Everyday Anxiety

Defining anxiety can sometimes be challenging. In the collective mindset, anxiety is often confused with a modern malaise in rapid growth: stress. However, anxiety is quite different from what consumer society and the acceleration of lifestyles have generated. Stress is a phenomenon originating from temporary anxiety-inducing situations. For example, stress may occur in situations involving time constraints, like being late for a crucial appointment. It's in such contexts that we can describe a situation as stressful when it's not characterized by anticipation but rather by contextualization.

The key difference between stress and anxiety lies in their pragmatic characterization. Pragmatics involve analyzing a situation based on a given context and available information. It focuses on reality, facts, and steers clear of interpretation or magical thinking. In contrast, anxiety is a psychological state or disposition based on the anticipation of events, without the use of pragmatics. Anxiety develops and thrives on misconceptions, unverifiable probabilities, and consequences that are often greatly overestimated.

From Anxiety to Generalized Anxiety Disorder

It's normal for an individual to have questions about an impending event. Asking questions is not inherently bad and can be positive when it pragmatically helps in approaching a situation one is about to face. However, questioning doesn’t necessarily trigger anxious reactions where baseless queries disrupt the thought process. Temporary anxiety isn't necessarily harmful either. It’s natural to face an important upcoming situation without enough information to feel confident about its outcome.

Let's consider a work-related example. You have an important meeting at the headquarters of the multinational company you work for. You're aware of potential changes in your department that could lead to layoffs. In such a scenario, it's entirely normal to experience anxiety. Even with some tangible elements about the context, it's pragmatically impossible to know all the details and the extent of the meeting's impact on your life. Beyond stress, this is a situation that may potentially provoke anxiety.

While a situational anxiety and anxiety can certainly occur temporarily, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is not comparable to the above example. In GAD, anxious processes continually infiltrate the minds and lives of those affected by this debilitating condition. Simple daily situations can trigger anxiety disconnected from actual realities, causing significant distress.

Sources of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Clinical history shows that the origins of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) are primarily traced back to childhood. As a critical period for emotional and cognitive pattern development, an in-depth analysis of emotional experiences during childhood is essential to identify the causes of GAD. However, GAD can also emerge during adolescence or adulthood, with multiple causes including excessive parental expectations, physical or sexual trauma, intense professional pressures, financial difficulties, and family upheavals (children, suicide, death, manipulation, etc.). This list is not exhaustive, and the causes vary among individuals afflicted by this pervasive condition. Alleviating this emotional instability requires significant expression and recontextualization of daily life situations to recalibrate reactions more in line with their realities.

Excessive Mental Processing in GAD

In identified cases of GAD, the unfolding of an anxious situation can be broken down into three main aspects:

Negative Anticipation: Consider arriving just before a bakery closes. This situation could potentially cause significant emotional destabilization. Despite regularly arriving at closing time and successfully purchasing bread, the fear of missing out persists, leading to negative anticipation without evidence.

Overestimation of a Situation's Importance: When thinking about a situation, the anxiogenic capacity immediately triggers an overvaluation of its importance. Even knowing that failing to buy bread isn't impactful, it becomes impossible to consider it as insignificant. GAD creates a mismatch between facts and the importance attributed to them.

Overestimated Negative Consequences/Complications: The third characteristic of GAD is the near-automatic anticipation of negative consequences for any given situation. Continuing with the bakery example, missing bread for a meal could trigger negative imagery: being seen as a bad parent, imagining your child discussing it at school, with family, friends, fearing poor nutrition, or feeling irresponsible. Even for a minor event, someone with GAD might envision it as a significant failure.

Avoiding Anxiety-Inducing Zones

In today's information-driven world, many situations can be avoided to prevent exposure to anxiety-inducing information. Continuous news channels, for instance, often focus on captivating their audience with morbid entertainment and alarmist news. If you suffer from GAD, consider eliminating these channels from your viewing habits.

In the same vein, it is wise to steer clear of national radio news outlets that mirror the relentless cycle of 24-hour news channels, often characterized by unproductive and repetitive arguments, coupled with a barrage of pessimistic and distressing content that can amplify feelings of anxiety. Instead, seek out sources that provide balanced viewpoints and constructive discussions, which contribute to a healthier, more informed perspective without the unnecessary stress.

here are some highly regarded meditation apps and resources that are known for their quality and effectiveness:

Headspace:

Offers guided meditations, sleep sounds, and mindfulness exercises.

Known for its user-friendly interface and engaging animations.

Calm:

Features a wide range of guided meditations, stories, and music designed to help reduce anxiety and improve sleep.

Includes masterclasses and breathing exercises.

Insight Timer:

Boasts the largest free library of meditations, with thousands of guided sessions and a community of users.

Provides courses and music tracks for relaxation and stress management.

10% Happier:

Focuses on practical meditation techniques for skeptics and beginners

Offers a podcast and book that complements the app’s teachings.

Smiling Mind:

Developed by psychologists and educators, it's designed to assist people in dealing with pressure and stress.

Offers programs for different age groups, including children.

MyLife Meditation (formerly known as Stop, Breathe & Think):

Encourages users to check in with their emotions and offers personalized meditation recommendations.

Includes guided meditations and yoga videos.

The Mindfulness App:

Provides a variety of guided and silent meditations to cater to all levels.

Offers personalized meditation options and reminders to keep you consistent.

For those seeking resources beyond apps, many universities and health organizations offer free or low-cost mindfulness and meditation resources. Additionally, books by respected figures in the field of mindfulness, such as Jon Kabat-Zinn and Thich Nhat Hanh, can be excellent guides.

In daily life, many situations can trigger anxiety. It's essential to listen to yourself, feel your emotions, and identify situations that might cause emotional difficulty.

Calming the Threatening Whirlwind

GAD is not a fate. Consulting a psychology professional to freely express yourself and contemplate events that might have triggered these suffering and guilt phenomena is crucial. For more everyday management of GAD, meditation is a powerful tool to calm the rise of anxious thoughts. Remember, meditation doesn't require lengthy sessions; consistency is key for effectively managing emotions, not session length.

Finally, maintain confidence in yourself and avoid thinking everything will always be fine. Some situations do require attention and questioning. Listen to your gut feelings, the center of emotions, and in each situation of your daily life, ask yourself if you are in the right place and aligned with what you love and what makes you, you.