How does anxiety work? Interview with Ruth Fernández Matía

Anxiety is one of the most frequent psychological disorders, and it can also be produced by a large number of different situations. That is why it is important to know how it works and what characterizes it.

Therefore, in this case We interviewed an expert psychologist in solving anxiety problems: Ruth Fernández Matía.

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

Managing anxiety problems: interview with Ruth Fernández Matía, psychologist

Ruth Fernandez Matia She is a health psychologist with many years treating people with anxiety and mood problems. She currently resides in León, a place where she cares for patients of all ages. Here he talks about the keys to understanding how anxiety works.

What are the risks of maintaining an anxiety problem for a long time? Can it lead to other disorders?

Anxiety maintained over time can lead to health problems, digestive problems, insomnia, headaches, dermatitis... It influences social relationships, your relationship, your academic performance, work... it can affect all quality of life.

The consequences of suffering from anxiety for a long time and without finding a solution, can lead to depressive pictures, abuse of certain substances or consumption of hypercaloric foods that help in the short term to reduce those levels of nervous activation.

Do you think that it is easy for most people to detect when they have a problem with anxiety, beyond noticing a feeling of discomfort?

Many people do not realize certain symptoms that generate anxiety; they live like this for a long time and normalize it in their lives.

Anxiety can manifest itself in many ways; At the physiological level, an activation occurs in our sympathetic nervous system that makes people perceive themselves as bad physical level, some manifest a choking sensation to others who are unable to swallow food. Sometimes they are not aware that everything stems from anxiety.

When patients affected by anxiety problems come to your office for the first time, what specifically do they generally complain about?

Some report not sleeping, or having various dreams-nightmares, they do not have a restful sleep. Others arrive because they don't control their anger, others for a low mood and apathy, etc. There are also people who comment that they have begun to think more negative things than normal, to be afraid... Although there are similar symptoms, each one channels anxiety differently.

Once you have detected that the underlying problem has to do with anxiety, what phases does psychotherapy go through, throughout the sessions?

I always like to assess the emotional imbalance they present in the now, and how their tendency is as a personality trait. In five sessions I carry out the evaluation again, and the patient himself will see how his emotional imbalance has been reduced by more than 50%.

I carry out a form of therapy with which the patient learns strategies and resources that will help them reduce anxiety. I work on thoughts with very innovative techniques, and there is another behavioral part that is also very important.

After several sessions have passed, what are the first signs that the therapy is working?

Our most important and objective signal is the comparison of the evaluation to the four sessions, there we objectively see the improvement. The patient himself begins to notice that he sleeps better, that he breathes more calmly, that all the symptoms of activation of the sympathetic nervous system are deactivating.

What advice do you give to prevent the excessive accumulation of anxiety?

A basic and very preventive advice is to learn to breathe well, breathing is a natural anxiolytic. Our body is a natural pharmacy and we are not taking advantage of it.

Working our thoughts is very important, because the quality and content of what you think modify our brain and the body ends up manifesting what our mind believes. You also have to learn to distance yourself from certain thoughts and beliefs, and generate new habits in the patient that lead to a better quality of life.