Nerves and stress: what is anxiety for?

Let's learn to reinterpret our activation to benefit from it.

Don't lose your nerves!

Popularly, there is the conviction that "nerves" are like little devils that, when they feed too much, make our life a living hell. In fact, in popular language, the message "don't lose your nerves" is transmitted, which means "calm down, don't get upset". And this advice would be very accurate were it not for the fateful interpretation it is given.

Actually, if we were to take "don't lose your temper" as what it really means, and not as a frightening interpretation of what will happen if we lose our temper (if we are not calm), there would be far fewer problems with our health, there would be a lot less anxiety problems and certainly, that even more popular goal of "being happy" would be closer to the goal of being happy..

What are nerves?

Beyond philosophical or linguistic analyses, it is important that we have a clear idea of what these "nerves" are that are so often talked about, and above all how they influence our daily functioning. how the nerves influence our daily functioning.. For this reason, we are going to treat them under the term activation.

First of all, first of all, we must attack this negative connotation. These nerves refer to the level of mental, physiological and emotional activation, which translates into specific behaviors that act in an attempt to moderate this level, always depending on the specific task.

In clinical psychology, this concept is closely related to anxiety, stress or fear. A basic characteristic of anxiety is the high activation, both physiological and emotional, experienced by the person.. Thus, we see how the three terms (anxiety, stress or fear) are nothing more than different representations of high activation.

Types of nerves

This is an important point. It is not the same for us to argue with our partner as the nerves we feel when taking an exam, nor to respond to a scare as to run away from a rabid dog. This is why we say that it is the task that determines what type of activation and what level of activation we should have. In reference to the types of activation, we should know that our "nerves" act on the basis of two mechanisms.

• One appetitive or approachwhich is activated in relation to positive emotions and behaviors that we like (such as the excitement we feel when we are going to score a goal, or when we try to achieve a professional goal).

• One of defense or avoidancerelated to threats or situations that we dislike (examples would be the behaviors of flight or survival to a threat; the flight from danger, the fight against a threat...).

Is it good to be very active?

Of course it is, it can be. This activation, as we mentioned before, is always useful or necessary depending on the task. Returning to the examples from before, a much greater activation is useful if we need to escape from a threat than if we are trying to pass an exam.. Moreover, the very existence of this activation is necessary in order to face daily challenges. It is not necessarily bad. Unless we choose to do so ourselves.

In the same way, as for that positive activation, there will also be a differential need for it when improving the time it takes to run a kilometer, than when receiving a kiss (remember that positive activation involves not only positive emotions, but behaviors that help us or bring us closer to that source of activation, as in the case of goal).

Reinterpreting anxiety to live better

What is the real problem? That is, Why do people keep giving the message not to lose your temper, not to have high activation? It is obvious that there are certain situations in which high activation is not useful, but what if it is? There is no need to fear the body's adrenaline rush, let alone the consequences; no one has yet become a green Muscle monster.

On a clinical level, here lies a major problem: the subjective assessment we make of our activation and the consequences it will have.. It has been shown that the most disabling component of anxiety is not the physiological or physical one, but the mental one.

Relaxation. There are techniques to regulate this activation, called, it is worth the redundancy, techniques of deactivation, among which are the muscular relaxation, the meditation or the relaxation in imagination. And they can be used at the moment in which that activation becomes unnecessary.

But before we get to it, let's relativize. It's okay to lose your nerves, especially if they are positive nerves. Let's give that positive excitement a chance. Let's give our body a chance to express itself too. Maybe it wants to tell us something.