Dr. Claudio Naranjo compares anxiety to a “frozen fear or alarm before the danger has stopped threatening (even if it continues to be imagined)”.
Anxiety and fear are provided for different sections. The scientific manuals (DSM IV and ICD 10) describe anxiety as a state of apprehension, tension and/or discomfort given by the anticipation of danger and failure. It is something that we anticipate in response to an unknown or unrecognised threat. Often, the symptoms of anxiety may seem imminent because anxiety stems from a fear of the fear itself of some past trauma that has had important effects in our lives, but that we still have to finish processing.
Then there is social anxiety, specific anxiety disorders (panic, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive, phobias etc) and general anxiety. All of them, however, have some physical symptoms in common, such as a pounding heart, narrow throat, sweating, trembling and difficulty with breathing.
The anxiety!!!!!!!!!!! Those of us who have never experienced it can be considered incredibly lucky!
It seems to be part of the humanoid group’s DNA! I am sure that even our ancestors, their ancestors, and those who have come again, more or less all, experienced anxiety and not just once in their lives. Perhaps they developed more efficient strategies to overcome it (or perhaps never arrived!) Or perhaps the context that usually forced them to act decisively and promptly to achieve their own and that of the dear ones did not leave much room for anxiety and its “type”. “Please advise on some secret strategies to eradicate this” rampant virus “, and that has never been a past in past eras, I prefer to concentrate my resources on finding new strategies to overcome or consider anxiety states, the evolution of the mind and society.
Anxiety, I call her by mistake
But actually I discovered (through direct experience and the one with the people I work with) that anxiety is not as bad a witch as it seems. Everyone agrees that it is not pleasant to experience it and that it often invalidates the quality of our life. But this only happens when we consider it an enemy and try to send it away at any cost, instead of listening to what it is telling us! It is as annoying as the incessant cry of a newborn when we do not satisfy their need, because we do not understand it. With our little ones, out of love, we patiently try to understand what they are missing and why they are crying. With anxiety we should act in much the same way, out of love for ourselves! We should look patiently when it arrives, try to understand why and what message it wants to send us. What is missing from our life or what is too much. What needs to be changed.
I refer you to the reading of a book that I consider brilliant for the true explanation of anxiety “The boiled frog: a story of anxiety, panic attacks and change”
Anxiety I listen to you and then:
- I listen to a music that relaxes me (even just ten minutes a day)
- I reflect on what you are “saying” through meditation;
- I try to rest whenever I feel the need
- I turn to a professional to become aware of the profound message that anxiety wants to send me and turn to change
