What if your anxiety isn't just in your head?

What this video is about

This short video explores the relationship between anxiety and digestive health. It starts with a question: what happens when anxiety appears alongside discomfort such as heavy digestion, frequent bloating, wind, abdominal pain or problems going to the toilet? As explained, the gut and the brain are in constant communication, and when the gut is irritated or inflamed those signals can reach the brain and be interpreted as a state of alert, which is experienced as anxiety.

Building on this idea, the video suggests that overthinking is not always the cause of anxiety, but can sometimes be a consequence of that physical discomfort. It therefore proposes that working on anxiety should not be limited to managing thoughts better, but should also take into account looking after digestive health and regulating the nervous system. It ends by inviting viewers to notice whether their digestion changes at times of greater stress.

Topics: anxiety, digestive health, gut-brain axis, nervous system