Tips to Manage Anxiety and Stress

Anxiety and stress

Feelings of anxiety and tension are feelings that affect most people from time to time, and usually, tension is the result of things that a person thinks about and things that burden him psychologically or physically, and the duties, tasks, and requirements that he has to perform.

Anxiety is a feeling of fear and uneasiness, sometimes due to stress and tension. The feeling of tension and anxiety is not always bad. It may be a stimulus to overcome danger. However, if it exceeds its limits, it may lead a person to stages where he needs intensive psychological treatment; That is if anxiety persists for long periods and has become a feeling that accompanies a person, here it is necessary to speed up treatment before the situation worsens.

Symptoms of anxiety and stress

Symptoms of anxiety and stress differ from one case to another, but in general, they include common physical and psychological symptoms, which are:

• Physical symptoms: such as headache, nervousness, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, confusion, sweating, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, a lump in the throat, and insomnia, and some other symptoms may appear on some patients, but these are most of them.
• Psychosomatic diseases: They are organic diseases that arise due to anxiety and intense emotions, and diseases whose symptoms increase due to anxiety and tension, and the treatment of anxiety is essential to recover from these diseases, such as rheumatism, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, and angina pectoris.
• Psychological symptoms: feelings of impending death, nervousness, unjustified anger, difficulty concentrating, fatigue and sleep problems, and confusion in social settings.

Causes of anxiety and stress

Anxiety and tension disorders are one of the most prevalent conditions among people, and the main cause behind them is not clear, as is the case in most psychological disorders that occur to humans, and researchers believe that natural chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters have the main role in the occurrence of anxiety and tension disorders, and it can be assumed Anxiety and stress disorder is caused by biological processes that occur in the body, genetic factors, environmental factors surrounding the person, and the lifestyle he lives; some studies indicate that the incidence of anxiety and tension is higher in women compared to the proportion of men who suffer from the same disorder; There are some factors that may cause anxiety and stress disorder, and they are:

• With the harsh childhood experienced by a person and the difficulties he faced in his childhood, those who are exposed to traumatic events are more likely to suffer from anxiety and stress disorders.
• The disease causes anxiety and tension, especially for those who suffer from serious and chronic diseases, these suffer from a bout of anxiety, tension, and fear of the future and what it holds, and that the treatments and the economic situation may constitute a heavy psychological burden on patients.
• Stress is one of the things that are tense and worrying in life, such as exposure to an injury, stopping work, and low income, and this generates anxiety and stress disorders.
• Personality also has a role in anxiety and stress disorders, people’s ability to withstand stress varies from person to person, and some people are more susceptible to anxiety and stress disorders than others.
• Genetic factors are influential in creating stress and anxiety disorders, and some studies indicate the existence of a genetic source for anxiety and stress disorders, and it is genetically transmitted to future generations.

Complications of anxiety and stress

The treatment of anxiety and stress disorders, if not fast and effective, will lead to more complications than just feeling anxious, and serious diseases may occur to the person, or he acts in wrong behavior that may cost him his life, such as resorting to the use of addictive substances, for example, feeling depressed, or suffering from digestive disorders. Intestinal, headache, and others.

Diagnosis of anxiety and stress

There are some criteria by which a person is diagnosed with anxiety and stress disorders, and they are:

• A person feels an acute state of fear and intense anxiety without clear reasons, and anxiety, tension, and fear accompany it over many months.
• The inability of the person to face the feeling of anxiety and tension, or to resist it, so the anxiety is completely controlled by it.
• Feeling anxious is accompanied by many symptoms such as nervousness, extreme irritability, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension and tightness, and sleep disturbances.
• A person’s life does not go in a normal way as a result of feelings of anxiety and tension, and this makes the person live in severe distress that turns his life upside down.
• Feeling anxious without being linked to a specific event, or without a reason.

Anxiety and stress treatment

Treatment is through medications or psychotherapy, and it is either using each treatment method separately, or using them together, according to the individual’s condition and personality, and the following is an overview of the treatment methods:

• Pharmacological chemotherapy: by taking anti-anxiety drugs and sedatives that relieve anxiety, but these drugs may cause addiction if they are taken for a long time; There are also antidepressant drugs, and these drugs play a role in influencing the work of neurotransmitters that have an important role in the emergence of anxiety and stress disorders, and medications should not be taken unless after reviewing and following up with a specialist.
• Psychotherapy: It is carried out by specialists in the field of mental health, by specifying psychological sessions that use cognitive behavioral therapy and other psychological treatment methods.
• Behavioral therapy: This treatment is based on the fact that a person acquires and learns his behaviors in a conditional manner that depends on punishment or reward, and therefore behavioral therapy aims to re-educate the patient with normal responses to the situations he is exposed to, and there are several ways.
• The method of desensitization in an organized way: The therapist makes the patient face his anxiety and fears gradually, first by imagining the disturbing situations and that the patient faces them in his imagination, then exposing him to what worries him and stresses him directly until he overcomes the anxiety completely, and this method is effective, but it takes time and must be practiced and supervised by Competent.
• Analysis and confrontation therapy: The therapist analyzes the patient’s condition by listening to him, clarifying and understanding the problem, and what are the pressures leading to it, then he puts solutions with the patient, and chooses which one suits the patient more, is effective for him, and rids him of anxiety completely.