Is it necessary to go to psychotherapy to manage anxiety?

Almost everyone, at some point in their life, suffers from excessive anxiety.

Sometimes it is more about stress that appears in the face of a specific challenge that we must face at home or at work. work, such as reaching a productivity goal at the office or coordinating a series of household tasks to finish on day. In other cases it is an anxiety that keeps us on alert without us knowing very well why, a discomfort with diffuse causes and that seems to use any excuse for us to be worried and with the pulse accelerated.

However, although all these kinds of experiences are relatively common, Most often, those who suffer from them in their daily lives do not seek psychotherapeutic help.. This is a problem? Let's see it.

• Related article: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

Is it necessary to go to the psychologist in the seasons in which we suffer from anxiety?

First of all, it is necessary to clarify that anxiety itself is not necessarily a bad thing, nor an experience that should worry us when it affects us directly. In fact, all healthy people are prone to feeling anxiety with relative frequency: it is a phenomenon that forms part of the basic emotional states of the human being, and if it exists it is because it has helped us survive for millions of years. years.

Thanks to her, we can adopt a great sensitivity to risks and dangers and react in time to avoid direct or indirect damage: it is part of an adaptive mechanism so relevant that it appeared a long time ago in the evolutionary line that reaches until us, and in fact it is present in practically all vertebrate animals (and possibly many invertebrates). also).

Thus, it is more useful to understand that anxiety problems are anxiety problems in a relative sense: what is there to correct is the excess of anxiety and the way in which we manage it, not the presence of the anxiety. In fact, if we try to "eliminate" the anxiety we feel, we will become frustrated and therefore feel even more anxious.

This already gives clues as to whether it is always a problem not to go to the psychologist when we notice that we have a level of anxiety that remains relatively stable for a while. The key is not to identify the presence of anxiety in us, but to determine if it is damaging our quality of life. in a meaningful way.

In other words, the criteria for deciding to go to therapy must be based not on the qualitative, knowing if we experience anxiety or not, but quantitatively: is it intense or constant enough to take us away from well-being? really? Keep in mind that psychotherapy lasts several weeks and is usually thought of as a way to overcome problems that, if not addressed by specialists, can continue to affect you in the medium and long term.

If you think that this is not your case, you can always learn some guidelines to manage anxiety on your own.

And what about anxiety disorders?

It is true that not everything comes down to having little or a lot of anxiety. After all, there is what is known as anxiety disorders, which are psychopathologies in which anxiety and stress compromise mental health. of the person who suffers from them (and by extension, also their physical health).

However, from the point of view of someone who is considering whether or not to go to psychotherapy and who does not have training in psychotherapy or psychiatry, it is best not to become obsessed with these concepts. It is mental health professionals who diagnose psychological disorders, and in general it is convenient not to be obsessed with these "labels" used in Clinical Psychology and limit to assess our own satisfaction with life and the way in which anxiety influences it or not.

Establishing the degree of discomfort due to anxiety

Look at these guidelines to determine if you need psychological help before anxiety:

• Does the way you try to relieve anxiety (binge eating, pulling your hair, smoking...) harm you?
• Does anxiety stay quite high for several hours at a time?
• Do peaks of anxiety lead you to notice that you lose control over your body?
• Does anxiety go hand in hand with disturbing thoughts or even suicidal ideation?
• Does anxiety lead you to have problems by trying to avoid certain normal day-to-day situations?
• Does anxiety generate very intense physical symptoms?

What can I do if it is not worth going to therapy yet?

If you think that anxiety does not harm you enough to go to psychotherapy, you can always try to apply some of them on your own. psychological clues that, although they are clearly less effective than professional support in a psychologist's office, can help you help. These are some examples of those recommended habits and behavior guidelines.

1. Lead a healthy life

The better you are physically, the less likely you are to suffer from high levels of anxiety easily.. Above all, give great importance to getting enough sleep, and also eat from a healthy diet that provides you with all the vitamins and macronutrients you need.

2. Don't try to block the discomfort

As I advanced before, trying to prevent anxiety from entering our minds is totally counterproductive. It is better that you practice acceptance and give up having total and absolute control over what happens in your consciousness, and focus rather on directing your attention towards things that bring you satisfaction or that you find stimulating.

• You may be interested in: "5 common sources of childhood anxiety that can affect little ones"

3. do aerobic exercise

Aerobic exercise is helpful to prevent and combat anxiety, both due to the release of hormones linked to physical activity and the fact that it induces a state of mind in which you should focus your attention towards immediate goals and the bodily sensations associated with it, so that the intrusive thoughts that have been worrying you will gradually weaken and you will be able to "disconnect".

4. Plan your hours well

The tendency to waste time and postpone responsibilities is a great source of anxiety, and in times in which the digital world constantly exposes us to distractions, it is very common to fall into this type of mistakes. To prevent such situations, create detailed schedules that include rest breaks, so you can stick to them and they're realistic (so you can commit more to them).

5. form yourself

There are somewhat more elaborate techniques and strategies that can help you combat moderately high levels of anxiety in your day to day, and in this sense the courses and workshops focused on this area of ​​emotional management can help you help.