Anguish is that state of restlessness or nerves. Specifically, it is caused by the fear of experiencing a negative situation in the present or near future. The person who is suffering from a state of anxiety usually reports that this is an unbearable sensation. The mood is negative, very sad and there are many intrusive thoughts.
It is important to remedy it, since in the long term it can become chronic. In many cases, moreover, having more than one anxiety attack causes a loop that feeds on itself. In general, it is used as a synonym for anxiety although there are several differences between the two.
In this Psychology-Online article, we tell you the difference between anguish and anxiety, their main symptoms and how to remove anxiety with various techniques and remedies.
Difference between anguish and anxiety
To date, there has not been a complete consensus on the differences between anguish and anxiety and, as we mentioned previously, they are usually used as synonyms. Some consider that the difference lies in the type of symptoms.
What is anguish? It is a state that produces discomfort and small alterations in the body. This meaning of anguish manifests itself when we are faced with a future situation that worries us. For example, you may suffer separation anxiety.
And what is anxiety? A feeling of uneasiness or fear that we have due to worry about a situation that is about to happen. So, the difference with respect to anxiety is that the symptoms of anxiety are physical and psychological. On the other hand, the symptoms of anxiety are more physical.
Furthermore, it is considered that the effect on the body of each is opposite. Anxiety has a activation effect on the nervous system while it has a paralyzing effect. Other authors consider that the difference is due to the fact that anxiety is caused by future problems while anxiety is caused by present problems. In these articles, we tell you what the and are.
In the following sections we will see the symptoms of this disorder, how to remove very strong anxiety and how to overcome anxiety.
Symptoms of distress
Different signs usually present in panic disorder. Next, we will see the symptoms of anxiety:
- The feeling of vital anguish or sadness entails a catastrophic anticipation of the future.
- Constant worry about the future or the consequences of a situation in the present.
- Physical symptoms such as increased heart and breathing rate, fatigue, dry mouth, chest pressure, dizziness, excessive sweating, muscle tension, etc. It is common to notice anguish in the chest.
- Insomnia and/or hypersomnia. They are also one of the symptoms of anxiety. We tell you what they are in the following article: .
- Avoidance of feared situations. This causes serious problems at the social, work and family level.
Remedies to remove anxiety
How to remove anxiety? The ideal is to go to psychological therapy. It is important if the state of distress lasts over time. If you are wondering how to overcome anxiety, here are some of the aspects to work on:
- Accept our feelings: Stop fighting what we feel and accept it without interpreting such feelings as unbearable is a fundamental step to reduce distress levels.
- Discover the cause: If you wonder what to do when you have anxiety, finding out the cause of it will help you overcome it. Normally this anxiety is due to something we are thinking. Discovering which thought triggers these feelings is essential to remedy them. Furthermore, we must analyze whether said thought is realistic or not.
- Modification of thoughts: one of the home remedies to remove anxiety, in the event that the thoughts are not realistic, is to raise other thoughts more in line with reality that generate less anguish and anxiety and repeat them to ourselves so that they become automatic. our mind and replace previous thoughts.
- Devise action plans: in order to manage anguish and overcome anxiety, when faced with realistic thoughts or real problems, we must divide the problem into parts and propose all the possible solutions to each part of the problem and to all the possible potholes that we may face.
- Relaxation: If you are wondering how to remove anxiety naturally, steps are essential to achieve it. Progressive muscle relaxation is a type of exercise that consists of learning to relax muscle by muscle throughout our body while diverting our attention from those thoughts that cause us distress and focusing it on said muscle relaxation.
- Continue with our day to day: Do not give excessive importance to the symptoms. We must act as if we do not have them and continue with our daily lives. That is, it is about not allowing anxiety to block us and direct our routine. Even if it takes you a little longer to do an activity, or you do it more clumsily, you should try to continue to avoid allowing yourself to enter the loop of anxiety. The ideal thing to facilitate this step would be to establish a schedule and a daily calendar in which we set ourselves obligations every day and also pleasant and restful moments.
- DrugsIn extreme cases of existential anguish, the use of anxiolytic drugs could be useful. Although they should not be applied as the only treatment. It must be taken into account that they provide temporary support and that the anxiety will return when we stop taking them if we have not learned to control it through psychological therapy.
In this article, you will find more information about .
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Kierkegaard, S., & Rivero, D.G. (1984). The concept of anguish. Orbis.
- Sierra, JC, Ortega, V., & Zubeidat, I. (2003). Anxiety, anguish and stress: three concepts to differentiate. Revista mal-estar e subjetividade, 3(1), 10-59.