Helping an anxious person requires tact, empathy, and intelligence. Needless to say, calm down, will it happen? Or “it’s nothing, you have to treat things differently. “In fact, those with this condition are overwhelmed by a series of physical and emotional sensations that do not allow them to think clearly.
That has to be clear. When we talk about stress or anxiety disorders, there is no quick solution, there are no miraculous tips or strategies that have an immediate effect on the space of two minutes.
- For starters: the human brain works differently when it experiences this psychological reality.
- All brain structures are imbued with norepinephrine and cortisol.
- Two hormones that obscure our thoughts and block us in the same responses: subterfuge and flight.
If we want to help an anxious person, the first thing we have to apply is empathy and the second is patience.
The cerebral amygdala and the hippocampus take full control and only feel two sensations from that moment on, the first is fear and the second is the perception that we are surrounded by threats.
In addition, as if this were not enough, our body is also subjected to many effects: tachycardia, sweating, abdominal pain, muscle tension . . . Knowing all this, how is it possible to help an anxious person if they are simply told to calm down?Down?
It doesn’t matter what our good intention or our noble goal is. In some cases, all we can do with these phrases is build more walls and create distance with that loved one, so let’s learn what strategies can guide us to help an anxious person.
Living with someone suffering from anxiety is not easy, mood swings, motivation disappears and their messages and approaches suddenly become very negative, to which is added hypersensitivity. With minimal encouragement, misunderstandings, low concentration, errors and even moodiness occur.
If we let these emotions reach us we will gain nothing, if we abandon ourselves and act defensively before each of these symptoms we will further intensify the anxiety and create suffocating environments, so the first thing to do is to become aware that it is happening.
Our partner, our father, brother or sister or this good friend is going through a difficult time, you suffer from anxiety and therefore we must be more sensitive and understand a number of aspects.
We’ve emphasized this from the beginning. There are people who, when it comes to helping someone who suffers from anxiety, do not hesitate to use the same phrases as always: cheer up, are there people in a worse situation than you?
These kinds of expressions are like a B-52 bombarding the self-esteem of the anxious person, because those who go through this anguish don’t care that others are worse, no matter hunger or wars in the world, only you can see their own inner reality (and suffocating).
Here’s the communication style we need to apply
Often, when we want to help someone with anxiety, we don’t hesitate to buy books or search the Internet for information, so in all the good faith of the world, we don’t hesitate to give advice to the person in question. Do we offer breathing, mindfulness, sports and yoga techniques?
The most important thing in these cases is to be empathetic and patient, do not expect the anxious person to follow every suggestion we make to him, what he needs most is our understanding and closeness, without pressure.
We may want to help someone who suffers from anxiety, but we do not know how to do it, we do not always have specialized clinical training that can give an effective response to this type of pathologies.
In conclusion, we are aware that we always wish the best to the people we love, however, when we talk about mental health issues, we are not all experts, sometimes even because of the deepest affection, we end up generating an adverse reaction. . The one we wanted to promote the least.
To help an anxious person, we need to normalize the situation and have the help of experts, only in this way can we act and build safer relationships, obtaining the right words and advice. Likewise, sharing each progress and every victory with the person also involves strengthening the stimulus, perceiving progress and rating each new behavior, every new mental approach.