I’m not afraid of anything in particular, but everything really scares me. Because that’s floating anxiety, it’s uncertainty that haunts me and catches up with me, which makes me lose my breath and the desire to leave home, is it like living in a room without windows and in solitude, is living indefinitely in the shell of my worries, in the suffocating ball of my desperate despair?
Virginia Woolf said in her diary that life is a dream, but it is awakening that kills us, it is as if there is a kind of unique moment in our existence where we have to “wake up”, open our eyes to responsibilities, burdens, the unstoppable movement of our cities, to the sometimes open noise of human relations. . . Thus, almost without realizing it, we realize that this whole movement not only seduces us, but also diminishes us.
“Fear is always willing to see things worse than they really are. Titus Livio-
Waking up to life and discovering that sometimes it hurts and can sometimes be difficult is something thousands and thousands of people feel, without a doubt, yet there is something much more complex than day by day, countless men and women live. It is a diffuse fear and report, the fear of getting caught up in a pattern of excessive and recurring concern for almost everything, for any event.
In addition, this emotional scenario, in which chronic uncertainty and constant stress only increase, forms a clinical manifestation called “free floating anxiety”, which in turn is part of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (TAG). Exhausting and complex reality, because, unlike other problems, anxiety and relationships do not focus on a number of specific aspects, but encompass everything.
Generalized anxiety disorder could be summed up in a phrase as simple as it is brutal: “Do I still think something bad is going to happen?”
Carlos is 35 years old and, after 10 years of relationship with a woman, he has just left her, she fell in love with someone else and although our protagonist, on the surface, is fine, the people closest to her notice some very striking ones. Although Carlos was always a little anxious, after the end of the relationship, he became obsessed with several things, including the health of his parents: he is afraid that they will become ill and die.
Also, at work people also notice certain details. Carlos is an architect and, for a while now, began to become obsessed with the idea of making mistakes, is too eager to do his job well and fears something bad will happen to him. Carlos is also afraid that he won’t be able to pay the mortgage, when you look at that you’re already thinking about the exits you might find if that happened, however, none of this has happened yet.
If we have set the example of this imaginary man is for a very specific reason, it is believed that generalized anxiety disorder and, in essence, the fluctuating fear that permeates almost every aspect of these patients’ lives, affect women more. The data also show something very relevant: almost 60% of people affected by the disease do not receive treatment or dare to take the first step in seeking help, many of them men.
To better understand this disorder and, in essence, this clinical manifestation of fluctuating anxiety, we must first understand what role fear plays in our lives: it prepares us to respond to a “real” threat, it is a refined and exceptional adaptive. mechanism that allows us to survive. But what happens when we are afraid and there is no real threat?
Moreover, what happens when there comes a time when that fear and anguish permeate all aspects of our lives?, what is simply happening is that we will be trapped in a parallel dimension worthy of the worst nightmare, because there is nothing worse than living. afraid.
Many scientists and neuropsychiatchiaters make this clear: TAG is a syndrome like no other; for example, from Stanford University School of Medicine, they explain that this fluctuating anxiety is due to dysfunctions in different parts of the brain, including the amygdala.
We remember that the amygdala, this small almond-sized structure, takes care of our emotions, our memory and our perception of fear. At some point, and for unknown reasons, the circuits that make up this delicate region of the brain are altered and, with it, it also changes the order and balance of our lives.
As always with the treatment of anxiety, two approaches are needed to address this clinical condition. Medications, on the other hand, reduce symptoms and, in turn, allow the conditions necessary to make psychotherapy much more effective.
“The disaster you care about often turns out to be less appalling in reality than in your imagination. “
Drugs based on selective inhibition of Serotonin reception are generally used, however, and in many cases, is it also necessary to administer certain antidepressants?Even if we always remember that each patient is unique and that their personal reality will require exclusive treatment.
On the other hand, cognitive behavioral therapy and all these stress-fighting therapies are very effective in reducing this excessive anxiety caused by fluctuating anxiety, with which we learn effective coping strategies and develop healthier and more integrated behaviors.
In conclusion, it should also be noted that it costs nothing to deal with other aspects of our lives: the feeding and practice of a sport or meditation technique are also complementary tools that can be used to overcome fear, to better focus the important. , essential, and learn to think the right way to live better.
Images courtesy of Agnes Cecile.