Uncertainty for the future
First of all it is necessary to understand what anxiety states arise from and how much they are linked to the uncertainty of the future. Science defines anxiety as “a feeling of worry, nervousness or discomfort, usually about an imminent or uncertain event.” It is a very common emotion and at certain levels it is defined normal or physiological. Problems arise when it becomes pathological. At that point it is not a simple state of temporary discomfort, but an obstacle that prevents you from carrying out your daily activities. In the days of the pandemic, things got complicated and even people who had never suffered from this disease learned about it.
The brain on alert
“The brain was set up for survival purposes, both for searching for food and for detecting dangers. When our ancestors found a new source of food, a series of signals were recorded in their brains, which led to – explains Brewer, who is also the director of the Mindfulness center and works with MIT in Boston – to generate a large amount of dopamine. Each time a memory was formed about where that food was in order to find it in the future. The same goes for the danger. . When they explored unknown places, they had to be on high alert. Uncertainty has helped us survive as a species for centuries. Only after our ancestors revisited territory over and over again, were they able to relax. And this same process took hold. check again today “.
Covid
And it is precisely the uncertainty brought about by the epidemic that has caused anxiety levels to rise. We are worried and we feel bad. To counteract this feeling, the man tries to “get distracted” and this can lead to compulsive disorders and addictions. “Whether you are addicted to a substance or a behavior, there is always the association of an action with a result. Anyone who wants to eat a snack, to surf the net for hours when they are anxious, has this feeling. He feels restless and feels a twitch in his stomach or chest. Something is wrong. The brain says “take action” and action, or distraction, makes us feel better. Distracting actions correspond to avoiding dangers in ancient times . Uncertainty makes you feel anxious. Anxiety prompts you to do something. The problem is, distractions are often not healthy or helpful. “
The three moves against anxiety
The goal is to change these habits that harm us. And to do this you need to understand how the mind works. “To counteract anxiety we need to do three things. First we need to map the cycles of our habits. We must observe our anxiety and the behavior we take to distract ourselves: eating, drinking, chatting or watching movies on Netfllix. And observing.” the reward “, we feel better because we are moved away from the trigger. Later we have to make our own the concept that worrying does not help and makes things worse. The third thing to do is to replace worry with curiosity and kindness. When we become curious about ours mind focuses on another sensation. In this we do not feed the cycles of worry. “
Remove addictions
Easy to say and complicated to do. So much so that years of analysis with professionals are often required to “break” these behaviors and remove addictions. It should be emphasized that to heal you always need the help of a specialist. But it is still possible to “prepare” for an improvement by reading some useful advice. “You have to understand how rewarding these habits are. Not all distractions are bad. To improve the situation, you can see what happens by eating a little less sweet without binging. We can gradually decrease alcohol, cigarettes or the number of drinks. episodes of our favorite TV series, ”Brewer explains.
The key word is balance and a gradual exit from the problem. Better not try to suddenly fast or throw all your cigarettes in the bin. And it must always be remembered that these addictions do not make us feel good. There and then we feel relieved and gratified, but shortly afterwards the restlessness returns.
Awareness
Meditation and awareness are therefore useful tools to combat anxiety and to find a new balance. “You have to understand that excess is bad. Watching too much TV, eating too much or too little, drinking too much is bad. In my laboratory we study compulsive behaviors. In the case of food, we ask patients to be careful when they eat and ask them afterwards. if they feel satisfied. We try to correlate the quantities of food consumed with their sensations. People become more aware and this is the first step towards recovery. Working with this method we have had a 63% decrease in generalized anxiety disorder. ” .
.