Irene Brotons: "There are those who live with anxiety problems"

A large part of those who come to psychotherapy do so because they experience difficulties in managing and channeling their emotions. Among those emotions prone to giving rise to problems, anxiety is one of the most present in those who feel bad, and it is not for chance: it is a phenomenon that can be caused by a wide variety of situations, and that is normally associated with the discomfort.

It is true that anxiety is not always a problem; in fact, in most cases not only does it not harm us but it helps us even if we don't realize it. But it is also true that it can trigger very harmful psychological changes. To understand this fact, in this interview We spoke to an anxiety expert: psychologist Irene Brotons.

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

Interview with Irene Brotons: understanding anxiety problems and their treatment in therapy

Irene Brotons is a health and legal psychologist with a practice in Valencia, although she also attends through the online therapy modality. Offers professional support and treatment to people of all ages experiencing problems such as psychological problems, the lack of emotion management skills, or the bad dynamics in family relationships or couple. In this interview, she talks to us about one of the psychological phenomena that leads more people to seek psychotherapeutic help: anxiety.

How would you define the term "anxiety" to someone without training in Psychology?

Anxiety is an intense emotion in which we feel fear. It is characterized by thoughts in which we try to predict the future, but it is always anticipating from a very negative perspective. We fear that certain misfortunes or catastrophes will occur, that causes us to put ourselves in a state of alarm and that everything our body is activated, feeling a series of physical symptoms such as tachycardia, sweating, anguish or tremors.

As a society, do we tend to underestimate the positive aspects of non-pathological anxiety?

I think so, there is a tendency to underestimate the positive aspects of non-pathological anxiety. It is an adaptive anxiety that helps us to stay alive and has done so throughout the lives of human beings. It is the anxiety that makes us flee from danger when we are faced with a threatening situation.

When primitive man faced animal attacks, anxiety enabled him to flee more effectively. Anxiety is the nervous system's response to a situation that we consider dangerous, and this guarantees our survival.

And on the other hand, is it common for us not to give enough importance to anxiety problems, not considering going to the psychologist when they affect us?

It is common for people not to give enough importance to anxiety problems. They go to the psychologist when anxiety problems are very evident in their lives, manifesting through unpleasant symptoms such as anguish or sweating.

There are even those who live with these anxiety problems for a long period of time, and do not go to the psychologist until it is practically impossible for them to lead a normal life.

It is important that all people become aware of the great discomfort that anxiety problems can cause, disabling those who suffer from them to carry out activities of daily living.

What are the common anxiety problems among those who come to your office?

Frequent anxiety problems among those who come to my office are panic attacks, agoraphobia, anxiety generalized related to the work or family environment, and anxiety in social situations, which is the fear of being valued negative form.

To what extent can we learn to regulate our anxiety? Total control of what goes through our minds and how we feel is impossible.

We can learn to regulate our anxiety to the point of being able to control it in our day to day. It is true that it is impossible to make anxiety never appear. Anxiety will not disappear, but through therapy we will learn techniques to control it and prevent fear from paralyzing us.

It is very gratifying for a person to feel that he can control his anxiety, and that it does not prevent him from attending any event or doing any activity.

What therapeutic techniques and resources do you find most valuable when it comes to helping people with anxiety disorders?

When it comes to helping people with anxiety disorders, I find exposure therapy and therapy based on cognitive restructuring very valuable.

In exposure therapy, as the name suggests, the patient is exposed to what causes discomfort. When this happens, the person becomes accustomed to the stimulus that causes anxiety, and becomes aware of that many of his fears are unfounded, and they anticipate danger in a way that does not suit the reality.

Therapy based on cognitive restructuring is based on the fact that people feel and act according to their way of thinking. Therefore, if a somewhat maladjusted way of thinking is modified, anxiety will be modified, decreasing it.