Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Helps Address Anxiety

Fight X Acceptance - A New Look at Anxiety: A Willingness to Feel and Be Able to Move Toward What's Important in Your Life.
In the society we live in, we have been taught that anxiety is a problem; and that when it appears, something is not going well and soon we should strive to end it.
With this learning, we are alert to its signals and when we detect some, a kind of internal alarm goes off in an attempt to eliminate -over there. Over the years, this becomes virtually automatic. Many times we don't even notice when we are doing something to escape anxiety and the unpleasant set of sensations, emotions, and thoughts that accompany it.

What may happen is that, in trying to control anxiety, or wanting not to try it, it is common for us to realize that we are increasingly anxious and hostage to anxiety, as attempts to fight it often prove counterproductive and ineffective in the long run. These battles often result in sadness, guilt, failure, fear and a strong sense of exhaustion. No wonder the number of people suffering from anxiety is around 33% of the world's population, according to a survey by WHO (2016).

It's like struggling out of a quicksand: the harder you beat your legs and arms desperately to try to surface, the more you realize you're sinking. Note that in anxiety, as in quicksand, the more you struggle, the deeper you sink, the stronger the anxiety seems to become. In either case, the problem is in control.

So how should we deal with anxiety? What can work? The answer may lie within the question: “What would you do if you were not anxious? What would be happening in your life if anxiety did not disturb you? ”If you have ever suffered or are suffering from anxiety, you may wonder if what really bothers you is the anxiety itself, or what you have ceased to do. do because of anxiety. What we therapists hear most of the time is that the worst of anxiety is what we fail to do because of it. This is what leads many people to feel that their lives are stagnant or stolen by anxiety because they can no longer do what they would like and what is important to them (eg being in a group of friends, watching a movie, going to the movies, going to the football stadium watching a match from your heart team, driving, going on a date, working, studying, riding the bus, among other simple everyday tasks).

ACT proposes acceptance rather than struggle and control. Accepting anxiety involves willingness / openness to deal with the unpleasant internal events that accompany it as they appear. Ironically, acceptance is one of the biggest functional changes possible. To accept is not stagnation or resignation. On the contrary, accepting is an attitude that is highly committed to what is important to us: it is choosing to move on, even in the presence of anxiety, to pursue a full and meaningful life, abandoning control and avoidance strategies that do not work. to achieve the life we ​​want.

If you suffer trying to get rid of anxiety and everything you have done seems to be not working, try seeking help. It may be that changing the way you see and relate to your anxiety is helpful. You can learn to see her no longer as an enemy to be fought, but as a companion in her walk. Psychologist Kátia Niederauer - CRP 07/12906
Contextual Behavior Therapist Specialist - CEFI
Master in Psychiatry - UFRGS