Anxiety is a natural response that human beings have when faced with a situation that requires a decision to be made. Also, it is a response generated by factors external to people, by a trauma or by something that is out of people’s control. For example, a pandemic or an unexpected event.
Why does anxiety occur?
The person usually wants to have everything under control. This is a person who is demanding, a perfectionist or who is unknowingly very insecure.
What is the difference between anxiety and stress?
On the one hand, stress is a natural physiological response, which the human being suffers before a daily event and requires to take charge of a situation. In this case, the sympathetic nervous system is activated and produces adrenaline, pressure and sweating; it also generates an overload and the need for more physical and mental resources. It can be very dangerous if this overload is not deactivated.
While anxiety is a response that creates confusion and mental chaos, we do not know where to act.
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
We can have sweating, feeling that we are not going to be able to get out of the situation, feeling upset and with our head in the air. Also, we can suffer an anxiety attack, which generates difficulty in breathing, acceleration.
In this case, we must go to a specialist in Psychology to be able to explore and understand the origin of the anxiety and the path that we must take.
What treatments are performed?
There are two types:
- Behavioral: exercises to disconnect from what is happening and connect with what we propose, we talk about grounding. There is a relationship with the mindfulness technique, which aims to be in the present.
- Drugs: depending on the case, it is necessary to make a reinforcement with drugs, anxiolytics, which will be prescribed by our family doctor or a psychiatrist.
- Therapeutically: going to the roots of the problem and detecting if the person has security problems or if he/she has a distortion, biased vision or cyclical irrational thoughts, which do not let him/her get out of the loop.
How can we avoid anxiety?
To achieve this we must be aware of the personal resources we have to face a difficulty or situation. In addition, we must try to make them more flexible and less demanding in the face of what we think should be in a particular way. Finally, we must watch the use of verbs such as ‘must’ or ‘have to’, which imply self-demanding or demanding towards others.
In other words, we must leave rigidity aside to rely on a perspective of flexibility.
How can I help you?
- Addressing symptoms in order to reduce the problem and generate relief.
- Work aimed at understanding the causes. Reinforce the person’s own aspects and the resources that he/she has, and also those that he/she lacks.
- Understanding and developing new skills, which will bring us effectiveness in the face of the difficulties that life may present us. At the same time, strengthen the ones we already have and be aware of them.
- To carry out symptomatic and deeper work, to acquire tools for life.
It is important the patient’s collaboration during the process, it is not a consultation work, it is also a work between sessions. The patient must understand himself.