Anxiety: how to identify it and how to treat it?


What is the anxiety? How do I identify it? What is the worst that can happen to me when I feel it? On many occasions we feel things that we do not know how to explain or name. The anxietyfor example, is an emotion that makes us feel afraid, apprehensive, restless, tense, or all of the above.

The clinical psychologist, Gabriella Abate (@psychats), explains that the anxiety it is an emotion that we all feel and have, some with a little more intensity, some more frequently, it varies from person to person. For her, the anxiety It arises when we interpret something as a threat or as a danger.

“The anxiety it is a feeling of fear, trepidation and restlessness. It can make a person sweat, feel restless, tense, and have a palpitation. It can be a normal reaction to stress. For example, you may feel anxious when faced with a difficult problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision.

Anxiety or anxiety disorder

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Feel anxiety and suffer from disorder of anxiety they are two different things. According to behavioral specialist Gabriella Abate, feeling anxiety is normal and valid, but feeling it constantly can lead to or evolve into a disorder of anxiety.

Abate assures that on many occasions we are aware that we are facing a disorder of anxiety when it begins to affect day-to-day functionality. For example, when someone stops going out, they don’t want to see people, they don’t want to be at events, they start missing work, among other symptoms.

Some types of disorders

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  • Generalized anxiety: people with this disorder they worry about common problems, such as health, money, work, and family. But, their worries are excessive and they have them almost every day for at least 6 months.
  • specific phobia: People with phobias have an intense fear of something that poses little or no real danger. Your fear may be of spiders, being in the air, going to crowded places, or being in social situations (known as anxiety Social).
  • Panic disorder: people with disorder panic suffer from panic attacks. These are sudden and repeated moments of intense fear with no apparent danger. Attacks come on quickly and can last up to 40 minutes.

  • Post-traumatic stress: some people develop this disorder after experiencing a shocking, frightening, or dangerous event. Fear is part of the body’s normal “fight or flight” response, which helps us avoid or respond to potential danger.
  • The Obsessive Compulsive (OCD): East disorder It is characterized by a pattern of unwanted thoughts and fears (obsessions) that cause repetitive behaviors (compulsions). These obsessions and compulsions interfere with daily activities and cause great emotional distress.

Signs of a person with anxiety

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“There is no single correct answer to identify a person with a disorder of anxiety. Obtaining this diagnosis is complicated, because it varies from person to person and in many cases it goes unnoticed”, says the specialist.

Each person is different, therefore, they feel and express the emotions in different ways. Some of the signs or symptoms that can be noticed in an anxious person are:

  • Restlessness, it is difficult to sit and be still.
  • Tremors.
  • Compulsive behaviors (smoking, compulsive eating).
  • Irritation.
  • Speech with many concerns for the future.
  • Hyperventilation or shortness of breath.
  • Avoidance of certain activities or situations that trigger the anxiety.
  • It’s hard for him to sleep.
  • Think that everything will go wrong.

How to help?

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a person with anxiety they only expect to be understood, but they think that others cannot understand them, which makes it difficult to help them.

Gabriella explains that you have to be careful when approaching that person, because they may want to push you aside and avoid sharing their emotions. As he comments, people who experience these emotions they do not want to overwhelm the other, it even gives them anxiety charge others.

“When a person has anxiety, the most important thing is to approach them and let them know that you are there, that you are available and that you can listen to them” Gabriella Abate clinical psychologist

ways to help

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  • emotional support: at this point you can propose to talk about it without much insistence, letting the other person understand that you are there to listen and that letting off steam can make them feel better.
  • Distraction: if the person does not want to share their emotions with you so that you can support him and validate what he feels, it is prudent to make an accompaniment / distraction so that that person occupies his mind in something else and does not isolate himself. Sharing ice cream or coffee can be good options.
  • Don’t invalidate it: If that person decides to tell you what is happening to them, it is important that you do not invalidate them. “Whatever I tell you, even if it seems ridiculous to you, something extremely little or that it is not worth worrying about, we should not say: that is nothing, or that it is not worth worrying about”, because it does not help and it does feel misunderstood.
  • To ask: if who is in a situation of anxiety is a close person we can ask: how can I help you?

help a person with anxiety It is not like holding hands and breathing together –sometimes it can work-, but the help will depend on how each person is and at this point it is necessary to accompany them, understanding that each being is different.

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What you must not do

They should not be invalidated or made to feel like a burden because they already feel like a burden.

Impact

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The anxiety can lead to other disorders or conditions:

  • Depression: the anxiety and depression go hand in hand. A person with depression can often develop anxiety and a person with anxiety you can develop depression.

“A person who constantly feels on alert and who stays in that state of flight or fight, gets tired and mentally and physically exhausted, so this can end in depression,” says Abate.

  • Consume substance: Another consequence of anxiety is to fall into the consumption of substances to forget, distract or relax and the same consumption of substances can aggravate the symptoms of anxiety.

Advice

“Trust in the process, it is necessary to be patient with oneself and self-compassionate. Anxiety is not something easy, the mind is extremely complex and neither can emotions be controlled” Gabriella Abate Clinical Psychologist

Source-www.diariolibre.com