Everyone feels anxiety from time to time; it’s a natural response. But what happens when this feeling stops being a simple worry and becomes a constant noise that doesn’t let you live in peace? Many times, our surroundings tell us to “relax” or “it’s not that big a deal,” but the reality of anxiety goes far beyond that. If you’re looking for ways to manage anxiety in Girona, it’s because you probably feel you need real tools and professional support. In this article, we will explore 5 signs that indicate it might be time to seek the help of a psychologist specializing in anxiety.
Signs that your Anxiety needs professional attention. How can therapy help manage anxiety in Girona?
1. Worry is Constant and Uncontrollable.
We’re not talking about worrying about an exam or an important meeting. We’re talking about an almost permanent state of worry, where your mind jumps from one “what if…?” to another non-stop. These recurrent thoughts rob you of energy and prevent you from enjoying the present. If you spend your day anticipating catastrophes or dwelling on things, your anxiety might be taking control. A psychologist in Girona can help you break this thought cycle.
2. Somatization of Anxiety: When the Body Speaks for the Mind
Anxiety is not a purely mental experience; it is a complex psychophysiological response. When the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is in a state of constant hypervigilance, it activates the “fight or flight” response in a sustained manner. This chronic activation translates into a cascade of somatic symptoms that are often the main reason for consultation, as no medical cause can be found to explain them.
Some of the most frequent symptoms include:
Cardiovascular Manifestations: Tachycardia, palpitations, or atypical chest pain.
Gastrointestinal Symptoms: Abdominal discomfort, irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, or diarrhea.
Chronic Muscle Tension: Tension headaches, neck or back pain, and bruxism.
Neurological Responses: Dizziness, vertigo, feeling of instability, or paresthesias (tingling in the extremities).
These symptoms are not “imagined”; they are the real physical manifestation of an emotional imbalance. The cognitive-behavioral therapy is highly effective in addressing somatization, helping to reinterpret these bodily signals and regulate the nervous system’s response.
3. Behavioral Avoidance: The World Gets Smaller
One of the most potent maintenance mechanisms of anxiety is behavioral avoidance. When faced with a stimulus (social, physical, internal) perceived as threatening, the most immediate response is to flee or avoid it. This behavior provides short-term relief, as it momentarily reduces anxiety. However, this “solution” comes at a very high cost: it negatively reinforces the belief that the situation was indeed dangerous and prevents the brain from learning that it can manage it.
This pattern is known as negative reinforcement in learning theory. Every time a situation is avoided, the fear of that situation is consolidated and generalized. What starts with avoiding public speaking can end up with avoiding family gatherings or even leaving the house. The exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, carried out gradually and in a safe therapeutic environment, is the treatment of choice to break this cycle, allowing the patient to unlearn the fear response and reclaim the life spaces that anxiety has taken away.
4. Cognitive Impact: The Mental Fog of Anxiety
The constant state of alert caused by anxiety consumes a vast amount of cognitive resources. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for higher executive functions (planning, decision-making, attention), gets “hijacked” by the amygdala, the brain’s fear center. This neurobiological dynamic explains why people with chronic anxiety often experience:
Attention and Concentration Deficits: Difficulty maintaining focus on a task, a feeling of mental dispersion, or “brain fog.”
Memory Problems: Difficulties in encoding and retrieving new information, especially in working memory.
Rumination and Intrusive Thoughts: A loop of negative thoughts and worries that interferes with efficient cognitive processing.
Sleep Problems: Physiological hyperarousal makes it difficult to initiate and maintain sleep, which, in turn, exacerbates cognitive deficits the next day, creating a vicious cycle.
In therapy, we use cognitive restructuring and mindfulness techniques to help “detach” attention from these thought loops and improve concentration ability.
5. Anhedonia: The Loss of the Ability to Enjoy
The Anhedonia, the inability or significant decrease in the capacity to experience pleasure, is a central symptom of depression, but also a frequent companion of chronic anxiety. Constant attention to potential threats (internal or external) leaves little neuronal and emotional space to process and enjoy positive experiences.
This not only affects mood but also creates an imbalance in the brain’s reward system, primarily regulated by dopamine. The person can enter a state of apathy where activities that were once rewarding (hobbies, social relationships, food) lose their appeal. You go from “living” to “surviving.” The behavioral activation (BA) therapy is a very effective intervention in these cases. It consists of deliberately scheduling and engaging in potentially rewarding activities, even without initially feeling like it, to “reactivate” the reward system and break the cycle of passivity and apathy.
Psychologist Reg. No. 26.978 and founder of Centre de Psicologia Jaume I.