How to control anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion that everyone experiences in a situation of uncertainty and threat.
Prepare the person for scenarios that may have a negative result. It is adaptive and it is good. The problem comes when it becomes pathological and manifests itself to a degree too intense and very frequently.
Far from helping to adapt, it blocks the individual and leads to a worse than desired result, which can compromise his physical and mental health.
1. What is anxiety and what are its symptoms.
“There are people who do not know that the symptoms they suffer are caused by anxiety.” The first step to recover is to know what is happening to them and to realize the symptoms.
“Tachycardia, sweating, increased temperature, difficulty sleeping, digestive discomfort, etc., are some of them.” Then you have to discover the causative factors and find out what emotions and anxiety are.
2. Reinterpret the problem.
The anxiety what it does is that the person anticipates some very negative consequences just in case they occur. Cano advises “to interpret the threat in a less serious way, be realistic and not magnify”.
In a practical way:
• Reason if the possibility of the worst happening is so great.
• Ask yourself: “if the worst happened, would it really be that bad?”
• Pay attention to problems only when something can be done. “When there is nothing to do, you have to follow normal life and attend to other things.”
3. Divert attention from the problem.
When there is anxiety the attention is continuously focused on the problem, “we do not stop thinking about what worries us”.
“The person has to learn to relax, not to focus their attention all the time on the problem. Be on alert, but also rest and save resources when you can not do anything. ”
To achieve this, you have to:
• Forced to think about something else.
• Forcing people to do something different to distract themselves.
4. Interpret problems as a challenge, not as a threat
One piece of advice is “the interpretation of difficulties as a challenge, rather than as a threat”. This allows facing the situation with motivation, leaving aside the worry.
5. Relaxation techniques
They also help relaxation techniques (progressive muscle, breathing, imagination, among others). With them the physiological activation is reduced, the muscles are released, etc. It is better to do it every day.
“When these skills are trained, the problems begin to resolve.” This is how problems begin to be alleviated. ”
What to do in the face of an anxiety or panic attack.
When a person suffers a panic attack, the anxiety gets out of control, loses control and is frightened by that lack of control. “The heart rate increases, breathing becomes difficult, there is hyperventilation, increased temperature and tremor.”
“The autonomic nervous system is triggered and you have to reassure him by transmitting the feeling that there is no danger, that there is no extreme situation and that what happens is not serious. By changing the focus of attention and the importance we give to the symptoms of the panic attack, they diminish. ”
The best way to achieve this is:
• Do and think about something else.
• Change the subject of conversation.
• Get to work on something.
• Carry out any activity that allows you not to give importance to the symptoms you are having.
• Instead of hyperventilating, breathe more slowly.