The anxiety it is one of the most frequent psychological problems in our society. It is part of everyday life of many people and almost all of us have experienced it at least occasionally. In addition, it tends to cause a lot of suffering and disability in those who suffer from it, who often have difficulties in coping with their daily tasks, concentrating, enjoying leisure moments, etc..
For all these reasons, it is important to take steps to minimize its impact on our quality of life. And these measures must begin by having adequate information, since in this psychological problem myths and misinformation are common and are part of the problem itself, which is much easier to handle if we know what we are facing.
It is a reaction of the body to prepare us to face a potential threat or danger. This response allows us to react automatically and quickly to unforeseen situations that endanger our integrity or that of our loved ones, and prepares us to flee or to fight against the threat..
Without this mechanism, the dangers would take us by surprise and we would be less prepared to face them. Therefore, experiencing anxiety on certain occasions is something necessary. The problem arises when our reaction is excessive in their intensity or duration, when we interpret situations that are not threatening as threatening or when we react in an unconstructive way to this anxiety.
The anxiety response is described in three levels: the cognitive (thoughts or images that distress or activate us), the motor (for example, avoiding or escaping from the anxious situation) and the physiological. This last level refers to those changes that occur in our body to prepare us to fight or flee, and can vary from one person to another..
Typical are tachycardia, sweating, tremors, muscle tension, gastrointestinal complaints, headaches, etc. All these changes are intended to make it easier for the body to cope with the threat.
As we have just seen, people with anxiety often experience a series of physical changes that prepare them to cope with the threat. These reactions make sense when fleeing or fighting are the best options to get out of the situation (eg, increased heart rate will allow us to run faster and muscle tension, fight with more force).
Thus, for example, it will be good for us if someone tries to attack us or if a car rushes on us. However, today most of the problems we face require more sophisticated solutions, such as practicing our assertiveness, concentrating on a task that requires attention, waiting for the right time to have a conversation , ask for information.
In these cases, the anxiety response is experienced with strangeness, since it even interferes with what we have to do. For example, being alert does not allow us to sleep to be rested in our job interview or being nervous prevents us from analyzing the information calmly. This is so because it is a very old and automatic evolutionary mechanism, but understanding it will help us to experience it with less drama..
Anxiety generates strange, intense and long-lasting physical reactions. If we do not know how to interpret these sensations correctly, it is possible that they scare us and that we end up fearing for our health and even for our lives. This, logically, causes even greater anxiety, and thus a vicious cycle is generated from which it is difficult to escape.
On the other hand, if we understand that these physical reactions are nothing more than a safety mechanism of our body to protect and defend ourselves, we will see that it would not make any sense that they were dangerous. You cannot die from anxiety, although it is important to go to the doctor to rule out any physical problem that can affect our health and interact negatively with anxiety.
We have just said that anxiety is not dangerous, but it is also true that if we continuously experience very high levels of activation, as if we are continually prepared for battle, this does end up taking a significant toll on our health. Therefore, when we detect that anxiety or stress persist over time, it is a good time to look for solutions, either by changing the situation in which we are immersed or the way to deal with it..
Our body, with its great capacity for adaptation, has a habituation mechanism. This mechanism allows that, if we stay in the presence of the stimulus that caused the anxiety for long enough, there comes a time when the anxiety stops increasing and begins to decrease until it dissipates.
This is a physiological mechanism that always occurs unless we interfere with it, for example, escaping from the anxious situation before we get used to it (which will make us even more scared the next time) or turning around everything that we find ourselves in. worries or scares us until the size of the threat increases in our heads.
Despite the fact that it is a natural response of the body, anxiety can cause a lot of discomfort and concern to those who suffer from it. People who have not experienced anxiety sometimes have a difficult time empathizing and understanding the difficulties of someone with anxiety, as their reactions are difficult for them to understand. However, it is important to recognize this problem as real and give it the importance it has in order to solve it..
Anxiety, when experienced in a very frequent, intense, long-lasting or disabling way, can pose a significant problem for the person, but this does not make it a disease. There is nothing that malfunctions in our body, but the solution is to learn different strategies to deal with the events of our day to day.
We can learn, for example, relaxation strategies, seek alternative solutions to our problems, learn assertiveness, modify the content and form of our thoughts, etc. As it is not a disease, taking sick leave or resorting to medication are not a solution to the problem. At most, they can be a temporary measure that should then lead to learning those psychological strategies that allow us to function differently in the medium and long term..
Precisely because of its function of preparing us for danger, it makes sense that the moments in which we experience the most anxiety are those in which we begin a stage and anticipate difficulties. This means that for many people the worst time is in the morning (when preparing to start the day), Sunday afternoons (when the beginning of the week is considered) or the return of the holidays. However, each person has different circumstances and, consequently, a different anxiety response.
Often this problem is conceived as something chronic that will accompany us throughout life. This point of view is confirmed by our knowledge of close people who have suffered from this problem for years. It seems that we can only resign ourselves to taking medication for life or to get away from what anguishes us.
Thus, many people give up working, traveling, driving or socializing as they see it as unattainable goals. However, to this day there are effective psychological treatments for anxiety and, based on an individualized analysis of each person and situation, it is possible to find solutions and learn new ways of functioning that are healthier, more enriching and that generate less suffering.
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