Patri Psychologist: “Those who say they have been with anxiety for 20 years also have a solution”

Patri Psychologist: “Those who say they have been with anxiety for 20 years also have a solution”

Psychology

In her theatrical proposal with the actor Rafa Blanca, ‘Anxiety does not kill, but fatigue’, the psychologist Patricia Ramírez, known as Patri Psychologist, provides simple tools that help to manage uncomfortable emotions such as anxiety

The lyrics with humor come in, especially if the humor is white. After her first theatrical incursion with ’10 ways to load your relationship as a couple’ the psychologist Patricia Ramírez returns to take the stage, this time with the actor Rafa Blanca, with ‘Anxiety does not kill but fatigue‘, a show-therapy in which, apparently accidentally or improvised, Patri Psicologa (@patri_psicologa) will provide solutions to the daily scenes that the protagonist lives in which anxiety plays an important role. On the occasion of its premiere in Madrid, we approached Patricia Ramírez on the AVE (her second home) to learn more about how to cope with anxiety, a disorder that is not always well understood and that is especially worrying in a context like the one we live in today.

What are the most useful tools to manage anxiety?

The important thing is to start with self-care, a concept that is related to everything that helps us manage our neurotransmitters: rest, meditation and physical exercise. But it is also important to know tools for planning and organization, to handle complicated relationships, to learn to put thoughts on ‘stand by’ or even to lead a slower life so that we help our brain to relax and feel in a safe place.

Can anxiety become chronic?

Anxiety becomes chronic if it is not treated. Some people are more vulnerable to anxiety. In fact there is a greater vulnerability in the case of adult women. But since anxiety is a response emitted by the nervous system (specifically the amygdala) to the perception of a threat, the truth is that if we teach that person to weaken that amenaza (because you learn to accept it or because you discover resources to deal with it) it is possible that you will manage to manage anxiety, no matter how long you have been suffering from it. And this is something important, because some people who say that they have been with anxiety for 20 years believe that they are lost and that is not true, they also have a solution. At the moment in which the psychological resources that help to manage these stressors are learned (which are very particular, by the way, because some people are overwhelmed by taking a medical test and others, eating with their family), the normal thing is that anxiety decrease.

In cases where there is a very powerful activation of the amygdala, of the sympathetic nervous system, that makes that person incapable of doing what the psychologist asks of him, is where the action of psychiatry would come in, since there are a great variety of anxiolytics that help reduce that level of intensity that allows that person to learn to train those resources while the medication is taking effect.

And when do I know that I should go to a professional because of anxiety?

We should go to a psychologist when our level of discomfort prevent us from performing our daily lives. If a person suffers some kind of discomfort for a few days because he is adapting to some situation (a move, the arrival of a baby, a separation …), we would be talking about specific situations that lead us to adaptive disorders And in that case, if we know that it may be something temporary and we trust that we will find ourselves better soon, it would not be necessary to go to a professional.

But when we see that we cannot work normally, that we suffer often and that even our psychosomatic part is altered with sleep problems, stomach aches or diarrhea, it will be time to go to a psychologist.

What other concepts or psychological pathologies are often confused with anxiety?

The group of anxiety disorders that are included in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which is the volume of mental disorders and disorders by which we psychologists are guided, includes OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). ), to generalized anxiety, through simple phobias or even social phobia. But, in addition, it is possible that anxiety symptoms manifest in other mental disorders that are not necessarily anxiety disorders. For example, a depressive disorder can present with anxiety symptoms and can also occur in some personality or eating disorders. It is important to make a good diagnosis to know if that anxiety is the main cause or if it is actually a symptom of another mental disorder. When a good diagnosis is made, the appropriate treatment is also well chosen.

Is it more difficult to manage anxiety in times of pandemic?

In a context like this, it is more important than ever facing fear. We cannot wait at home for the situation to pass completely to recover our daily lives. We have to understand that the fear of illness, contagion or death is there and it is something we have to learn to live with, focusing on the part that we can control and that has to do with getting vaccinated, complying with security measures. and distance, relate carefully… But if we don’t face fear, it will get bigger and bigger.

It is also important now, as I explain in my latest book ‘We are strength’, to work on our ability to adapt. Adaptive intelligence is vital to know that our life is not going to be as before, but that we have an intelligence that helps us adapt to different situations. And this will only be possible if instead of complaining and talking all day about what does not work, I focus on the things that do work, on the solutions and on the things that, although they have changed, make me feel good. We must ask ourselves what positive reading We get out of the situation we are living in and how I can consider my problems with a solving mind.

And of course you have to return to values ​​such as gratitude generosity, the feeling of membership… Those values ​​that we lived during confinement and that made us feel good and that we now need to maintain.

Behind the scenes

Patricia Ramírez, Patri Psychologist, is, in addition to being a psychologist, writer, lecturer and disseminator in the media and social networks. She is a contributor to ABC Bienestar and every month she poses a self-knowledge challenge on her blog ‘On Monday I start’.

Graduated in Psychology, she has a master’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology and a doctorate in the Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment at the University of Granada.

She is the author of 10 books among which stand out ‘Train yourself for life’, ‘This is how you lead, this is how you compete’, ‘Count on you’, ‘If you went out to live’, ‘Release optimism’, ‘Educate with serenity’ and ‘Ten ways to burden your relationship with your partner’ (co-written with Silvia Congost).

He is a regular speaker on topics related to attitude, willpower, the ability to change, confidence, security, teamwork, leadership and optimism. She also gives weekly online workshops on anxiety and self-control.

A year ago he made his debut on stage with ’10 ways to load your relationship ‘and since the beginning of May he has been touring Spain with’ Anxiety does not kill, but fatigue ‘. Upcoming dates: Bilbao (July 10), Palma de Mallorca (July 23 and 24), Barcelona (September 14), Madrid (September 28) and Teruel (October 22).