13 questions and answers about anxiety (FAQ)

A guide to solve the most frequent doubts about this symptom.

Anxiety is an emotional and adaptive reaction that we have all felt in our lives. For example, in the moments before an exam, after a work conflict or when making an important decision that can affect our life considerably.

Now, some people experience different anxiety disorders that cause great discomfort.

Questions and answers about anxiety

Sometimes, many people may have erroneous beliefs about this adaptive reaction and the different anxiety disorders that exist.

For that reason, in the following lines we present a series of questions and answers that aim to clarify some doubts that may arise around this that can arise around this phenomenon.

1. What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a natural defense mechanism that appears as a response to a threat.. It is a system that generates adaptive reactions essential for the human being. Depending on the character and content of the thoughts that the threat awakens, anxiety activates more or less protection systems and manifests itself in a more or less forceful way.

The response generated by anxiety does not depend so much on the type of threat as on the perception we have of it. For this reason, this system is functional when the protection mechanisms that it activates are proportional to the danger.

2. What types of anxiety disorders are there?

Although the symptoms of anxiety disorders are often similar, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) there are different anxiety disorders. Among them it is possible to highlight: Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD), Specific Phobic Disorders, Agoraphobia, Social Phobia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Panic Attacks, Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

• You can learn more about these disorders in our article: "The 7 types of anxiety (causes and symptoms)".

3. What are phobias?

Phobias are a type of anxiety disorder that generally have their origin in a traumatic experience.A person associates a phobic stimulus with a negative response. People with phobia feel a great fear towards an object, situation and, in other words, a phobic stimulus. This discomfort or anxiety causes the phobic person to tend to avoid this stimulus that causes a reaction of fear or anxiety.

4. What is a panic attack?

The panic attack (or anxiety crisis) is precisely the result of the proliferation of thoughts that warn of a danger and generate fear, usually accompanied by a sense of high risk or imminent catastrophe. and that generate fear accompanied, usually, of a sensation of high risk or imminent catastrophe. It begins suddenly and frequently reaches its peak in less than 20 minutes.

The thoughts that lead this type of episodes share a fatalistic character ("the worst that can happen is...", "everything is a problem", "nothing seems to me a good option", etc.). All of them usually appear automatically. The person is not very conscious of their origin nor of the level of forcefulness and intrusiveness.

The result is a cocktail of emotions that further alerts the individual and, as a consequence, triggers the symptomatology related to the overactivation of the organism. The respiratory rate and heart rate are the main protagonists.

5. What role does breathing play in a panic attack?

We obtain energy through breathing (the nutrients we acquire through food require oxygen to be transformed into energy).

When we perceive a threat, we accelerate our breathing and, at the time of inspirationWhen we perceive a threat, we accelerate our breathing and, at the moment of inspiration, we use extra muscles to calm our desire to "catch our breath". All this entails a higher energetic cost.

If the feeling of threat does not diminish and the thoughts increase, the respiratory rate increases and is maintained. The result is a breathing that is above the needs of our body, an excessive breathing that requires a lot of energy. This is known as hyperventilation.

6. Why is it so difficult to take a breath when we hyperventilate?

When we hyperventilate we load our lungs with O2 and generate an imbalance: O2 levels increase but CO2 levels decrease.. In order to rebalance the gases, the body makes it difficult for the individual to take in O2. For this reason, in an anxiety crisis, the person feels short of breath and finds it difficult to breathe.

7. And when we do sport, don't we also accelerate our breathing?

Yes, the difference is that when we do sport, the body needs more energy and we increase the respiratory rate in order to obtain more O2. This oxygen, when used, produces a high amount of CO2. Thus, there is no imbalance between the two, there is no imbalance between the two gases.. For this reason, when we practice sports, we do not have the same symptoms as when we hyperventilate due to anxiety.

8. Why do some people who suffer a panic attack feel that they could die?

The acceleration of the respiratory rate and, consequently, of the total metabolism, leads the individual to a limiting physical state.. The imbalance between gases (in particular, the decrease in the level of CO2 in the blood) produces another phenomenon: the alteration of the pH.

This alteration of the pH is responsible for a whole set of sensations that arouse terror: choking, accelerated heart rate, dizziness, tremors, muscle spasms in the legs, trunk, arms and even facial muscles, sweating, heat, etc.

The lack of knowledge about what a panic attack is, added to such visible physical symptoms, leads the person to think that he/she is facing a vascular condition (heart attack for example) and not a problem of psychological origin.

9. What guidelines can help us to control a panic attack?

The first essential point consists of slowing down our breathing. To do this, it is important to try to take in air through the nose (to restrict O2 intake) and expel it through the mouth. As the respiratory rate decreases, the inhalations and exhalations are longer (the person begins to feel that he/she can fill the lungs). Likewise, stopping, stopping talking and looking for a "comfortable" space to rest are three essential elements.

At the same time, breathing visualization techniques work as a method of distraction. Coloring the pathway of the gases by differentiating between the input of O2 (for example, with the color blue) and the output of CO2 (for example, with the color red) is a way of focusing even more attention on breathing and avoiding the appearance of alerts.

10. What kind of work is done in Psychotherapy?

First of all, we carry out a psychoeducational task that highlights the mechanism of anxiety and panic attack. To understand the "whys" is the first point to control its appearance..

As we explained, the anxiety crisis is preceded by a series of more or less automatic and more or less unconscious negative thoughts. From Psychotherapy we work to learn to detect these thoughts, to locate them (in which situations), as well as to know their essence and content (what is their meaning).

The identification of automatic thinking is what provides the basic knowledge to give power back to the individual. At the same time, the construction of new lines of thought that contemplate unattempted solutions and facilitate the resolution of conflicts will be the training that expands the range of resources and increases the individual's management capacity.

11. What types of psychotherapy are useful for the treatment of anxiety?

One of the most widely used therapies for the treatment of anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been shown to be very effective in many research studies. It works especially well for the treatment of phobic disorders such as claustrophobia. In addition, in recent times, third generation therapies such as Mindfulness or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy have proven to be very effective.

12. Is it good to take drugs to treat anxiety?

Some drugs are indicated for the treatment of anxiety in severe cases; however, they should not be taken as the only therapeutic option, should not be taken as the only therapeutic optionHowever, they should not be taken as the only therapeutic option, but in combination with psychotherapy. In addition, anxiolytics or antidepressants should never be taken without the supervision of a specialist.

13. How do I stop taking medication for anxiety?

Many people can stop taking anti-anxiety or Antidepressant medications without noticing withdrawal symptoms, especially if they do so under the supervision of a health care professional. Others, however, may experience some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. If you feel any symptoms that interfere with your ability to perform daily activities, you should talk to your doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist and discuss your case..