Why You’re So Anxious All the Time
If you’ve ever felt your heart race or your stomach churn because a friend didn’t text back right away or found yourself spiraling after needing to reschedule a date, you’re not alone. Anxiety can feel like it’s hijacking your life, turning even the smallest situations into monumental stressors. But why does this happen, and why does it feel so unrelenting?
The answer lies in your nervous system’s response to perceived threats—a phenomenon called neuroception.
What Is Neuroception?
Neuroception is your body’s internal radar, constantly scanning for signs of danger and safety. It’s an automatic process that helps keep you alive. But when you’ve experienced trauma, this radar can become overly sensitive, interpreting neutral or safe situations as threats. This is why something as harmless as an unread email can set off a cascade of anxiety symptoms like a racing heart, shallow breathing, or that sinking feeling in your stomach.
In essence, your nervous system gets stuck in a state of chronic activation. It’s as if your body is bracing for an attack that never comes, leaving you feeling perpetually on edge.
The Invisible Bears of Everyday Life
Imagine walking through the woods, scanning for bears. When your nervous system is stuck in survival mode, those ‘bears’ don’t disappear when you leave the woods. They show up in your inbox, your relationships, or even your grocery store trips. Everyday tasks can feel overwhelming because your brain and body are wired to perceive threats where there are none.
Why Does This Happen?
Trauma fundamentally changes how your nervous system operates. Whether it’s a single traumatic event or chronic stress over time, your body adapts by prioritizing survival above all else. While this adaptation is incredibly useful in dangerous situations, it’s exhausting and debilitating when applied to daily life.
Your neuroception, in these cases, becomes overly protective, firing false alarms that keep you in a state of hypervigilance. This chronic stress doesn’t just affect your mind; it’s felt deeply in your body as tension, restlessness, and even physical pain.
The Path to Calm
The good news is that this isn’t a life sentence. Through somatic therapy, you can retrain your nervous system to respond more accurately to the world around you. This involves working directly with your body to release stored tension, build resilience, and gently unwind patterns of chronic activation.
As you begin to regulate your nervous system, your neuroception becomes more finely tuned. You’ll find yourself less reactive to everyday triggers and more able to approach life with calm and confidence. Tasks that once felt insurmountable—like opening an email or setting a boundary—become manageable, even easy.
You’re Not Broken
If you’ve been living with anxiety that feels unshakable, it’s important to know this: You’re not broken, and your body isn’t working against you. It’s simply doing its best to keep you safe with the tools it has. By giving your nervous system new tools and a chance to recalibrate, you can shift out of survival mode and into a life that feels more grounded and secure.
Where to Start
Healing doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s absolutely possible. Somatic therapy offers a compassionate and effective way to start. Whether you’re new to therapy or looking to deepen your healing, there are options to meet you where you’re at. If you’re in Colorado, I offer Therapy Immersives and Nervous System Resets, both designed to support nervous system deactivation and re-tuning your neuroception so you can relax and no longer feel so on edge all the time.
You deserve to feel at ease in your own skin. The journey to calm starts here.
About the Author
Martha Carter is a licensed therapist providing virtual services in Colorado. She is trauma-informed and trained in somatic, neurobiology-based modalities to help people with all types of trauma, chronic pain, and eating disorders heal from the inside out.
(Colorado residents only)
