According to recent studies, about 40 million people in the United States suffer from anxiety and nearly three in four Americans have reported feeling stress. However, do we know the difference between stress, anxiety and worry?
What is this concern about?
Worry is nothing more than what happens in our minds when we are overwhelmed by recurring negative thoughts, some uncertain event, or something that could very well turn out badly. Explained in a simpler way, worry only happens in our mind, not on a bodily level.
How does it work?
Worry plays an important function in our lives. Once we think about uncertain or unpleasant events, whether it is the inability to pay debts or doing poorly on an exam, certain stimuli occur in our brain. By worrying, the brain calms down. It is also possible that worry leads us to the resolution of certain difficulties or to action, which is something completely positive. Worry is something like a mechanism through which our brain usually handles problems in order to keep us protected, although, when the problem becomes an obsession, that worry is no longer functional.
What contributes to reducing our worries?
Some steps that can help reduce or better manage worries are:
- Allow ourselves only a period of time to observe and think about those concerns, decreeing that we will not be thinking about it all day and that we will consciously redirect our thoughts to other matters once that window of time that we have defined passes.
- When we realize that something is worrying us, we could think about what step to take to act in relation to that concern, because it is no use staying stuck in it.
- Write what worries us. Some studies have shown that spending just a few minutes writing down our worries can relieve our obsessive thoughts.
What helps reduce stress?
- Do exercise. With this the body recovers from the increase in cortisol and adrenaline.
- Clearly define what is under our control and what is not. It is important to direct our energy to the things we can control and realize that what is not within our reach we will not be able to change.
- Do not compare our stress level to that of other people. Everyone has a different response to stressful events.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is what happens when we face a high level of stress and worry. It consists of a natural human emotion, sometimes healthy, but when it occurs frequently or disproportionately it can become a health disorder. It generally manifests itself through feelings of tension, anxious thoughts or increased blood pressure.
How does it work?
As mentioned before, anxiety, like stress, is a natural response to any threat, except that the threat, in this case, does not exist. For example, in a situation in which someone in our work environment has not responded well to us or looks at us in an unpleasant way, we physiologically react by thinking that this individual is angry with us and that can have unfavorable consequences in some sense. In that case, adrenaline levels increase and the body is put into a state of fight or flight, even though the threat is not real and is only a guess. Clearly, it is worth noting that feeling anxious is not the same (we can experience anxiety at any time in our daily routine) and suffering from an anxiety disorder, which is already a dangerous condition that includes both worry and stress.
What can help reduce our anxiety?
- Change our focus of attention, thus breaking the anxious cycle.
- Reduce the consumption of substances that can stimulate anxiety, such as coffee and alcohol.
- If we are going through an anxiety attack, thinking or talking to someone else about it is not going to work. On the contrary, distracting ourselves can help combat anxiety, for example, by listening to music, among other options.
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