Fighting anxiety: 5 guidelines to reduce stress

Some tips to mitigate anxiety and its associated problems.

Anxiety is a vicious circle that is difficult to get out of. We are facing a psychological disorder that is a real pandemic in today's society.

But, what exactly is anxiety, what symptoms does it present and how can we get out of this situation?

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a mental state of anticipation, in which we experience nervousness and uneasiness. It is an unpleasant feeling that puts us in tension. Anxiety is a normal response of our organismHowever, some people are sequestered by anxiety and report a series of annoying symptoms and signs (psychological and somatic).

The feeling of anxiety is particularly difficult to describe, it cannot always be related to a specific origin (an exam, medical results, etc.) and is fed by the very consequences it generates (such as the postponement of pending tasks).

Combating anxiety and its causes

For this reason, it is complicated to deal with it, although not impossible. These five guidelines to combat anxiety can help you to mitigate its adverse effects and understand its nature a little better.

1. Learn to be your own boss

Anxiety is an unpleasant unpleasant feeling that most of us want to avoid.. The problem is compounded when we decide to compensate for the state of anxiety by resorting to stereotyped and repetitive forms of behavior. These are behaviors that usually start unconsciously, are partly automatic and can be more or less simple (stretching or pulling hair, tapping one's leg, etc.) or somewhat more complex (making trips to the fridge and eating something).

In addition to the adverse effect that these behaviors can have on our body, such as obesity or hair loss, indulging in them has the disadvantage that they cause us to enter into a vicious circleThe following is a reminder: since they are so closely associated with periods of stress, they act as a reminder that the sensation we want to avoid is there. Therefore, to combat anxiety, it is advisable to recognize these stereotyped patterns of behavior and put a stop to them.

2. To combat anxiety is to combat the "I'll do it tomorrow".

Periods of anxiety may have been triggered by day-to-day elements that are related to work, obligations and decision making. Therefore, combating anxiety also involves recognizing the situations in which this feeling can give rise to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which one's own negative state of mind invites one to throw in the towel prematurely.

Anxiety is one of the forms that can take the fear of starting to do something that can go wrong and that, as a consequence, is postponed time after time in a process called procrastination. Paradoxically, it is these procrastinations that make anxiety have a reason to exist, since thanks to them the obligation that generates stress is still there.

3. Divide your day to day into small chunks

Surely you have noticed that, from the moment you start a task that makes you lazy to do, it becomes more and more enjoyable and manageable. Something similar happens with anxiety: to keep your attention away from the thing that causes tension, starting an activity is much more effective than thinking about starting that same activity.

And the fact of being aware that anxiety acts as a ballast when it comes to doing things we want to do is in itself a source of anxiety. an anxiogenic source. If you want to make sure that what needs to be done is done without anxiety acting as a brake, nothing like breaking the most complex tasks into short sequences. If you have to write a report, for example, the first task can be as simple as turning on the computer and opening a text editor. The next sequence should start from there and also be very short (writing the first paragraph, etc.).

4. Take your time

The other side of combating procrastination is to make sure that we make good use of the time we devote to rest. we dedicate to restBeing on the go all day trying to distract our attention can be exhausting. If we do not know the source of the anxiety, this coming and going of distracting activities can act as a reminder that we are anxious, and if the source of the anxiety is in the pending obligations, it can generate a feeling of guilt. It is therefore worthwhile to be methodical with rest periods and to make them more goal-oriented.

In addition, breathing control exercises that are included in activities such as meditation, Mindfulness or tai chi are very useful to reduce the stress levels that set the anxious machinery in motion. Taking time to relax and making sure that these periods do not last longer than necessary to adjust hormone levels are two basic guidelines to combat anxiety.

5. Do not insist on making anxiety go away.

From a Biological point of view, anxiety is the fruit of complex neuroendocrine dynamics that no one would want to have to deal with. with which no one would want to have to deal without the help of the subconscious processes that regulate them. Therefore, it is important to be clear that anxiety can only be combated indirectly. No matter how much we try to ignore feelings of tension and fear, they will not go away just because our conscious mind asks nicely.

In fact, trying to mentally suppress these biological processes is nothing more than a way of acknowledging that the problem is there. In order for anxiety to stop being a problem, we have to fight its symptoms by creating new behavioral patterns. The solution is not in the privacy of one's own mind, but in the relationships between the body and the environment.

Bibliographical references:

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• Brinkerhoff, S. (2004). Drug therapy and anxiety disorders. Philadelphia: Mason Crest Publishers.
• Cano-Vindel, A., & Fernández-Castro, J. (1999). Cognitive processes and emotion. (Monograph of 'Anxiety and Stress'). Murcia: Compobell.
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