Pol Osés: "Our way of life does not help us manage anxiety"

Anxiety is behind most of the psychological problems that people suffer on a daily basis; sometimes it is mixed with other disorders, and sometimes it becomes a disorder in itself.

On the other hand, there are also cases of people without diagnosable psychological disorders. who, despite this, notice that excessive stress or anxiety does not allow them to give their best same.

Due to the importance of this type of mental and physiological alterations, many psychologists specialize in supporting people with this kind of problem. On this occasion we interviewed one of them, Pol Osés, expert in anxiety management.

• Related article: "What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do"

Interview with Pol Osés: the thousand faces of anxiety

The psychologist Pol Osés specializes in providing psychological assistance to people with emotional and relational problems, and many of these have to do with poor anxiety management. In this interview, he tells us about his experience intervening in cases of alterations of the type anxious or anxious-depressive in his practice in Barcelona or through the online sessions for video call.

What led you to want to be a psychologist and why did you want to specialize in the fields of this to which you currently dedicate yourself?

Vocation. Looking back with perspective, I realize that I have always been interested in the behavior of people, the reason for their behavior, the causes and their origin, especially when they are dysfunctional. This led me to constantly analyze the people around me, look for relationships, coincidences, and draw conclusions.

After studying Psychology at the University of Barcelona, ​​the professional experience acquired over the years and my experiences Personally, I became more interested in the anxiety problems that people suffer due to the demands of the society in which they live. we live.

Sometimes anxiety is talked about as if it were just a propensity of the personality of each one, but the context also influences. What aspects of the way of life in Spain do you think tend to make people anxious?

The scientific community indicates as the cause of our behavior an influence of 50% of our biology and of our interaction with the environment of the other 50%, approximately. In the end, they are percentages established with a more didactic than scientific approach in themselves, trying to transfer the idea that the two factors are equally relevant, and then it is necessary to evaluate in each particular case which has had more weight.

If we take into account the context, the interaction with reality as the axis of analysis, we will easily realize that the origin of anxiety It is multifactorial in most cases, although we could find some cases in which the origin of the anxiety is due to a stimulus concrete.

The answer to your question is that people suffer from anxiety disorders due to multiple reasons, such as being exposed to hypercompetitive, idealizing unattainable canons of beauty, entering into dynamics of insatiable material ambition, the influence of networks in the idea of ​​building utopian "lives" or the conception of an "I" that must constantly improve and feel happy, among many others.

These are general aspects that must be studied in depth afterwards and carry out an analysis and personalized work for each patient.

Would you say that our way of life leads us to adopt effective anxiety management strategies? Or, on the contrary, many of the things dictated by "common sense" are wrong, in this case?

The way of life that we lead in general, clearly, does not help us manage anxiety. A high percentage of our daily thoughts are useless and repetitive, which leads us to unwanted states of anxiety. This constant coming and going of thoughts leads us to a state of anxiety that generates a strong mental exhaustion that little by little consumes our vital energy.

Regarding "common sense", it is difficult to generalize, since sense, intuition, and the beliefs that lead us to evaluate each of the events of our lives to constantly make decisions, is more "particular" than "common".

Anxiety, understood as an adaptive mechanism that alerts our body to prepare ourselves for a stressful event, yes, "common sense" in Most of the cases lead us to make decisions that prepare us to face them, as long as we do not suffer from a behavioral disorder. anxiety.

The question will depend on how we have built this system of beliefs and ideas. If there is correct training, we will be more effective when it comes to solving the different events of our day to day, otherwise, we could suffer from an anxiety disorder.

In what aspects of life is it usually noticeable more clearly that a person has developed anxiety?

We can detect that a person feels anxiety in various ways, depending on their mood, physiological reactions, thought patterns or lifestyle habits.

Regarding the state of mind, we will observe a feeling of nervousness, agitation or a feeling of danger, all of this in a disproportionate magnitude in relation to the specific event. At the same time there may be physiological reactions such as increased heart rate, sweating or rapid breathing, among others.

If we have the opportunity to analyze a little more deeply, we will see that the person navigates between patterns of Negative thoughts, often threatening and that can become exclusive or preponderant.

And finally we can detect unwanted anxiety states in behaviors of substance abuse, compulsive eating or binge eating, strong dependence on people around us or shopping compulsive behavioral signs among other behavioral signs that can lead us to conclude that a person suffers from an anxiety.

And when it comes to offering professional support to people who have these kinds of problems, what strategies tend to be most effective?

The strategies are diverse, since there are different techniques and there are people who are more or less receptive to one approach than another, in the same way. Thus, a patient may feel more comfortable working with one therapist than with another, leaving aside the knowledge that each may have. one.

In my case I apply cognitive-behavioral therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness.

What can we get from each of them to combat anxiety?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy will allow us to desensitize the person to gradually make them able to feel capable of exposing yourself to the situation that generates anxiety and that progressively it goes decreasing. All this working in parallel with ideas restructuring strategies, behavioral modeling, problem solving training and relaxation and breathing techniques.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy will allow us to address anxiety by applying distancing strategies towards those negative sensations that the person experiences, to lose fear of anxiety and learn to "stop thinking about" the issue that generates discomfort.

And finally, Mindfulness will allow us to work on aspects such as increased awareness about our vital experiences, work in the "now" and observe more clearly our emotions. In addition, a change in mental attitude is worked on that takes us from an overly critical and controlling mind to a more compassionate and non-judgmental mind.

Do you think that, little by little, we are going to create a culture in which people are more competent when it comes to managing their anxiety states by themselves?

Without a doubt. It is in the nature of the human being to constantly strive to adapt in a more satisfactory way to his environment, and this is not going to be an exception.

It is true that the rapid development in the technological field in recent years has caused transformations in society, in our habits, in our way of understanding relationships or in our goals vital. Structural aspects of our lives have changed in less than a generation and it will continue to happen without giving the mind time to assimilate all these changes.

That is why for years some changes in our habits have already been put into practice that allow us to deal with these anxiety generators in a more efficient way. A balanced diet, respecting hours of sleep, practicing sports activities and taking care of our emotions through work with professional therapists are being key to creating strategies that allow us to deal in a healthier way with our reality.