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In Spain, mental health problems have increased since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Anxiety disorders are mental health problems that are related to excessive experimentation anxiety, fear, nervousness, worry or terror. Anxiety that is too constant or too intense can make a person feel bad, worried, distracted, tense, and always alert.

In reality, this condition is not life-threatening, but it does affect our quality of life if we frequently suffer from these symptoms. In those cases, we must look for the help of a medical professional to identify the disorder and be able to regain calm. Discover how to combat anxiety!

How to act if you have an anxiety attack

It is not easy to control an anxiety attack, but what we can try to do is not think that something bad is going to happen to us. And the more you focus your thoughts on it, the more symptoms will appear. Follow these tips to deal with anxiety symptoms:

• Sit or lie down in a quiet place to relax and close your eyes. The crisis will pass sooner if you do not perceive so many environmental stimuli.
• Distract your attention, for example, by counting backwards in threes from 100, staring at an object, or touching something that allows you to relax.
• Visualize some place that makes you feel good and gives you a sense of peace. Remember a landscape that has fascinated you and try to remember the sounds and sensations you experienced there.
• Keep in mind at all times that the Anxiety symptoms are just a reaction to stress or a panic attack. Tell yourself that these reactions in your body are not a threat, that they are not dangerous and that they will pass in a while.
• Try to maintain control of your breathing to avoid hyperventilation. If this happens, a great imbalance will occur between the amounts of CO2 and oxygen, causing a feeling of suffocation.
• Take a breath through your mouth while counting to four, you will notice how your chest and abdomen swell. Hold it for a couple of seconds and release it slowly for a count of four again. Repeat this process until you stop hyperventilating.
• Muscle relaxation is also very useful for relaxing, so focus on your body and consciously release each of your muscles from head to toe.
• Use relaxing essential oils, as well as infusions of chamomile, valerian, lime blossom or lavender, as they are natural relaxants.
• Finally, unbutton clothing that may constrict your body to reduce the feeling of suffocation.

How to act if the crisis does not subside

Remember that an attack of this type usually last between 15 minutes and half an hour, and anxiety symptoms will peak within 10 minutes of starting. Therefore, if within half an hour you are not better, new symptoms appear or they increase instead of subsiding, you should go to the emergency room.

Anxiety attacks appear suddenly, we can even end up feel chest pain due to anxiety with no apparent cause. This also causes an extreme fear of losing control or of something bad happening to us, including death.

Anxiety symptoms may seem alarming, Well, they begin with a pattern of palpitations, nausea, dizziness, difficulty breathing or feeling of suffocation. Afterwards we may experience chest pain due to anxiety, intense sweating or chills, tremors, numbness or tingling in the hands, a feeling of unreality, or an intense fear of dying.

To have greater control of anxiety symptoms, you must take into account what the triggers of a crisis are:

• A situation that worries us, makes us anxious, or we perceive as a threat.
• Events that involve nervousness, such as traveling by plane, going to the doctor, taking an exam, passing a job interview, etc.

Techniques to avoid an anxiety attack

Below, we show you a series of tricks and techniques to help you control an anxiety episode:

1. Breathing

We have already talked about the importance of breathing, which must be conscious and deep with strong and slow abdominal inhalations and exhalations. Put all your attention on this breath for five minutes to achieve an optimal state of relaxation. We explain how you have to do it:

• Lie or sit with your hands on your abdomen.
• Inhale very slowly through your nose and bring the air as low as possible.
• You will notice how your abdomen swells.
• Hold the breath for a few seconds and exhale all the air again very slowly.

2. Accept fear to transform it

Fear is an emotion that we should avoid, so try to find out what its origin is. What are you afraid of? Think about it and don’t try to fight your thoughts or negative feelings, accept the fear and think about what generates it, but do not fight it.

3. Control negative thoughts

Fears don’t disappear overnight, so you better learn to manage them. Anxiety is related to negative thoughts and situations that we consider threatening. Therefore, The first thing will be to detect those negative thoughts and observe them like a spectator. Then, assess what is true in them and eliminate the unreal consequences of that fear.

Try to find a practical solution if you have one, and if you don’t, don’t let that situation or thought take over you.

4. Keep body and mind active

Find an activity that motivates you and makes you feel good about yourself. Food is also essential, so try to make it as natural as possible, full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals to promote physical and emotional well-being. Take natural infusions to help you relax, among many other benefits.

5. Practice relaxation techniques

Exercise releases endorphins, and yoga has multiple health benefits. He mindfulness It also includes the practice of meditation, which will help you relax your mind, breathe consciously and enjoy the present.

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