Unfocused feelings, the feeling that everything is out of control, thinking that everything is negative, constant tension, nervousness, excessive worry, agitation, insomnia, eyelid twitching, difficulty concentrating… This is how anxiety begins…
All of these indicators can suggest anxiety and constitute a problem if they occur in a characteristic way and with a certain frequency in the same person. But this is not an ailment of a few but of many. It is becoming more and more frequent in our society.
However, although talking about anxiety disorders without specifying what they are can be confusing, on this occasion we are only going to highlight ways to recognize and understand anxiety by identifying it through the sensations it generates.
Sensations that anxiety generates in us
Anxiety, is that feeling that makes our chest shrink, that exhausts us, that blocks us and makes us restless, that creates a hole in our stomach, that leaves us immobile and invades us. An overwhelming battle of sensations, thoughts, and behaviors that subjugates us both psychologically and physically.
Anxiety alerts us that we need to pay attention to something in our life; that is, that something is happening and deserves our attention. Therefore, we must first emphasize that in itself it is not unhealthy, even if it is negative.
On another occasion, we explained how anxiety is a monster that feeds on our adrenaline and to which we offer, by devoting attention and importance, a succulent delicacy. It happens that when something causes us a certain degree of activation (be it a thought, a vision, a behavior, etc.), our adrenaline begins to re-emerge and our anxiety monster wakes up at the smell of its food.
In principle, this is positive, as it can help us avoid falling down the stairs. However, if we prevent the monster from falling back to sleep, what it will do is feed on the adrenaline it finds and, therefore, it will grow bigger and bigger, consume our energy, and cause us intense fear.
A metaphor to understand anxiety
You’re at an amusement park and you see a roller coaster that you love. In the mood to have a good time, you start to wait in line to get your pass. The sun is shining and it’s hot, so by the time you get your ticket, you’re already feeling tired.
But that doesn’t matter, you’re in an amusement park! So you sit down in the carriage and prepare to have fun. However, suddenly, a worker dressed as a clown hits you on the head with a broom, which leaves you in severe pain. This discourages you even more.
To top it all off, your train makes a quick 360-degree turn, and what was initially going to be attractive is no longer so good for you. Your thoughts are racing, rolling, and rolling. You can’t stop and the tension is constant and you feel like your heart is going to stop at any moment. You go up and down, you go through a black tunnel several times, you lose control and your stomach is upside down.
You would like to get off, but there is no way to do it. You scream, cry, complain, swallow and feel your heart pounding. However, no one can help you out of this situation, all efforts are useless.
Finally, the trip ends. You emerge numb from intense fear, unable to think, truly exhausted, and with the feeling of having been repeatedly bulldozed.
Feeling anxious is like riding a roller coaster and the ride is not fun. Sooner or later you know that both the ride and the attack will end, you know that it has a peak and that from there it can only go down. However, you have a very bad time, it disturbs you excessively and makes you feel like you are on a storm cloud that strips you of your belongings and even your identity.
If at any time we suffer from “anxiety or panic attacks” it is good to keep this metaphor in our mind. In other words, it is very important to keep in mind that when it appears, it will disappear through the same door it entered, because it is only a matter of time.