Anxiety, An Unfortunate Ride On A Roller Coaster

The off-center feelings, the feeling that everything is out of control, the thought that everything is negative, constant tension, nervousness, excessive worry, agitation, insomnia, trembling eyelids, difficulty concentrating … This is how anxiety begins …

All these indicators can suggest anxiety and constitute a problem if they occur in a characteristic way and with a certain frequency in the same person. But this is not an evil of the few, but of many. In fact, it is becoming more and more prevalent in our society.

However, although talking about anxiety disorders without specifying what they are can be diffuse, this time we are only going to highlight ways of recognizing and understanding anxiety by identifying it through the sensations it generates.

Sensations that anxiety generates

Anxiety, that feeling that our chest is shrinking, that we are exhausted, that blocks us and worries us, that generates a hole in our stomach, that leaves us immobile and invades us. An overwhelming fight of sensations, thoughts and behaviors that submits us both on a psychological and physical level.

On another occasion we explained how anxiety is a monster that feeds on our adrenaline and to which we offer, dedicating attention and importance, a succulent delicacy. It happens that when something triggers a certain degree of activation (be it a thought, a vision, a behavior, etc.), our adrenaline begins to resurface and our anxiety monster wakes up to the smell of its food.

In principle it is positive, because for example it can help us not to fall down the stairs: however, if we let the monster not be able to fall asleep again, what it will do is feed on the adrenaline it finds and, therefore, it will be done every As it grows larger, it will consume our energy and cause us intense fear.

A metaphor for understanding anxiety

You are in an amusement park and you see a roller coaster that you love. With the intention of having a good time, you start lining up to get your pass. The sun is hot and hot, so when you get your ticket you already feel tired.

But that shouldn’t matter, you are in an amusement park! So you sit in the wagon and get ready to have fun. However, suddenly, a worker dressed as a clown gives you a broom on the head that leaves you in severe pain. That puts you off even more.

To top it all off, your car takes a quick 360-degree turn, and what was originally going to be attractive is no longer so good for you. Your thoughts crowd, roll and roll. You can’t stop and the tension is continuous and you feel like your heart is going to stop at any moment. You go up and down, you go through a black tunnel several times, you lose control and your stomach is upside down.

The journey is finally over. You leave with the dullness of intense fear, unable to think clearly, truly exhausted, and with the feeling of having been being pulled over and over by a bulldozer.

Feeling anxious is like riding a roller coaster and the ride is not fun. Sooner or later you know that both the trip and the attack will end, you know that it has a height peak and that from there it can only be reduced. However, you have a very bad time, it disturbs you excessively and makes you feel like in a stormy cloud that strips you of your belongings and even your identity.

If at any time we suffer from “anxiety or panic attacks” it is good that we keep this metaphor in our mind. In other words, it is very important that we keep in mind that when it appears, it will disappear through the same door through which it has entered, because it is only a matter of time.