What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do

We have all felt anxiety at some point: before an exam, a job interview, an exhibition in public; but when it is installed in our lives beginning to limit our day to day.

After a breakup, a loss of a loved one or just suddenly, for no apparent reason, is when anxiety begins to worry us.

However... What is anxiety and how does it affect us? Let's see it throughout this article, in which we will see a summary of the characteristics of this type of psychological phenomenon. emotional and that sometimes it can produce psychopathologies and in other occasions it is part of an adaptive psychological tool and useful.

• Related article: "The 7 types of anxiety (causes and symptoms)"

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a set of psychological and physiological processes that appear when they are perceived real or perceived dangers, and that predisposes us to react quickly to the slightest sign that we must do it. It causes the nervous system to remain in a state of high activation, so that it becomes more sensitive to unforeseen stimuli.

It is an adaptive response of the human being, as long as it is proportionate to the stimulus that triggers it. It's a red flag that if it is prolonged in time for no apparent reason, it is warning us that we have something to review in our life.

Another positive aspect of anxiety is its relationship to performance, described in the Yertes-Dobson Law in 1908; This law states that when faced with a stressful situation, such as taking an exam, anxiety increases, but there is also an increase in response efficiency, attention and performance, as long as it does not exceed a few limits. If we exceed that line, then the performance drops and the information retrieval processes are blocked.

Anxiety begins to worry us when it appears suddenly, unjustifiably and for no apparent reason. If the physical symptoms are very high, we will also be scared. Tachycardia, shortness of breath, dizziness, muscle tension, etc., are some of the characteristic symptoms of anxiety. When its appearance is maintained over time, in a high way and in the face of stimuli that do not pose a real threat, that is when we speak of a maladaptive anxiety.

When anxiety manifests itself without prior notice or apparent reason, can lead to a loss of self-esteem and the "fear of going crazy" typical of anxiety; this in turn generates a lowering of the mood and a feeling of helplessness.

Sometimes stress, the appearance of specific problems or difficulties, a traumatic event or the loss of a loved one are some of the causes behind anxiety.

• You may be interested: "How to control anxiety, in 6 steps"

Examples of anxiety disorders

This disproportionate anxiety gives rise to the different manifestations or pictures of anxiety that come to take the form of a psychopathology. These are psychological phenomena of clinical relevance and in which anxiety generates many more problems than it allows avoid, and sometimes even leads to physical health complications or even makes the chances of developing other psychopathologies.

The main anxiety disorders are the following:

• Generalized anxiety disorder (TAG).
• Anxiety crisis.
• Crisis of panic.
• Agoraphobia.

Main symptoms

Next we will see the physical symptoms, that is, the physiological reactions on our body; cognitive symptoms, related to cognitions, thoughts and effects on information processing; and symptoms related to behavior and how anxiety influences it.

Physical symptoms of anxiety

These are the main physical symptoms of anxiety.

• Tachycardia.
• Feeling of pressure in the chest and shortness of breath.
• Muscle tension and tremors
• Cold sweats
• Tingling in extremities, sensations of corky skin.
• Difficulty falling asleep or waking up startled in the middle of the night.
• Lack of appetite or overeating without hunger.
• Tension or knot in the stomach.
• Feeling dizzy, etc.

Cognitive symptoms

Among the cognitive symptoms of anxiety we highlight the following.

• Overly negative or catastrophic thoughts.
• Recurring thoughts of fear that physical symptoms will appear, anticipating them.
• Thoughts of anticipation of the future, with fear of future and uncertainty.
• Difficulty maintaining attention and concentration, significantly lowering memory capacity
• Disorientation and feeling of loss of control **.
• Fear of going crazy.

Behavioral symptoms of anxiety

Finally, these are the symptoms that fall into action.

• Crowded places or leaving home alone are avoided.
• Social relationships can be avoided.
• Constantly checking to have a feeling of control, whether over the future for fear of uncertainty, fear of illness, etc. It is usually done by asking family and friends, thinking of the doctor more than usual, etc.
• Constantly check that everything is in order, to feel some control.

All these symptoms of anxiety contribute to the problem being maintained, by establishing a "exit" or short-term solution paying the price of perpetuating the existence of the alteration of anxiety. As we will see, these kinds of psychological disturbances almost always disappear only when you learn to cope with anxiety, rather than trying to block or avoid it. In this way, you get out of the vicious circle.

Treatment with a psychologist: how is it done?

The psychologist is aware of how limiting anxiety is for his patients when they do not understand how anxiety works. The good news is that understanding it and knowing what it consists of is the first step to overcome it.

Many people experience the onset of symptoms without warning and suddenly, causing them to spend most of their time on alert. This alert is the one that ends up generating before or after the appearance of symptoms. This unpredictability about the appearance of anxiety attacks is one of the causes that most affect the person, since can lead to low moods.

It is obvious the success of cognitive behavioral therapy in treating anxiety disorders; Nowadays, its very positive results in its treatment are more than known thanks to the application of techniques developed after long years of research in psychology, such as the techniques of progressive exposure, systematic desensitization and the development of coping skills and unlearning of the anxiety.

During therapy, a fundamental objective is for the person to learn to use these techniques in their day-to-day life and thus regain the feeling of control over your body and your mood so that they can subside the symptoms of anxiety and its crises.

Along with the anxiety unlearning techniques of cognitive-behavioral psychology, the work in psychotherapy of emotions is very positive, in parallel. humanistic psychology as well as the latest techniques developed from the discoveries of neuropsychology, such as EMDR or Integration Techniques Cerebral.

For the psychologist, the main objective is not that the anxiety disappears, but that the person loses fear of anxiety and its appearance: by identifying how anxiety manifests itself in our body, emotion and thought and being aware that it is an alarm signal that can teach us a lot about ourselves and how to improve our lives.

Bibliographic references:

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• Hofmann, S.G.; Dibartolo, P.M. (2010). Introduction: Toward an Understanding of Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety. pp. XIX - XXVI.
• Kendler, K.S. (2004). Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. FOCUS. 2 (3): pp. 416 - 425.
• Otte, C. (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders: current state of the evidence. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 13 (4): 413 - 421.
• Phillips, A.C.; Carroll, D.; Der, G. (2015). Negative life events and symptoms of depression and anxiety: stress causation and / or stress generation. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping. 28 (4): pp. 357 - 371.
• Rynn, M.A.; Brawman-Mintzer, O. (2004). Generalized anxiety disorder: acute and chronic treatment. CNS Spectrums. 9 (10): pp. 716 - 723.
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• Waszczuk, M.A.; Zavos, H.M.S.; Gregory, A.M.; Eley, T.C. (2014). The Phenotypic and Genetic Structure of Depression and Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood. JAMA Psychiatry. 71 (8): pp. 905 - 916.