Let’s talk about anxiety and psychology

Introduction

---

Anxiety is something we have all felt at some point in our lives, some people more than others, but it is always difficult to control for everyone. Some people want to stop worrying but they can’t. They want to stop feeling that uneasiness but it is not possible. As a consequence, they end up in a situation influenced by absurd angst, illogical assumptions and flawed generalizations.

To get out of this worrisome dynamic, it is important to understand how an anxious individual thinks, to know which are the mental cards with which anxiety plays, with the hopes of eventually defeat it. And this must begin with the conviction that anxiety does not solve the problems of tomorrow, but certainly absorbs the energy of today.

Understanding anxiety

---

If we want to have a good grasp about how this issue works, we can imagine there is some kind of "anxiety lens", and when people use them, they can’t avoid seeing the world and perceiving the environment in a distorted way, which could give rise to conjectures and emotional reactions that further increase the anxiety they already had in the first place.

Another example can be to imagine that in their world, all possible dangers, whether real or imaginary, are excessive. They practically don’t have average terms. If a friend tells them that a dog has bitten him, they will think that all dogs are dangerous. If in the past their partner cheats on them, they will think that no one is honest. Their minds generalize the specific events turning them into a close to permanent threat, so it is not strange that people having this issue live in a constant state of alertness and expectation.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety, or extreme apprehension and worry, is a normal reaction to stressful situations. But in some cases, it becomes excessive and can cause sufferers to dread everyday situations. | Source

Anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure. People with anxiety disorders usually have recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns. They may avoid certain situations out of worry. They may also have physical symptoms such as sweating, trembling, dizziness or a rapid heartbeat. | Source

People with anxiety automatically focus on the things that could be considered as threatening. The problem is that it sets in motion a mechanism in which attention is only given to the most negative part of what is happening, ignoring everything that can be positive, reassuring or soothing.

These people permanently interpret reality in a distorted way, they end up magnifying any danger there might be, even little things like a sound in the middle of the night, might be seen as a murderer approaching or the bad mood of the partner can be considered as a sign that a breakup is coming.

Anxiety alters the way we process any type of event, to create an irrational fear out of anything. Even ambiguous situations are interpreted as possible threats that increase the level of alertness. For people suffering from these issues, no place is safe because their mind is constantly looking for dangers. Obviously, living in this state of anxiety takes a huge toll physically and emotionally.

If you repeatedly feel anxious and stressed, or if it lasts a long time, your body never gets the signal to return to normal functioning. That can weaken your immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to viral infections. | Source

Flawed perception

---

One of the main problems with this issue, is that people will not see any positive aspect that are incompatible with their worries and the threatening interpretation that they have already made. In practice, they will reject any signal that implies a contradiction with their way of interpreting what is happening. Therefore, they will not see that although their partner is in a bad mood, she or he still has loving details, their mind will only revolve around the supposed threat of potential breakup.

Symptoms of anxiety

• difficulty concentrating
• restlessness
• rapid heartbeat
• trembling or shaking
• feeling light-headed or faint
• numbness or nausea
• sweating
• avoidance. | Source

Basically, these people has great difficulty dealing with lack of certainty and seemingly contradictory events, they feel that there is no way to handle all the potential risks they are seeing. That feeling of instability drives them to desperately search for security, and although it may seem paradoxical, they find it in the thought that the world is a threatening place. In this way they eliminate any confusion there might be about their perception, because said perception ends up being subjugated to their distorted sensations and thoughts.

They usually make hasty conclusions and act impulsively without even realizing it, as a result, it is common for them to develop erroneous generalizations as mentioned before, that further increase their level of anxiety.

As a result of these erroneous generalizations, intense concern becomes one of the main symptoms of anxiety. The ideal would be that this concern served as help for us solve the problem as it would lead us to prepare for possible setbacks and to plan the next actions we should take. However, in people with anxiety, the concern is totally detrimental because it complicates everything, and keeps the person having the same thoughts over and over again.

Anxiety makes us overthink everything in many different ways, and the result of this overthinking isn't helpful at all. | Source

Worst of all, that concern tends to be kind of vague and diffuse. Anxious people anticipate that something bad will happen but when it comes to knowing what or when, they don’t have an answer. They know that they must protect themselves but don’t know how to do it since properly identifying the danger is not possible.

Anxiety and its issues

---

On the other hand, these people care a lot about how they perform, when it is time to give a speech for example, they might recreate everything that can go wrong, which triggers a permanent state of mental unrest that tends to cause great psychological exhaustion.

If this wasn’t bad enough, all of this can make them believe that they will not be able to face any problems or adversities, since they are permanently with a counterproductive mindset, their effectiveness when doing tasks is affected, therefore, they lose trust in their abilities and in their potential to face any significant challenge. If they think about themselves as powerless and incompetent, they will worry more about the negative results than to create a strategy that can be used to achieve any goal and stop the negative dynamic in which they are trapped.

The greater the doubts about their level of competence, the more the concern will grow, which often tends to give way to learned helplessness. These people when facing a test for example, will worry about the possibility of not approving it. In the end they will end up thinking that they simply cannot approve the test and, as a result, they will not study enough. Thus, this ends up creating a self fulfilling prophecy and it confirms them the dangerous and full of risks (but distorted) vision they have of the world. A self fulfilling prophecy is "is a belief that comes true because we are acting as if it is already true". | Source

People with anxiety usually believes that the problem is "out there", which is why they will resort to different defense mechanisms to try to always be ready and prepared, but they ignore the cause of the problem, which they always attribute to others, whether it is anxious parents, a very stressful job or a society that is too intense and doesn’t leave time to relax. Any excuse is valid for them as long as they don’t take responsibility for the issue they are having, and much less accept it, which is something important to eventually start to get rid of that anxiety.

Anxiety can trigger the “flight or fight” stress response, releasing a flood of chemicals and hormones like adrenaline into your system. In the short term, this increases your pulse and breathing rate so your brain can get more oxygen. You are now prepared to respond appropriately to an intense situation. | Source

In fact, anxious people are usually true masters of evasion. Avoidance behaviors are a classic strategy for dealing with anxiety, so that the person postpones the problem they have to face or use some kind of distraction to avoid thinking about a solution. Obviously, procrastination, in the long run, worsens the problem and generates even more anxiety.

Conclusion

---

Anxiety is not something that should be taken lightly, the best thing we could do if we perceive that we are getting more anxious than what could be considered as normal, is to start taking action as soon as possible, so this issue doesn’t get stronger with time.

You have the power and the ability to interfere in anxiety's overthinking everything. It's a process that involves many steps, but a step you can take right now to slow down that gerbil is to have something with you or around you to divert your attention. | Source

Anything that could somehow relax us and help our mind rest is good when trying to reduce our anxiety, it is really not difficult if we are really committed to solve this, but it is understandable that for some people with a lot of responsibilities, taking a few minutes away to relax might be challenging. Either way, with proper planning, we can fit anything in our schedule, especially if its health related.

---

What about you? Have you experienced anxiety issues?

---

---