Anxiety has been cataloged as the mental illness that has been most discussed in the 21st century. According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is believed that, in 2015, 3.6% of the world's population suffered from anxiety disorders. Today, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, global statistics reveal a 25% increase in the prevalence of depression and anxiety in the world. This type of condition is common in almost all human beings, but it does not mean that it cannot be combated or eliminated to achieve well-being. Various specialists have expressed their views on how to deal with it, but in order to understand it, it is first necessary to underline some important aspects.
What does it consist of?
For a long time, anxiety has been determined as a problem that must be solved if we want to feel optimal and be happy. There are countless online sites, for example, which insist on having medicines for its cure or on having numerous psychological techniques to contain it.
However, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders provides a very clear definition of anxiety, according to which it is "a normal and necessary emotional reaction for the survival of individuals and our species" that, in response, It involves effects at the physiological, behavioral and emotional levels.
Antonio Cano Vindel, president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress (SEAS), says that stress is a process that is generated in the face of certain instances of the environment, so during it it is normal for reactions to appear emotional, anticipating whether or not we will have the ability to respond positively. However, if this is not the case, the human being begins to experience a threat, which is why anxiety arises as an emotional response.
According to Cano, anxiety and stress constitute two independent processes, but closely related and generally overlapping. Stress is experienced when a problem has to be solved, on the other hand, anxiety arises when we anticipate obtaining a negative result. This involves activation processes at three different levels: behavioral, physiological and cognitive, and the response originates from believing that we will be evaluated or facing an equivalent threat. However, Cano argues that anxiety does not always have to be bad, although most of the time it arises in stressful situations.
On the other hand, it is important to establish the difference between anxiety and pathological anxiety. Marta Redondo, a specialist in the field of Clinical Psychology, who in turn directs the Health Area of ​​the Institute of Psychology of Emotions and Health-IPES in Spain, alleges that anxiety is simply an emotion of a natural and adaptive nature in every individual , but at the same time necessary since it is worth preparing ourselves for possible threats. According to the specialist, anxiety is an emotion that causes alterations in our body, triggering the sympathetic system, which affects our effectiveness in dealing with problems. The symptoms perceived when anxiety is suffered are actually expressions of alertness in our body in the face of any problem. When a work task arises that demands a quick response, for example, a certain level of anxiety emerges that allows us to face it in a better way. Therefore, we live with anxiety in a certain way in the course of our lives and this is very normal. 3.852 / 5.000
Resultados de traducción
However, there are circumstances in which anxiety becomes a serious problem because, sometimes, the frequency, duration or intensity of the response tend to hinder the individual's life, thus giving rise to anxiety disorders.
When we feel anxiety we generally feel bad, but the problem does not lie in it, but in what is happening to us at that time that makes us feel that way, and how we handle it. For this reason we must pay close attention to what causes it, not make it the center of our lives. The difficulty is not feeling anxious, but focusing only on reducing or eliminating it without analyzing what is causing it, raising awareness and managing it properly. In other words, the biggest problem, in essence, is around the behavior we assume in the face of anxiety.
Of course there are high levels of anxiety for which a person suffers a lot and these can be reduced, but the issue is not so much focusing on anxiety, but what we do to reduce it.
Another important aspect that we must remember is that anxiety is closely related to attention, which is mostly focused on threats and problems, and when this occurs, a greater reaction is generated. Therefore, magnification or hyperattention enlarges it. The opposite would occur if attention is reduced in terms of intensity and time, thus being able to contribute to mitigating it.
Anxiety can become a serious health problem. Although we can all experience it, a small percentage of the population has disorders in this regard. For example, someone under a lot of sustained stress is at higher risk of developing anxiety attacks or panic attacks. If there is no information about it or if it is not properly attended to, anxiety crises can be repeated so much that they produce a disorder, that is, the tendency to repeat these attacks. Similarly, the person may try to avoid any situation that makes him feel nervous or anxious, thus stopping doing things that he used to do.

When there is a pathological anxiety disorder, the specialized attention of a professional should intervene in order to make an assessment and advise the appropriate treatment.
If there was no diagnosed pathology and we still suffer from different levels of anxiety, there are many circumstances in which we could implement certain mechanisms to be better. For this reason, it is transcendental that we learn to assume behaviors that allow us to do what we want while being anxious. That is, it is not that we resign ourselves to it, but that we act consciously to continue despite experiencing it. This change in behavior is the key to combating the pathology.

Other specialists affirm that anxiety must be faced calmly and without fear, since these disorders are common, but if we have the appropriate information we can reverse them. With adequate psychological treatments, a major problem does not have to be triggered, although if they are not treated, they can increase their intensity or transform.
Some of the recommended tips to control anxiety are the application of abdominal breathing techniques, physiological relaxation, mindfulness, retraining the attention process that helps us reorient our focus and not anticipate events too much or not control so much situations, among others.
It is elementary to educate ourselves about anxiety, understanding that this is a normal and tolerable response. It is important to take some attention away from it, as it is a process that can be redirected. If we educate ourselves to develop tolerance to it and naturalize it, we can better focus on what causes it and how to handle it properly.