Anxiety is usually described as a phenomenon belonging to the realm of emotions; a set of psychological processes that leads us to feel anguish, stress when faced with possible sources of danger, and even nervousness at the idea of making a good first impression when meeting someone. None of these assessments are very off the mark, but on their own, they only explain part of what it really means to be anxious.
And anxiety goes beyond the emotional: it also affects how we think, how we make decisions and, ultimately, how we reason. And what we call “reason” is not a part of our mind totally separated from our feelings and state of mind, no matter how much there are metaphors about the fight between “the brain and the heart.”
When push comes to shove, elements like anxiety are totally intertwined with our way of weaving thoughts and drawing conclusions from what we know about the world and ourselves. Therefore, in this article we are going to focus on How anxiety affects decision making of people.
Anxiety is, above all, a product of certain environmental adaptation mechanisms that were developed by our ancestors in response to the need to survive in changing and potentially dangerous environments. Virtually all animals with a complex nervous system have the capacity to experience anxietyunlike plants or those that barely move (like anemones), because to exist they need to be able to react quickly to signals that they are at risk.
Currently, our well-being as human beings does not depend so much on the avoidance of physically dangerous situations but on not missing out on opportunities to maintain or improve our standard of living, materially and psychologically through self-realization. However, The ability to feel anxiety is still there, leading us to be aware of those problems or risks that must be addressed as soon as possible..
And since anxiety is a response to situations that require us to take action quickly, it cannot be said to be a problem, or an unpleasant experience; In most cases, it is much more than that, and it is useful to us. For example, it is part of those things that motivate us to hurry so as not to be late for a job interview, or to study for an exam, etc.
Therefore, it is not surprising that anxiety goes hand in hand with decision making and our way of thinking, generating new knowledge or hypotheses from which to behave. This psychological and emotional element orients us towards certain values or others, influences when deciding our priorities, leads us to have a more or less optimistic view of our abilities and aptitudes, etc. Let’s look at it in more detail below.
How does a high level of anxiety influence our decisions?
Anxiety interacts with our way of reasoning and making decisions in many ways, especially considering that each individual lives this experience in a somewhat different way from the rest of humanity. But, if we broaden the focus and focus on general and habitual behavioral patterns, it is observed that the most frequent interactions between anxiety and decision making are the following.
Anxiety makes it easier for our attention to be focused on what may happen to us in minutes, hours or days, leaving matters that may affect us on the time scale of months and years relegated.
This is because predisposes us to be in a state of attention to signals so that we can do something quickly to avoid a certain situation (missing an important phone call, not escaping from a place in time, etc.).
2. It predisposes us to remain in doubt
Anxiety is based above all on the avoidance of harm or loss, and therefore, when we are very anxious It can be very difficult for us to make an important decision, because that could lead us to suffer failure..
It is common for us to postpone time and time again the moment of choosing one of the options we are considering and move from ideas to action.
3. It makes it easier for us to think about our defects
The anxiety It leads us to focus our attention on our insecurities, so as not to trust ourselves and relax.. This often causes us to underestimate ourselves, or even behave assuming that we are bad at what we are trying to do.
4. It makes us prefer to avoid losses rather than have options to win
Typically, when we are very anxious, we adopt a conservative mindset, contenting ourselves with the idea of not losing. Therefore, in this state (and compared to other less anxious people) we tend to reject opportunities to win a lot at the risk of also losing a lot.
Being very anxious, Social interactions tend to be annoying for us, because they “overload” us. in a situation that already overwhelms us emotionally. Therefore, when anxiety is high, we generally prefer to think alone, without having to reach an agreed conclusion with others (which does not mean that we do not ask them for advice from time to time).
Related article: “The 8 advantages and benefits of loneliness”
To do?
These are some tips that can help you with anxiety:
Make sure you sleep enough hours to be able to face the challenges of everyday life with your nervous system at 100%.
Don’t drink caffeinated drinks after mid-afternoon.
Structure your tasks and responsibilities by assigning them hours of the day.
Exercise regularly.
Practice Mindfulness.
If you notice that the situation is overwhelming you, go to psychotherapy.
Do you want to have professional psychological support?
If you are interested in having psychological or psychotherapeutic assistance, contact us and ask us about our in-person sessions (in our center in Barcelona) or online by video call.
In Psychotools We serve people of all ages, as well as couples, and we also offer personalized Mindfulness training and psychopedagogy, neuropsychology, work/professional coaching or expert reports.
