How Do I Know If I Have Anxiety?

How do I know if I have anxiety?

Anxiety is increasingly common among society. Surely you know someone around you who suffers from it and you have often wondered if perhaps you are also suffering from it.

In this article I will explain to you what anxiety is.what are its symptoms and how to treat it.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state of the body that is activated naturally when we face danger (real or imagined). The person in charge of activating this system is called RAAS (ascending reticular activating system). This is made up of a set of neurons that are located in the brain stem, and its main function is maintaining alertness.

I’m going to give you an example of how the ascending activating reticular system works. Imagine that you are at home with some friends having something so calmly in the dining room.while in the kitchen, by chance, a fire starts due to a fault in the electrical circuit.

As a result, the smoke detector is triggered, triggering the fire alarm. Thanks to this detector, your body goes into a state of alert, which makes you prepare to face this dangerous situation. There are several options: call the firefighters, try to put out the fire… all of these options mean you can save your life.

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Therefore, as you can see, anxiety allows you to avoid dangers and stay safe.

So… where does the problem of anxiety come from?

Anxiety becomes negative when it blocks us and paralyzes ussince it is the opposite function to the main objective.

We continue with the example of the fire. You have two options for how to deal with the fire you have experienced:

We must know that luck is something subjective. As I have explained to you, the body is prepared and designed to warn you, so it is not necessary for you to anticipate something that surely will not happen, since It is your own fears that are leading you to live that circumstance., so it’s not real. We call this autosuggestion.

Therefore, we can say that poorly managed anxiety is the imaginary state of anticipating catastrophes that are only happening inside your mind, generated by your own fear.

Detect anxiety problems

Symptoms that help you detect that you suffer from anxiety.

Although it is true that there are predominant and common symptoms of anxiety, it is important to know that there are many types, and these They vary in their appearance and intensity depending on the psychological and genetic predisposition of the person who is suffering from them.

Therefore, it is not good to compare yourself with other people who suffer from anxiety, since their manifestations may be different.

I am going to list some of the most common warning indicators that can appear alone or in combination.

1. Muscle tension

Nervous states usually cause the muscles to tense more than usual. Likewise, muscle tension itself changes your nervous state. That is why it is not surprising that in times of stress people suffer from muscle pain.

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2. Irrational fears

Imagined fears that prevent us from fully developing in our daily lives.

3. Insomnia

Sleep disorders are very common in anxiety and these develop due to the stress itself that prevents us from falling asleep in a healthy way.

4. Tiredness

Tiredness is common whenever physical or mental effort has been made. The problem is when this becomes chronic without having exerted extra effort.. In the case of anxiety, it occurs by unconsciously remaining in a state of continuous alert.

5. Difficulty concentrating

Some studies indicate that anxiety affects short-term memorywhich is what helps us concentrate on daily tasks.

  • Related article: “Types of memory: how does the human brain store memories?”

6. Change of emotional states

The fact of being exposed to anxiety on a continuous basis It makes our mood and emotions not adapt to the situations that we are really living.

Types of anxiety symptoms

The symptoms are classified into different groups depending on what human activities they affect. I put you some examples of each of the existing groups.

Psychological:

  • Difficulty in decision making.
  • Uncertainty.
  • Burden.
  • Unsafety.
  • Want to flee or attack.
  • Concern.

Physical:

  • Dizziness
  • Vomiting.
  • Pressure in the chest.
  • Changes in diet (eating a lot or a little).
  • Fatigue.
  • Muscle tension.
  • Tremors.
  • Tachycardias.
  • Stomachache.
  • Shortness of breath.

Cognitive:

  • Excessive concerns.
  • Concentration problems.
  • Negativity.
  • Intrusive thoughts.
  • Memory problems.
  • Repetitive carelessness.

Behavioral:

  • Abnormal surveillance state.
  • Blocks to act or impulsivity.
  • Difficulty staying at rest.
  • Closed body postures.
  • Bruxism.

Social:

  • Difficulties conversing with others.
  • Absent state in interactions.
  • Difficulty saying what you think.
  • Difficulty asserting oneself.
  • Irritability.
  • Absorption.

If you experience anxious states that limit you, through coaching and neurolinguistic programming (NLP), I can help you identify the negative patterns that limit you and turn them into positive ones so that you can achieve your desired goals.