to feed your brain and body if you’re interested. Other clients have found it helpful. Sometimes I focus on making sure you have the resources within your body and brain to talk about the hard stuff --like losing your mother. Would you like to learn how to use food to reduce your anxiety in this appointment or is there something you would prefer to talk about?
"Yes, I would like to learn more about using food to reduce anxiety?"
Tanya replied, "Good. We will go over the handout, and I’ll also give you a link to a video. Maybe we will save the last 20 minutes so you can tell me a little bit about your week."
"Great!" replies Mica. She can feel herself relaxing into the chair. She wonders to herself if it’s the juice and nuts, or that she likes learning, or that she’s relieved to continue avoiding talking about her mother…
Here’s the handout and the video that Tanya shared with Mica.
Warm Beverage Conversation
If you are a therapist or connector (mentor, parent, coach, friend, spouse), how do you encourage people to be at their best and to use food to reduce high emotions, such as anxiety, irritation, or agitation? What questions come up when you offer them a lizard brain treat?