What to do when you have ANXIETY?

Anxiety is a mental state or a passing trait of the person, characterized by the presence of great restlessness, excitement and insecurity. It is usually an anticipatory response to possible future threats. In addition, anxiety levels can sometimes be reduced through avoidance behaviors, that is, when feared situations are avoided, anxiety levels may decrease. It should be noted that the main characteristic of people who suffer from anxiety is the presence of excessive worry and persistent about different aspects of their daily life (work environment, academic performance ...) that people consider difficult to control. If you want to know more about anxiety and how to deal with it, do not hesitate to continue reading this article from Psychology-Online: what to do when you have anxiety.

Index

1. Symptoms of anxiety
2. What to do in a panic attack
3. How to control anxiety: 4 techniques
4. Exercises to combat anxiety

Here are some of the most common anxiety symptoms:

• Muscle tension.
• Excessive avoidance and vigilance behaviors in relation to a future threat or danger.
• Restlessness.
• Excitement or nervousness
• Another symptom of anxiety is the ease of fatigue.
• Concentration difficulties or blank mind.
• Irritability.
• Sleep disturbances.
• Excessive worry and difficulty controlling it.
• Significant discomfort and / or deterioration in the social, labor or other important areas of the person's functioning.

The panic attacks are characterized by appearance of symptoms such as intense fear and / or discomfort that reach a maximum level very quickly and, in addition, are accompanied by other physical symptoms (palpitations, sweating ...) and cognitive.

They can be differentiated two types of appearance of panic attacks: on the one hand, panic attacks can be expected, being the response to objects or previously feared situations and, on the other hand, can be unexpected, appearing for no reason apparent.

Thus, people who are used to suffering attacks or panic attacks are permanently uneasy and / or worried about suffer a new crisis or change their behavior in an adaptive way, such as by avoiding certain situations. Taking into account the characteristics of panic attacks, it is common to wonder What to do before a panic attack? Here are some tips that may be useful both for relatives and for the patients themselves.

• Wait For the panic attack to pass, not fight or flee to avoid it, it is advisable to accept the attack and think that nothing terrible will happen.
• It is recommended that patients remember that the symptoms are unpleasant but at the same time, remember that they are not dangerous.
• Concentrate, observe what happens (not what you fear will happen) and describe what happens during the panic attack.
• To procure stop adding thoughts of fear during the attack and observe how when you stop adding them the crisis begins to disappear. When this happens, it is important to pay attention to which thoughts you put aside and which ones replace them.
• Another tip to keep in mind during a panic attack is the fact that observe when anxiety begins to increase until it reaches its peak and when it begins to decrease.
• The controlled breathing reduces the physical symptoms of anxiety, so it is recommended to breathe through the nose in a appropriately, that is, slowly and relaxed, mentally counting from 1 to 4 both to inspire and to expire. Conversely, hyperventilating (fast) breathing can lead to symptoms of panic, such as increased heart rate.
• Convince yourself that it is a panic attack and that thoughts and feelings of excessive fear will disappear shortly.
• During a panic attack, it is common to have the feeling that time passes very slowly, so it is advisable look at the clock to be able to control the time that passes.

Here are the four best known methods to control anxiety:

• Relax: It is beneficial for people who suffer from anxiety as it reduces muscle tension and the bodily discomfort that this tension causes (headache, back ...), it also helps to reduce the body's functions that accelerate when anxiety takes over (acceleration of the heart rate ...), among others. You can learn the Jacobson's progressive relaxation technique.
• Distraction techniques: when a person is worried or tense, it is often difficult not to think about it, although these thoughts only play against the person, making them feel worse and increasing their anxiety. However, it is recommended look at other things instead of thinking about what causes anxiety, and for this it can be beneficial to resort to distraction techniques.
• Control automatic disturbing thoughts: there are thoughts that promote anxiety in people, causing physical symptoms derived from those thoughts (example: if I think I may have something in my heart, it will accelerate its rhythm, I will experience sweating, palpitations, and so on). Well, these are the thoughts that must be learned to identify and control, recommended with the help of a professional Of the health.
• Manage feelings of distress or loss of control: anxiety situations should not be avoided, but must be faced and tried to manage. For this reason, it is recommended to establish guidelines prior to suffering an anxiety situation to control as much as possible what the person should do. In addition, within these guidelines, relaxation, distraction, among others, may appear.

In spite of everything, it is highly recommended to go to specialist professionals so that they can control and monitor the different situations of each patient. In addition, the specialist can teach you to learn how to relax, proper distraction techniques, among others.

On the one hand, exercising or any other form of physical activity It can be very beneficial to improve the health of people who suffer from anxiety, since it allows to move the mind to other thoughts, away from worries, increases self-confidence, generates well-being, increases social interaction depending on the type of exercise performed, among others. So exercising can help both in preventing and improving health problems, such as anxiety.

On the other hand, in relation to another type of exercise, leaving aside physical activation and sport, they should also be taken into account counts activities such as those already mentioned above: relaxation, distraction techniques, control of thoughts, and so on. These activities are also beneficial to be able to cope in a more adequate way with anxiety.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What to do when you have anxiety, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• American Psychiatric Association. (2014). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. DSM 5. 5th Edition. USA: Pan-American
• Butler, G. (1991). Anxiety management. Government of Navarra, Department of Health