What is anxiety and how to deal with it? Causes of anxiety

You've probably heard the saying: “Everything comes from the head.” This directly applies to anxiety, because it is there, in the brain, that it originates. Slowly, like a cunning spy, this feeling spreads throughout the body. Your palms are already sweaty, your legs are wobbly, and your tongue seems to be stuck to the roof of your mouth and doesn’t want to obey. When a person finds himself in an unfamiliar environment or encounters something unexpected, the limbic system is activated, which sends an alarm signal. The instinct of self-preservation kicks in - you need to urgently defend yourself! This means you need fast legs, strong arms and excellent heart function (to supply the body with oxygen). Therefore, blood rushes to the heart - and it begins to beat wildly.

As a rule, we have very little time to calm down. No one will postpone a public speech, reschedule an interview or exam... Therefore, you need to put yourself on full alert in a few minutes. And here's how you can do it.

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As a rule, during anxiety a person is very concentrated on what worries him. The world is literally converging on one point. We need to try to expand our horizons.

Close your eyes, open them and look out the window. If there is a wall in front of you, keep your eyes distracted and don’t concentrate on anything. Look as if through a wall. Then, after 1-2 minutes, on the contrary, focus on any insignificant object: a pencil, a button, a thumb. Examine the item in detail. Close your eyes and try to see it exactly.

To make the effect of the exercise stronger, close your eyes as you exhale, and as you inhale, look at the object again. Do the exercise for at least one minute.

Excitement and worry - what is it?

Anxiety is an emotion that makes you worry about various things. Such an emotional experience makes it difficult to sit still and concentrate. It forces you to constantly think and resort to certain actions. The most common reason why anxiety occurs is a lack of self-control.

Anxiety leads to the following manifestations:

• Inner (mental) peace is lost;
• Inappropriate behavior is observed;
• Self-doubt appears;
• Strength and energy are lost, which leads to stress;
• The ability to concentrate on any task disappears;
• Efficiency decreases, set goals are not realized, and inaction arises against the backdrop of one’s own powerlessness.

For better understanding, the listed manifestations can be considered using a specific example. So, a young guy needs to pass an interview for admission to a music school, and for this he will have to perform on stage in front of the examiners, with a prepared number. But he got so excited that when he went on stage, his voice began to tremble, and, as a result, he was unable to perform the prepared number, and this led to the fact that the exam was not passed, and his admission to the music school failed.

The above example clearly shows that excitement and worry do not lead to anything good. It does not help to cope with the problem; on the contrary, it aggravates it. Emotional experiences deprive a person of peace, confuse his thoughts and prevent him from concentrating, which ultimately does not help him achieve his goals.

Fizkult-hello

When a person is worried, tension occurs in the body. Once you release muscle tension, your mind will calm down.

If possible, do some exercises. Actively stretch, make rotational movements with your neck, jump and squat.

In the event that you are limited in movement, tense and relax your gluteal muscles, actively clench and unclench your fingers and toes.

Immediately before an exciting event, be sure to go to the toilet and hold your hands alternately in cold and warm (almost hot) water.

Why be shy and timid? Learning to cope with anxiety and shyness Read more

How to avoid stress: advice from psychologists

If anxiety and excitement arise sometimes, under appropriate circumstances, then there are several recommendations and life hacks that will help you. Ziyada Saidutova suggests using several techniques:

• Fake it till you make it. Fake it until you make it true. For example, public speaking: pretend to be someone who is confident, who knows how and what to say. Imagine in detail that you are a character from a movie. And what will be the successful outcome of the situation? How would someone braver than you do it?
• Breathing "square". Such breathing will reduce stress, restore, relieve tension, and transform the state into a calm one. Do this until the state changes to a calmer one. Inhale for four seconds, then hold your breath for four seconds. Exhale for four seconds and hold your breath again for the same time. Repeat the exercises.
• A symbol of your anxiety, fear, excitement. Choose a symbol of your anxiety if, for example, you are standing at the podium and speaking. It could be: a pen, a bookmark, cufflinks, a ring, etc. Here it is important to notice that you are greater than your own experiences, that the anxiety is nearby, but despite it, you can perform. You can get in touch with your own anxiety. What does anxiety mean? What is it here for? How do you feel about him?
• Grounding. If possible, place both feet on the floor. Feel the floor under your feet, feel the support. Feel how the floor connects you to the earth. It is better to use contact with your feet and a sense of grounding as support and confidence for yourself and your body.
• Breathing through the most tense area. Concentrate on the sensations in your body. Where is the most stressful place? Notice how it feels? Warm? Cold? Ripple? Make yourself comfortable - maybe sit or stand more comfortably. Imagine this tension inside, for example, in the abdominal area. And breathe, imagining how you inhale and exhale through your stomach. How relaxation and calmness gradually comes.

As psychologist Roman Miroshkin

, during times of stress, logical abilities tend to decrease. To restore the capabilities of the cognitive sphere, it is necessary to switch to very simple observation and thinking processes. Try to look around and say out loud and describe the characteristics and signs of everything you see. List the main points that concern your life: the current calendar date and day of the week, the year and day of your birth, the current time of year, what time it is at the moment. Try to track and describe your emotions and feelings at a time of great excitement or stress. To do this, listen to yourself and name at least three or four feelings that you are clearly experiencing at the moment. This will further help you better understand your condition and increase your own stress resistance.

In addition, Andrei Smirnov advises not to reproach yourself for mistakes.

“It’s useful to add a little “don’t care” to yourself. Realize the reason for the anxiety and think about what will happen if I fail the exam or perform poorly in front of the audience? Will the world turn upside down? Of course not! This is life and many things can be corrected later. The famous psychotherapist Albert Ellis said that man is not God and has the right to make mistakes. It is impossible to do everything 100% perfectly in life. Awareness of this simple truth helps to calm down before an important event,” says Andrey Smirnov.

Breath! Do not breath

During anxiety, people breathe quickly and shallowly. When we are in a calm environment and feel confident, breathing becomes deep and slow. So make your breathing measured - deceive the body, let it think that there is no reason for alarm.

Imagine that you have a small ping pong ball in your groin area. You inhale and the ball rises to the solar plexus area. You exhale and the ball drops back to the groin area. The ball should move smoothly, without jerking; for this you need to breathe deeply and calmly.

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Indirect signs of excitement

Some people have adapted to mask or control their own emotions.

Inattention. The person misspoke and cannot immediately remember the previous phrase. Because of this, the essence of the story is lost. It is impossible to finish the topic because its beginning has been forgotten.

A person is able to suppress some excitement. He holds himself straight, stands in one place, but at the same time his running fingers give him away. They touch each other and lying objects. Some begin to “crunch” them, others sort through their hair, and others scratch parts of their body.

Uncontrolled tapping of fingers on the table also indicates emotional stress. This harmless gesture can convey excitement.

Handling a cup of coffee or a glass of water will also tell you a lot. In excitement, a person will drink greedily or in small sips, but often. In a relaxed position, drink the cup slowly.

Just like shifty eyes, an unblinking gaze is a sure sign of excitement. Trying to hide it, a person tenses, which is why his gaze becomes detached.

If you know that a person rarely smokes, frequent smoking tells about the experience. While smoking, your nerves calm down, and your hands are busy with work.

The lighter does not work immediately and the person splashes out his emotions.

Feigned indifference or sudden mood swings indicate anxiety. A person can laugh uncontrollably and this is explained by physiological processes. Muscles involuntarily contract, forcing a person to express emotions unusual for that moment.

With all his might, trying to hide signs of excitement, a person puts on a mask of indifference and irony. Sharp comments and sarcastic remarks are fully consistent with the state of excitement.

In moments of danger, people activate defensive reactions. A person becomes aggressive, which means he worries about his own life or the fate of loved ones.

Increased sweating. At the moment of excitement, all systems begin to work faster. Therefore, you can tell about anxiety both by rapid breathing and by beads of sweat on your forehead, hands or upper lip.

Here and now

During excitement, a real mental dump forms in the head. A person manages to simultaneously think about the past, present and future. He remembers mistakes, worries, and is horrified by the prospects. It is very important to stop and fixate yourself in the current moment.

Out loud or silently, start saying what you see. It's important not to repeat yourself. For example, you say: “I am standing in front of the window. I’m wearing a gray suit and red shoes...” Talk about simple surrounding things. The main thing is to capture the feeling of the current moment. Return yourself from worries about the future to the real present, understandable, conscious and non-frightening.

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For what reason can a person not cope with his anxiety?

Not everyone can cope with anxiety (emotional anxiety). Often this is hampered by thoughts that are aimed at the fact that he may make a mistake. And what is most surprising is that people themselves, on a subconscious or even conscious level, instill in themselves such “erroneous programs” that affect their inner world. So, for example, there are several “faulty programs” that people often instill in themselves:

1. “Worrying is good, it means I’m full of energy.” Not true. There is nothing good in a restless state; on the contrary, it creates negative energy that prevents you from achieving your goal. And most importantly, it does not fill you with positive energy, but rather burns it, depriving you of rationality.
2. “It’s normal to worry, and the more serious my problems are, the more worried I become.” Again, not true. In a serious situation, you need to focus on the problem and control yourself, and not worry.
3. “I have to worry about letting people see that I care about what’s going on.” No and no again. You shouldn’t worry just to impress someone or, for example, to arouse pity. If a person sees that another is worried, he will not be imbued with respect for him, but will show pity, and a pitiful person is a weak person.

Pose of Confidence

Even if you feel out of place, at least visually try to look confident. Take a relaxed position.

If you have a few minutes to spare, sit down. Spread your legs a little, lower your arms down, and stretch the top of your head up to the sky, and be sure to smile. The body itself will try to bring you out of the anxious state.

When you don't have time to relax, take a hero's pose. The shoulders are straightened, the chin is slightly raised, the gaze is slightly down, the lips are stretched in a half-smile. Now it is not the brain, but the body that sends a signal that the situation has returned to normal, you have become the master of the situation.

When anxiety gets in the way of life

Worrying about trifles poisons the lives of many people. There are two ways out of this situation:

• Progressive.
• Regressive.

A person’s inability and unwillingness to cope with constant anxiety can lead to a worsening of the situation and the emergence of obsessive actions and special rituals and rituals. This is a regressive method that relieves internal tension, but does not relieve or cure a person completely from this condition.

Obsessive movements are a neurotic condition of a person in which he makes uncontrolled movements. Most often this is biting nails, clicking a pen, winding a strand of hair around a hand, scratching the ears, nose and other parts of the body, checking whether electrical appliances are turned off, whether the door is locked, performing such actions and movements a hundred or more times.

Rituals and rituals that relieve anxiety. A person who is often worried about trifles, even when doing the same work every day, develops certain rituals without which he cannot concentrate. He gives them a special meaning, believing that only by observing them is he guaranteed success. As a rule, this means arranging things in a certain order, washing hands a certain number of times, observing signs and others that a person invents for himself and observes without fail.

Breaking Bad…

In order to somehow cope with an unreasonable feeling of anxiety, a person usually chooses one of the most accessible ways:

• someone “copes” with anxiety with the help of drugs, alcohol or nicotine;
• others take the path of workaholics;
• Some people suffering from causeless anxiety focus on their social position;
• someone devotes their entire life to some scientific or religious idea;
• some “muffle” anxiety with an overly busy and often promiscuous sex life.

It is easy to guess that each of these paths obviously leads to failure. Therefore, instead of ruining the lives of yourself and those around you, it is better to follow much more promising scenarios.

Biological and genetic aspects of the problem

Interestingly, the nature of the mechanism of causeless anxiety is not fully known. However, recent research in this area proves that in addition to personal and social upheavals that can influence the appearance of obsessive anxiety, there are biological and genetic factors []. For example, there is a possibility that a parent suffering from GAD will have a child who is also prone to this disorder.

Interesting information has been obtained from the latest research in this area: it has been proven that excessive stress may be the reason that changes occur in the brain. So, with severe fear, certain areas in the cerebral cortex are activated. When the feeling of fear passes, the activated neural networks return to normal functioning.

But it happens that a settlement never occurs. In this case, excessive stress causes the medial prefrontal cortex to “grow” new neural fibers that grow towards the amygdala. They contain an inhibitory GABA peptide, the negative feature of which is increased anxiety [].

Such a mechanism can be considered proof that the human body is trying to independently cope with an unresolved problem, to “process” the stress that has settled deep in it. The fact that there is a change in the functioning of neural networks proves that the brain is struggling with distress. It is unknown whether he will be able to cope with the problem on his own, since usually fear is firmly “stuck” in the head and flares up at the slightest reminder of a stressful situation.

Let's summarize and draw conclusions

So, anxiety for no reason is most often the result of our unreasonably inflated reaction to an event that, in fact, should have caused a much smaller flurry of emotions. As a result, a person's response to anxiety is irritability, apathy, or depression.

To cope with these negative aspects, it is advisable to contact an experienced psychotherapist who uses effective methods in working with anxiety and excitement and will give practical advice. Doing your best work on this problem on your own will also not be superfluous: in order to combat negative emotions and experience less anxiety, try to implement the scenarios described above into life.

Published: 02/10/2015 Date of last edit: 01/20/2021 Author: Anton Velichko

How to stop being nervous and freaking out about anything, tips

“Calm down and don’t be nervous” is a phrase that really infuriates you! How not to be nervous and worry when your child doesn’t call (how did you get to school?), the boss at work is angry and always makes complaints (it’s scary to appear in front of him!), yesterday my husband accused him of spending a lot (shopping calms his nerves, how does that work for him? explain?). In general, every hour there is a “new introduction”, the slightest reason makes you nervous, worried, and lose your composure.

How to stop being nervous about anything? How to become calm and confident? Is it possible to strengthen the nervous system?

Advice from “experienced” people: common ways to stop being nervous

The topic of worries, worries and nerves does not lose its relevance and, moreover, has been gaining popularity in recent years. A busy work schedule, high speeds and a huge flow of information flowing from all sides has a very aggressive effect on the nervous system, and every now and then anxiety and fear arise for any reason.

Typically, psychologists advise to calm down: master breathing techniques, meditate, try to avoid stress and establish a sleep and rest schedule. Doctors recommend taking mild sedatives: tinctures of valerian, peony, motherwort, etc.

Are these methods effective? Surely not, otherwise the question would not be so pressing: how to stop worrying about anything, and users on the Internet would not be looking for new and new ways to solve this problem.

Who gets worried and nervous about anything and how to stop doing it?

Let's consider the situation using system-vector psychology. Those with a visual vector are the most prone to worry and anxiety, for any reason. By their natural properties, they are very emotional, sensitive natures, with pronounced imaginative intelligence and a rich imagination.

Due to their impressionability and imaginative perception, they experience not just anxiety or fear, their imagination draws pictures of horror and pain, they are dominated by anxiety and a premonition of something bad, dangerous, for almost any reason. Their nervous system is structured in a special way, and no pharmaceuticals or herbal infusions will help strengthen the nervous system; it will remain quickly conductive, excitable and sensitive.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that people with any vector set may be worried and nervous, for example, before an exam or before a serious event in their lives (before marriage or an interview for a new job). However, this anxiety is situational in nature and goes away immediately after the cause of the stress is eliminated.

But the owners of the visual vector worry and worry almost always, for any reason: the key got stuck in the keyhole or the hot water was turned off, the husband didn’t call on time or work colleagues “looked askance”, something stabbed in the chest (heart attack?!) or a large pimple appeared on the cheek. Is it possible to do something about this? Is it possible to stop worrying about anything?

How to avoid work-related stress?

Work takes up most of our lives, we spend all our time on it and, of course, we cannot do without situations that make us nervous. A report not submitted on time, a bad atmosphere in the team, a heavy workload - all this takes a lot of energy and nerves from us. Business industry experts share their tips on how to avoid stress at work.

Thus, vice-president of the QBF financial group Maxim Fedorov

notes that, if possible, at a critical moment it is useful to take a short break - drink tea, do a few exercises, listen to your favorite melody or some meditative compositions, for example, the sound of the sea.

“I advise you to present any situation, even the most unpleasant one, in a positive way. For example, if a colleague made a mistake, it is better to focus not on the damage caused to the common cause, but on the fact that a negative experience will make him wiser, that working to correct shortcomings can open up new opportunities for him. During periods of uncertainty, people begin to overthink themselves, dramatize events, and imagine the implementation of the most terrible scenario. At this time, I recommend throwing out negative thoughts on paper. This is useful because, firstly, a thesis note will force you to focus on the present moment, stop the stream of consciousness, which takes away energy. Secondly, the written out ideas usually turn out to be not as unpleasant as it seems to a person who is in the grip of poorly controlled stress,” comments Maxim Fedorov.

Maxim Fedorov emphasizes that it is easier to survive emotional stress for those people who constantly monitor their physical and psychological state.

“First, good sleep will help to put the nervous system in order. No matter how intense and responsible the work is, you need to rest at least seven to eight hours a day. I recommend going to bed and getting up at the same time. Secondly, regular and balanced nutrition plays a huge role in maintaining the nervous system. Thirdly, work should be alternated with rest: both short breaks during the day and full vacations, allowing you to switch to a different rhythm of life. Fourthly, I advise all employees, and especially specialists who often find themselves in stressful situations, to engage in physical exercise. It is necessary to choose an activity that gives a person joy - this could be working out in the gym, swimming pool, dancing, or just walking in the evenings in park areas. Finally, hobbies allow you to restore your ability to work. You shouldn’t deny yourself the opportunity to do what you love, communicate with loved ones, and devote your weekends to things that really allow you to restore your resource,” says Maxim Fedorov.

General Director of the Perspective Business and Career Development Center Natalya Storozheva

notes that in business situations three things cause increased stress.

Interview

If you want to protect yourself from anxiety in your upcoming interview, try to prepare for it as much as possible. The better your homework is done, the easier the test, that is, the interview itself, will be. Make a list of questions you are likely to be asked. First of all, these are questions about your experience, functionality at your last job (or two), and you will also be asked to talk about your achievements. They may ask why you want to work at the company you came to for an interview. If you take the time in advance to look at the company’s website, look for information about it in open sources and generally understand where you are going and what awaits you, this will help you confidently and calmly answer questions and worry much less.

“The next interesting point. Try to become an internal recruiter and interlocutor for yourself. What would you ask yourself, what questions would you ask? Surely you know about some difficult moments in your work history: breaks in work, a difficult dismissal, a not very successful place of work, or unflattering recommendations about you. If you think about such questions all the time and are afraid of them, it will cause anxiety. But if you work through difficult questions in advance and are not afraid that they will be asked, but prepare thoughtful answers with good reasoning, this will relieve you of stress,” says Natalya Storozheva.

It is also very important to support yourself psychologically. To do this, firstly, you need to tune in emotionally and work with yourself. Forgive yourself for a possible failure or mistake. And allow yourself to fail the interview in advance. If you go into an interview with a positive attitude and, by allowing yourself to make mistakes in advance, give yourself the opportunity to make mistakes, you will reduce your stress. Image preparation also helps a lot. Try to dress “correctly”. Choose business-style clothing that matches the dress code of the industry in which you work and the company you are going to.

Another recommendation is to plan your time in advance. If you are late, in a hurry, cannot find your way in an area unfamiliar to you, mix up the street or house number and have to call the company back to clarify the route, it will take additional time. And, leaving home for an interview “back to back”, there may not be enough time and this will also become a reason for stress. Rid yourself of this. It’s better to leave some extra time, at least to drink a glass of water or a cup of coffee, mentally repeat the self-presentation again, or go through the answers to key questions. A candidate who comes to an interview red and out of breath does not make a very good impression. And not only does he feel nervous, but he looks the same.

Public speaking

The second point Natalya Storzheva notes is a public speech or presentation.

“Professional announcers, showmen, presenters, and artists say that not feeling nervous is precisely a sign of unprofessionalism, since everyone is nervous before going on stage, even those people who do this professionally. In order for public speaking to go smoothly, your anxiety should be manageable and barely noticeable. In this case, it will be felt by the audience as a kind of emotional charge, which will help to evoke sympathy and give the performance a slight charm. To get your anxiety under control, it’s best to rehearse your public speaking in advance,” says Natalya Storozheva.

Home rehearsal is a small performance. It is advisable to have a family member or perhaps your friends help you. If you have no one to ask, try doing it in front of a mirror. Rehearse how you will sit or stand, what position is comfortable. Be sure to do this in the clothes and shoes you plan to wear in public to feel relaxed and comfortable. Because if you wear a T-shirt at home during rehearsal, but at a performance you wear a formal suit, this will change your physiological sense of your own body. During home rehearsal, try to bring the conditions as close as possible to “combat” ones. Turn on the table lamp and turn it so that the light hits your eyes, stand in the middle of the room (maybe even on a chair) so that it becomes as heavy as it would be in a large hall or in very strong lighting to test the excitement you will feel experience in real circumstances. It is very important when speaking in public that your voice sounds good. To level up your own voice, try making a home recording of your performance. And listen to how your voice sounds. After this, you can make adjustments to your speech: speak a little louder or quieter, faster or slower.

Negotiation

The third situation is negotiations. According to Natalya Storozheva, preparing for negotiations is more difficult than preparing for a presentation and public speaking. In negotiations, only half depends on you, because there is also another side. You can only guess their actions and questions without knowing for sure. Therefore, the outcome of negotiations is always unknown and more difficult to prepare for. However, the process of negotiation itself is easier than public speaking, because in it you can always avoid the question, reformulate it, postpone the discussion of one issue until a later time and switch to an issue that you are more comfortable discussing.

“In negotiations, you can ask for a pause - for tea, coffee, a smoke break, to agree on a position with colleagues or senior management. Negotiations are a longer, more flexible and more manageable process. And these aspects can certainly be used to your advantage. To prepare as well as possible for negotiations, you need to do at least two things. The first is to clearly build your own position in order to understand exactly what exactly you want, what exactly you are willing to pay for it, what concessions you can make, and where is that very red line that you cannot cross under any circumstances. The second point is to assume and work out your opponent’s position,” explains Natalya Storozheva.

Model the situation, imagine what they will insist on, what they will ask for, what they will achieve. And prepare your own arguments or objections for each of these points. When you are already in the negotiation process, when a dialogue is ongoing, try to monitor not only the logic of the negotiations, but also the emotional background, the state of your counterparts: how aggressive they are or, conversely, calm, how pliable and amenable to your emotions. If possible, try to maintain a leading position in negotiations: do not put pressure on your interlocutor, but gently and persistently lead him along. This, firstly, will allow you to reduce your own stress, and secondly, make communication more effective.

In conclusion, business psychologist Ruslan Larin

gives some tips on how else you can reduce anxiety before an interview, negotiation or performance.

“The first technique is “landing” - you need to carefully examine objects for a minute. For example, I look at my watch or my hands. The focus of attention shifts to material things from far-fetched experiences. The second is the “power pose” technique (to increase testosterone and confidence) before the meeting, stand or sit in the pose of a confident person. You must be in this position for at least two minutes. If the anxiety does not go away, then during the meeting you need to openly tell your interlocutor what you are worried about. Speaking out anxiety reduces anxiety significantly,” sums up Ruslan Larin.

How to get rid of anxiety if it is caused by a mental disorder

In this case, breathing deeply is, unfortunately, almost useless. If your anxiety has reached the level of mental illness, you will need help.

Talk to your doctor

To start, you can visit a therapist, tell him about your symptoms and ask for recommendations.

The sooner you seek help, the easier it will be to regain your cheerfulness and positive attitude towards the world.

Another option is to immediately contact a psychotherapist. A specialist will be able to determine exactly what is happening to you and what kind of disorder is interfering with your life.

Change your lifestyle

Most likely, first of all, the doctor will advise Anxiety disorders to reconsider your habits.

• Avoid alcohol, coffee, high-sugar drinks and energy drinks. They excite the nervous system and can increase anxiety.
• Exercise regularly. Exercise increases levels of endorphins, hormones associated with a good mood.
• Eat well. This will increase your body's reserves and reduce the negative effects of the fight or flight response.
• Sleep at least 8 hours.
• Try relaxation techniques. This could be regular meditation or yoga classes.

Get psychotherapy

This is the most effective way to cope with anxiety and other disorders. There are different types of psychotherapy, but the most popular Therapy for Anxiety Disorders are cognitive-behavioral and exposure.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Her idea is that how you feel depends not on the stressful situation, but on how you feel about it. Therefore, the therapist will teach you

• Identify negative thoughts—what exactly are you thinking about when you start to worry. Example: “They will laugh at me.”
• Evaluate and challenge negativity. This means asking questions: “Is the bad thing that scares me really going to happen? And if so, will it really have catastrophic consequences? Maybe it’s not so scary?”
• Replace negative thoughts with realistic ones.

How is generalized anxiety disorder diagnosed?

If symptoms of an anxiety disorder persist over a long period of time, the doctor will often recommend a full evaluation of the patient. Since there are no tests that could help diagnose GAD, tests are usually used for this purpose - they help determine whether there is a particular physical ailment that could cause these symptoms.

The patient's stories and examination results, the timing and intensity of symptoms become the basis for making a diagnosis of GAD []. As for the last two points, the signs of an anxiety disorder must be regular for six months and so strong that the patient’s usual rhythm of life is disrupted (even to the point of forcing him to miss work or school).

This question has always bothered humanity

One of the reasons why a person worries is a lie. Therefore, ever since the first human communities began to form, identifying lies has become extremely important. Why? In the Bible, the father, that is, the progenitor of lies, is called the enemy of God - Satan (the word “Satan” is translated as “adversary”, and the second well-known nickname for this spiritual personality is “devil”, “slanderer”). Therefore, for the first people on earth, it was important to identify those who lived not according to the laws of God, but according to the laws of his opponent and slanderer, for such people necessarily became criminals.

That is why the first statesmen of human society were not presidents or even kings, but judges.

One way to identify a culprit is to look for signs of agitation. For example, how do you determine that a person is very worried, visually? As a rule, his mouth becomes dry, his face turns red and his hands tremble.

In ancient times, for example, in Ancient China, a person suspected of lying was given a handful of dry rice in his mouth while the accusation was read out. If the rice remained dry at the end of the reading, he was declared guilty. And in Africa, suspects in a crime had to pass each other (while the judge told the audience the essence of the crime) a fragile bird's egg. It was believed that the culprit, unable to cope with his excitement, inevitably crushed the eggshells in his palms.

Both then and now, excitement was an indirect sign of a crime being committed.

Searching for a way out

Usually at the root of the problem lies a complex lump of so-called dominants and stereotypes with which our subconscious is teeming. Of course, the easiest way is to attribute your own anxious reactions to certain life difficulties, to your personal failure, to your temperament, or even worse, to heredity.

However, as the experience of psychotherapy shows, a person is able to control the work of his consciousness, subconscious and entire mental apparatus in such a way as to cope with generalized anxiety disorder. How can he do this?

We present three options for the development of events. However, if the tips below do not help you, you should not bear the burden of unreasonable anxiety on your own: in this case, you should seek the help of qualified specialists.

Scenario No. 1: ignoring provocation

An inexplicable feeling of anxiety is often associated with irritation due to the fact that we cannot find the cause of fear. Thus, it turns out that this or that situation that causes us anxiety is a priori irritable. And in this case, the principle of refusing the provocation that your own subconscious gives you is effective: you need to try to redirect the irritation in another direction.

Scenario #2: Controlling Muscle Tension

Since emotions and muscles act interconnectedly, you can deal with causeless anxiety this way: as soon as you feel increasing signs of approaching fear (rapid heartbeat, sweating, and so on), you need to give yourself a mental order not to let them get out of control. Try to recognize them as the inevitable accompanying “baggage” of anxiety, but do not let muscle tension completely take over you. You will see: negative bodily sensations in this case will not develop into something more serious.

Scenario #3: Negative emotions do not need to be justified

In a moment of causeless anxiety, you should not look for a logical justification for your negative psychological reaction. Of course, there is a justification for your fears, but in seconds of emotional stress you most likely will not be able to soberly assess them. As a result, the subconscious will present you on a silver platter with something that is not at all what it should be.