Anxiety is a vicious circle from which it is difficult to escape. We are facing a psychological disorder that is a real pandemic in today’s society.

But, what exactly is anxiety, what symptoms does it present and how can we get out of this situation?

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a state of mind of anticipation, in which we experience nerves and uneasiness. It’s an unpleasant feeling that puts us under stress. Anxiety is a normal response of our organism , which interprets that we must be alert to an event close in time, but some people are sequestered by anxiety and report a series of symptoms and signs (psychological and somatic) that are disturbing.

The feeling of anxiety is particularly difficult to describe, it cannot always be related to a specific origin (an exam, medical results, etc.) and it feeds on the very consequences it generates, (such as the postponement of pending tasks).

Fighting Anxiety and its Causes

It is therefore difficult, but not impossible, to deal with it. These five guidelines for combating anxiety can help you to mitigate its adverse effects and understand its nature somewhat better:

1. Learn to be your own boss

Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling that most of us want to avoid . The problem is aggravated when we decide to compensate the state of anxiety by resorting to stereotyped and repetitive forms of behaviour. These are behaviours that usually start unconsciously, are partly automatic and can be more or less simple (stretching or pulling out hair, tapping a leg, etc.) or more complex (making trips to the fridge and eating something).

In addition to the adverse effect that these behaviours can have on our body, such as obesity or hair loss, letting ourselves be carried away by them has the disadvantage that makes us enter into a vicious circle : as they are so associated with periods of stress, they act as a reminder that the sensation we want to avoid is there. This is why, in order to fight anxiety, it is convenient to recognize these stereotyped patterns of behaviour and put a stop to them.

2. Fighting anxiety is fighting “I’ll do it tomorrow”

Periods of anxiety may have been triggered by elements of everyday life that are related to work, duties, and decision-making. Therefore, fighting anxiety also means recognising situations where this feeling can give rise to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which one’s own negative state of mind invites one to throw in the towel early.

Anxiety is one of the forms that the fear of starting to do something that might go wrong can take and which, as a consequence, is put off time and time again in a process called procrastination. Paradoxically, these postponements are what make anxiety right, because thanks to them the obligation that generates stress is still there.

3. Divide your day into small pieces

Surely you have noticed that, from the moment you start a task that makes you lazy, it becomes more and more enjoyable and bearable. Something similar happens with anxiety: to keep attention away from that which produces tension, starting an activity is much more effective than thinking about starting that same activity.

The fact that we are aware that anxiety acts as a burden when we do things we want to do is in itself an anxiety-generating source . If you want to make sure that what needs to be done is done without anxiety acting as a brake, there is nothing like cutting the most complex tasks into short sequences. If you have to write a report, for example, the first task can be as simple as turning on the computer and opening a text editor. The next sequence should start from there and also be very short (writing the first paragraph, etc.).

4. Take your time

The other side of fighting procrastination is to make sure we make good use of the time we spend resting , as doing things all day to try and distract our attention can be exhausting. If we don’t know the source of the anxiety, this coming and going of distracting activities can act as a reminder that we are anxious, and if the origin of the anxiety is in outstanding obligations, it can generate a feeling of guilt. That’s why it’s worth being methodical with your breaks and making them more goal-oriented.

In addition, breath control exercises that are included in activities such as meditation, Mindfulness or tai chi are very useful in reducing the stress levels that set off all the anxious machinery. Taking time to relax even if the body asks for the opposite and making sure that these times do not last longer than necessary to adjust the hormone levels properly are two basic guidelines for fighting anxiety.

5. Don’t try to make the anxiety go away

From a biological point of view, anxiety is the result of complex neuroendocrine dynamics that no one would want to have to deal with without the help of the subconscious processes that regulate them. For this reason, it is important to be clear that anxiety can only be combated indirectly. No matter how much we try to ignore feelings of tension and fear, they will not go away just because our conscious mind asks them nicely.

In fact, trying to mentally suppress these biological processes is just a way of recognizing that the problem is there. For anxiety to stop being a problem, you have to fight its symptoms by creating new patterns of behaviour . The solution lies not in the privacy of one’s mind, but in the relationship between the body and the environment.

Bibliographic references:

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