According to the WHO (World Health Organization), about 18.6 million people suffer from anxiety in Brazil alone. This number puts the country in first place in the world rankings. Report no data+ spoke with professionals who spoke about the psychological and physical symptoms of the disorder and how to treat them.

Stress and lack of concentration at work are symptoms of anxiety – Photo: Freepik/Reproduction/ND

‘Fight or Flight’

Psychologist Vanessa Cardoso explains that “anxiety is a natural emotion associated with survival and that it has two functions: fight or flight.” She notes that “the body is preparing for an unfavorable situation. Our brains are already organized for this emotion.”

According to the psychologist, there is “a natural anxiety that is part of our daily lives that makes us get up and go on with our day and protect ourselves from life’s adversities”, such as stopping and looking around before crossing a busy street.

“To be able to analyze, if we are going to fight or flee, it will be out of anxiety. It shows us the levels of risk we face. Anxiety is natural when it comes to a real situation. We have a lion in front of us, we will strive to physically prepare for a meeting with a lion, since it is real.

Vanessa explains that anxiety becomes pathological when “there is no lion, but the person continues to imagine, create scenarios in his head, distorted from reality, the thought that he is going to go through a situation that is not happening.”

causes of concern

The psychologist notes that there are several reasons that lead people to anxiety, such as aspects of a stressful environment, an aggressive environment, and situations that make them experience a sense of fight, flight or danger in everyday life.

“There is a life story of this person and a whole model of the functioning of the family. We will have genetic and environmental problems. The whole environment of this person can lead him to situations that can cause anxiety, ”he comments.

Insomnia is one of the anxiety factors – Photo: Pexels/Reproduction/ND

Symptoms

More thought oriented anxiety will trigger disturbing thought patterns and these thoughts will cause physical symptoms such as muscle pain, nausea, headache, and psychological symptoms such as trouble sleeping and lack of concentration at work.

“When anxiety rises to a higher level, it prevents a person from performing their daily functions. When there is some behavior or situation in which they stop living because of the situation they experience in their anxiety, the person is at a more severe level of anxiety.”

Another important factor for people suffering from anxiety is insomnia. The psychologist warns that those who suffer from anxiety should pay attention to the quality of sleep when they stop having a quality life and begin to suffer from anxiety, such as lack of sports practice or “fear of suffocation.” , to go to gym”. shopping mall”.

Types of Anxiety Disorders

GAD (generalized anxiety disorder): This is the most common and frequent type of anxiety. “This may be due to environmental and genetic issues. It’s a multicausal problem.”

Post traumatic stress: People who have experienced and are still experiencing wonderful episodes, with the feeling that they are still reliving the emotions and anxieties that arose as a result of this episode. “Even if it is over, a person still has the feeling that he is still alive.”

Fear of society: Anxiety disorder related to the fact that people place themselves in the environment. For some people, social phobia occurs in large rooms, while for others it occurs in small ones, which makes it even difficult for a person to go to work.

Panic anxiety: Slightly increased level of anxiety. “Many times you can have panic disorders with or without agoraphobia – people who feel they are in danger without having an outside agent because they are overwhelmed with anxiety and start believing in that anxiety,” Vanessa explains.

panic syndrome: The set of episodes that a person had throughout his life. According to the psychologist, drug treatment, psychotherapy and physical activity are being carried out.

OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder): That the person becomes obsessive thinking about something, such as closing the door countless times, checking to see if the stove is off.

Perfectionism: It is “a form of anxiety where a person believes that he will be loved and accepted only from all the perfect that he is about to do. She struggles with that perfection and creates a form to fit her life into this and that, we know it’s not happening.”

forms of treatment

According to the psychologist, there are forms of treatment for anxiety control, such as psychotherapy sessions, medications to help patients reduce their anxiety levels, and mindfulness practices.

Psychotherapy – It works to help the patient have neural pathways that help him understand the degree of anxiety he has and deal with that fear, messages he heard as a child with fears that are not real and have developed some of the difficult childhood.

Medications These are drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist.

mindfulness practice – Ways of breathing that help a person to live in the present moment, where he can understand that there is no imminent risk and can develop protective aspects that what he thinks about will not necessarily happen.

The psychologist notes that in psychotherapy there are treatments for anxiety and panic attacks and there are good results, and advises people to look for ways to treat themselves. “Anxiety is nothing but fear.”

A way to help people suffering from anxiety is to encourage seeking professional help. Photo: Pexels

Inside psychoanalysis

Oliveira explains that psychoanalysis sessions last an average of 45 minutes, and it is during them that a person has the opportunity to talk about his suffering.

“Through ‘free association’ the patient is encouraged to say whatever he wants, whatever comes to mind, without any prior indication of where to go or what line of reasoning to start with, free association is released as part of the patient’s ethics. and morality.”

Oliveira lists what aspects the psychoanalyst analyzes in a patient with anxiety. “At the first consultation, a psychoanalyst is interviewed, during which information about the patient’s requirement is clarified, about what exactly he wants to say.”

Thus, from this interview, “it opens the space for him to talk about his needs, which prompted him to seek therapy. From the psychoanalytic audition, the patient will say some of the signs of his anxiety disorder. These signs are characteristic of the disorder.”

“The patient, when talking about his anxiety, has the opportunity to deal with his emotions and reformulate them. You will realize that you are able to balance your emotions and cope with difficulties in a way that does not jeopardize the quality of your life,” emphasizes psychoanalyst Luciano Nocheti.

In his words, “in psychoanalysis we try to accept our own castration and, depending on the mental structure of the patient, we need the help of other therapies.”

Ways to help people with anxiety

According to Sergio Oliveira, the way to help people who suffer from anxiety is to get them “to seek help in treating their anxiety disorder, especially when the person no longer has a quality of life due to the disorder.”

Thanks to a qualified specialist, a person will be able to learn how to cope with the causes that lead to an anxiety disorder.