Generalized anxiety disorder: mental and physical symptoms and how to control it

anxiety appears throughout life before any eventuality that threatens our integrity or identity. However, sometimes it arises without that eventuality being clear or, when it is, it does with a disproportionate intensity, or settles in the life of the person tormenting and preventing you from living reasonably. recognize the anxiety symptoms It is the first step to be able to control the discomfort it causes.

what is anxiety

The “normal” or “existential” anxiety is a natural stirring of spirit necessary for survival and learning. Pathological anxiety, on the other hand, is what leads to reliving past situations, to the imaginary representation of a conflict unconscious that one does not want or does not know how to recognize, because it is negative, unpleasant or painful.

It’s an anxiety repetitivewell it is attached to character, and has a more physical component. To the feeling of anguish physical symptoms are added that often take those who suffer from them to make a pilgrimage to medical consultations convinced that they have some disease that they have not been able to detect. In addition, it causes a Inappropriate hyperactivity that affects performance, psychosocial functioning and personal freedom.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Psychic Symptoms

One of the biggest difficulties an anxiety sufferer has is not knowing what is wrong with him, or thinking that he is going “crazy”. However, many are symptoms that help identify it.

On the psychic plane:

feeling of restlessness and nervousness. everything worries himand this situation affects his professional work. feelings of inadequacyhis world becomes increasingly narrow. Noises startle him. The future overwhelms him and little by little he restricts his relationships.Difficulty sleeping and nightmares.Irritability and moodiness.Crying. The person can sometimes feel devastated by the situation and cry for him, but he is a cry of impotence and tension overload.Strong feeling of fear. It is frequent that this feeling of threat to integrity and loss of control manifest with fear of suffering a serious illness, physical or mental.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Physical Symptoms

The somatic symptoms are extensive, a consequence of the neurovegetative and neuroendocrine imbalance, as well as a physiological hyperarousal.

With more or less intensity, the body reacts as it would to danger, preparing for fight or flightjust that there is no real danger:

Throat narrows. Heart beats faster. Shortness of breath. Sweating. Feels tight in the chest.

PUnsteadiness, dizziness, tremors, dry mouth, nausea or vomiting, headaches, blood pressure changes, anorexia or bulimia, constipation, diarrhea, frequent urination or sexual dysfunction may appear.

If the symptoms appear to a lesser or greater degree for months, it is called generalized anxiety disorder.

But sometimes manifest acutelyand the person is prey to the panic. Apprehension, dread, feeling of impending doom … These episodes of intense fear are called panic attacks or anxiety crises and last about ten minutes.

One of the main obstacles that you have after suffering a panic attack is to overcome the fear of repeatingwhich feeds anxiety and favors the appearance of avoidance behaviors.

Anxiety and depression: are they the same?

The appearance of anxiety symptoms in depressive pictures often causes depression and anxiety to be confused. Some differences help distinguish them.

Depression begins progressively and is characterized by severe and persistent sadnessloss of interest, mood swings during the day, pessimism, early awakening, inhibition, guilt, suicidal tendencies and hypochondria.Anxiety is dominated by physical and mental tensionrestlessness, fear of the future and uncertainty.The anxious person worries more about the future than about the past.Contrary to depressive. At night the anxiety symptoms worsen and initial insomnia appears. There is not as much suicidal ideation either.

How to control anxiety disorders

Anxiety disorders respond to the fear that is felt before something harmless but that is perceived as dangerous.

The triggers of anxiety are multiple and are associated with life events: intense or repeated emotional traumas or conflicts, physical situations that represent a tension overload (pregnancy, convalescence, situations of abandonment, etc.).

Given the complexity of these disorders, treatment must be multifactorial. Psychotherapy is essential and drugs have a complementary indication. Relaxation techniques can also be helpful.

We propose some Techniques to overcome fears associated with anxiety.

What would happen if … ? Many times you feel fear because disproportionate consequences are attributed to a situation. Ask yourself what is the worst that could happen to you if the thing you are afraid of happened to you. Write it down and ask yourself the same question again: what is the worst that would happen then? Then ask yourself what are the chances of that happening and if you could live with it.be your own friend. Sometimes we are much harder on ourselves than on others. Show yourself to yourself as you would to a friend, with compassion and respect. What would you say to a friend if something similar happened to them?examine the evidence. Instead of taking your negative thoughts for granted, ask yourself if you have proof. What do the facts indicate? Analyzing the relationship between your fear and reality helps to be more realistic.What do you impose on yourself? If you review what you often say to yourself, you may find that there are many messages like “there should be more…”, “there shouldn’t be…”. These messages generate frustration, guilt and shame. He tries to replace them with other expressions that are kinder to yourself, such as “it would be better if it were more …” or “it would have been better if I had done …”. It is also useful to do so when those messages apply to others or the world in general, as that also breeds resentment and frustration.What are you hiding? When you feel anxious, ask yourself if something just happened that upset or hurt you and you didn’t react to it. Perhaps you are using anxiety to hide your feelings or avoid getting upset.