How to Stop Worrying About Anxiety and Take Advantage of it

Although in the current context anxiety seems like a problem that has become an epidemic, the truth is that this state of psychological and physiological activation is not bad in itself. Evolution has made it appear in our lives as a mechanism to face situations in which we must act proactively, leaving our comfort zone.

Now, for those people accustomed to a very frenetic pace of life, or to situations in which there is a high risk of losing something, anxiety can end up wearing down your health; And our body is not prepared to undergo these pressures for many days in a row.

The point is that, many times, a good part of the problem with anxiety is that that sensation is awakened in us by anxiety itself, by its presence. Therefore, if we learn to tame it, we will not only reduce its inconveniences, but we can make its effect work in our favor

Why should we take advantage of anxiety?

Chronic anxiety is not a simple annoyance, it can have serious repercussions on your health. For example, it has been proven that when it becomes chronic, the immune system is left in a particularly vulnerable situation. This causes a chain reaction that can end in infections, failures in wound healing and in the body’s defense against viruses, etc.

Likewise, anxiety can lead to make our memory work in an abnormal way For example, highly stressful situations may be accompanied by the inability to remember well what happened, even though consciousness was not lost. This occurs because, temporarily, certain chemical substances that are secreted by the body when there is a peak of anxiety act by blocking the functions of the hippocampus, the part of the brain in charge of storing memories.

Anxiety can also cause problems when it comes to managing the focus of attention, at least if the stress is constant for several hours.

Therefore, it is important to manage anxiety levels in an intelligent way. so that it neither interferes with our health nor does it interfere with mental processes that we need to think well and to make our actions bring us closer to our objectives. Where to start?

Take stress as a challenge

An investigation whose results have been recently published in the scientific journal Journal of Individual Differences reveals that anxiety does not have to harm our performance in all possible situations, and in certain contexts it even enhances it. The secret lies, it seems, in how we link anxiety to our goals.

This research shows that individuals who They see anxiety as part of a challenge, not a threat, they feel motivated by it, since they interpret it as a sign that progress is being made. In other words, they transform her anxiety into well-channeled energy.

So, the secret is to accept anxiety, not transform it into a drama. People used to dealing with complex situations know that stress It is a part of these challenges, and that is why they are not afraid of it but rather they recognize it as a normal aspect of their struggle to reach the situation they want to be in.

Doing the opposite can only lead us to remain in the comfort zone, interpreting the slightest brush with difficulties as a personal attack, something that must be avoided at all costs. This last style of thinking may seem more comfortable, but in reality it is not, since it forces us to remain in a passive and avoidant attitude, always focused on what can go wrong or on what is already going wrong (by not trying solve it).

In short, a moderate level of anxiety is not only normal, but it is also desirable: it is evidence that we are improving in some aspect, focusing towards a goal that little by little we are surpassing thanks to good management of motivation and work times. As long as we know where the line is between healthy and unhealthy, stress can help us develop as people and useful members of society.