Defenses Against Anxiety
Anxiety, unfortunately, affects, according to the WHO, about 340 million people in the world. We could say that it is a feeling of vague and nonspecific fear with no cause, which encompasses a very unpleasant picture of symptoms, of which we could highlight the following:
• Physical: tachycardia, chest tightness, feeling dizzy, and so on.
• Psychic: feeling overwhelmed, threat, uncertainty, fear of losing control …
These symptoms generate multiple inconveniences, driving problems, clumsiness, slowness, restlessness. Also cognitive difficulties: lack of attention, concentration, memory, difficulty in making decisions, overvaluation of negative things, inappropriate interpretations, susceptibility … And, finally, social difficulties: irritability, blockages, fear of conflicts …
In each case there will be differences, because there are no diseases but patients who suffer from them and, given the large number of symptoms, I have not found them all. Anxiety is an excessive response to danger. The problems we face are not as serious as they were for our cave ancestors; It is not a matter of life or death and we live them, as if it were.
When an anxiety crisis is triggered, we can treat the symptoms with drugs, to which we should add a therapy that helps us produce changes in our way of facing problems and provides us with tools to prevent the anxiety crisis from occurring.
Some clues to improve the situation from a psychological point of view
A good starting point has to do with working on self-esteem, because if we feel strong and satisfied with ourselves, it will be much easier to face this problem.
We should work on emotions, on their control, because this would help us to control the emotions caused by anxiety in the future. We should do this work when we are calm, starting with simple emotions.
It is important to analyze what happens to us, to realize that we are overreacting to a stimulus that is not so dangerous for us. To ask ourselves that this will happen, to ask ourselves if in a few months we will be worried about what worries us now, and in a few years … In this way we will give real importance to what happens.
Realize that what scares us the most is not what happens, but what we imagine; In short, beware of negative anticipation. If we are to make predictions, please make them good.
Since these problems are linked to excess tension, it would be good to increase exercise because it relaxes us, both muscularly and psychically.
And, for the same reason, it would be convenient to use relaxation techniques, which we should practice when we are not nervous, so that when we have a problem, our body and mind can set these mechanisms in motion.
You can say goodbye to anxiety
These are just a few clues; They can be useful, but if you need more, do not hesitate to seek professional help, the sooner we tackle the problems, the easier it will be to solve them.
Although, sometimes, we think that we can never free ourselves from anxiety, that it will always accompany us, the truth is that it is not like that. You have to find the origin of it, face it and, later, release it.
Anxiety is nothing more than anticipating what will happen in the future. Believe, suppose, intuit something that has not yet happened. This hurts us a lot. We have to relearn how to live. To focus on the present, leaving aside that future that is yet to come.
Do you suffer from anxiety attacks? Have you dealt with it for a long time? We would like you to tell us about your own experience with anxiety. Was it difficult for you to get out of it? What cost you the most?
