Anxiety, considered by specialists a normal reaction of the body to stress or danger, can become a problem when it persists. A specialist doctor offers some useful tips for those who face such fears.
Anxiety can be a difficult problem to manage. Photo: freepik.com
Over one third of the women who participated in a study in the UK have said they had high anxiety levels, according to The Sun. The symptoms mentioned by these include accelerated thoughts, strong heartbeat and, in some cases, even panic attacks.
How can anxiety be understood
Anxiety is, according to the specialists quoted by the media platform, a normal response of the body, which, from the evolutionary perspective of primary reactions such as “fight”, “run” or “defend yourself”, plays an important role. Although this reaction is natural, anxiety becomes problematic when it is persistent and not just temporary.
“Many patients come to me confused by their anxiety and feeling quite ridiculous because of this, which makes them feel powerless, defeated and blocked,” said doctor Martin Brunet, author of the book “Your Worry Makes Sense” (“Your concern makes sense”), who explores why anxiety is logical and how it can be managed.
According to the specialist quoted by the British publication The Sun, people should consult the family doctor if they are worried about the impact that anxiety has on their lives and if it is present most of the time.
“If you can understand anxiety, then you can gain power over it, and if you are empowered, you can take small steps and reach the point where you have control over anxiety, not anxiety,” shows Dr. Martin Brunet.
Anxiety, removed with black thoughts
The specialist doctor offers some tips for those who want to understand their fears and successfully confront them. He recommends patients to focus on facts, not negative scenarios.
“The first step is for a person to understand and recognize what happens when he begins to feel anxiety – his body enters the protection mode. The second step is to focus on facts, not to let the imagination get out of control.” Explains the specialist, according to the Media The Sun platform.
Thus, when someone begins to panic, instead of thinking about terrible things, they can understand their emotions.
“My heart is beating, and this is the natural reaction of a healthy heart to adrenaline, because I am anxious for a certain reason.” explained Dr. Brunet.
This will allow adrenaline in the body to lower a little and breathing to return to normal, so that the person does not enter into an anxiety spiral.
People blocked in anxiety often use negative language, which limits them and makes them feel powerless. According to the specialist, if they recognize their difficulty in managing uncertainty and doubt, they can start working with these feelings and use this challenge to overcome difficult times.
Anxiety, gradually driven out of the comfort zone
The specialist recommends that the recovery be addressed like rehabilitation after a physical and gentle injury. A trick proposed by this is the drawing of three concentric circles, one inside the other.
According to the doctor, the inner circle represents the comfort zone, and here a person should note the activities where anxiety is not necessarily lacking, but it does easily, because they please. The outer circle is the forbidden area, where the activities or situations that anxiety prevent the person, but which, however, would never want to do. This exercise recalls that anxiety is eventually normal. For example, here the use of public transport can enter.
The middle circle is the area of expansion, where the activities or situations that one cannot do because of anxiety are passed, but they would like to try. For example, maybe someone would like to go to a party organized by a friend, even if he doesn't know too many people there.
“The idea is to constantly work on expanding the comfort zone. Dr. Brunet recommends people to choose an activity that seems realistic to be achieved and to plan small steps, through which that activity is gradually tried. It may be about going a little further or doing a certain activity a little more every time, practicing adaptation to each step,” notes The Sun publication.
The monster of anxiety
The specialist also proposes to people to imagine anxiety as a funny monster or as a hectic puppy, to give him a funny name, Wilbur, for example, as he calls it in his book.
“He says you cannot claim that Wilbur stays at home, so you have to accept that he will be with you throughout the day. You should not fight with him, but let him be your boss. Maybe he really deserves to thank you for protecting you, but to make sure that everything is fine.”notes The Sun.
According to the doctor, anxiety is taken very seriously, and the force sometimes is precisely in this dose of self -irony. Thus, if the image of the monster of anxiety makes you smile, you create new associations in the brain and change your relationship with anxiety.
When she persists for some time or when a person finds that it is very difficult for her to manage it, the specialist recommends that she call on the family doctor, who can prescribe medication or recommend therapy through discussion, if the self-help methods have had no effect.
