What is angst?

Distress is reflected in a series of physical and emotional issues characterized by a sudden change in mood due to issues such as loss of inner peace, pain, guilt, unease and sadness. This psychological perception about ourselves can prevent us from going on with our routine to the point of causing social isolation.

This is a term known to all of us, but due to its complex of emotions and negative sensations make it almost impossible to define a precise origin of this state of mind. In general, we know when we are experiencing an episode of distress, but we will never know for sure how to deal with it or how it manifests itself in us.

The psychological sensation of anguish can cause physical and psychological damage, besides being associated with other emotional and psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. Understand a little more about this state, what it can cause and how to overcome it in the following text.

Meaning of distress

The nature of anguish has always been present in humanity, being object of philosophical and scientific analysis. What is known is that anguish is capable of generating other psychosomatic diseases. For psychology, its origin may be associated with depression, or other problems related to emotional well-being.

Reflecting on its meaning and understanding the philosophical currents that debate its nature may elucidate some questions. Discover its various philosophical meanings in the sequel.

According to Heidegger

For Heidegger, for example, anguish represents an existential state of insecurity between man and nothingness, awakened by his awareness of his finitude. Thus, it is considered a fundamental condition for being the founder of existence and opening the door for man to appropriate his own being.

By appropriating the anguish, man is allowed to be aware of his existence and re-signify it in order to fill this existential emptiness from the perception of his presence in the world. There is no escape from his being, while being present and aware of the world to which he belongs.

Therefore, it becomes impossible to escape from your reality and flee to another world to which you do not belong, beyond your consciousness. For, we are all imprisoned in our own thoughts. And, to the extent that we are alone with ourselves, we can realize ourselves as free beings and capable of assuming ourselves independent of others.

According to Sartre

Meanwhile, for Sartre, the consciousness of our responsibility stems from our infinite freedom, which makes us unique and responsible for the values in our lives. Therefore, Sartre supposes that anguish and anxiety are opposed to tranquility, but because of it we can consciously distort this state of consciousness by bad faith.

Bad faith would soon be forged by men's conscience as an excuse or pretext to cover up their acts committed in freedom. Sartre then perceives the world as a neutral and impartial entity, which we did not ask to exist, man being then helpless from this reality and making us responsible for ourselves.

Our choices would soon be inventions taken in our own favour, thus projecting a model for all humanity. Therefore, there would not be a "human nature", but a specific nature of men, which would cause a state of anguish or anxiety. For we are condemned to a hostile world.

According to Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard was responsible for inaugurating the philosophical debate about anguish, considering it as a state of restlessness of man, associating sin as an infinite universe of possible choices. Due to this fact anguish is generated in man, because we will never know what will be the right choice to make in relation to life.

Therefore, it is part of human nature to be subject to despair and anguish. He protests that man is the result of the guilt of our first parents, Adam and Eve, for having eaten the forbidden fruit and awakened the consciousness of our fall. From then on, man would always be bumping up against his own limits.

The human being perceives the world and himself unable to reach the completeness of his existence. His anguish would then be the voice of his conscience, as free and finite beings in the world, being always anxious to reach the divine infinite.

Part of the human condition

Anguish is a confusing experience, capable of generating negative feelings such as a choking throat, restlessness, nervousness, anxiety and a tightening of the heart. It is a psychological sensation that can affect us in many ways, from our moods and thoughts to our behaviour.

It is known that all people feel anxiety in different stages and levels, but when it is at a high intensity level, it usually manifests other problems such as anxiety disorders, unregulated physiological reactions and other manifestations.

Action of anxiety in the brain

Distress is capable of maladjusting our synapses, preventing a comfortable communication between our body and mind. As a result of this maladjustment, we can start to feel pain or negative emotions in our body.

In addition, it can affect the neurotransmitters responsible for regulating our moods. When it reaches that point, it can deregulate our senses and thoughts in ways that intensify feelings of sadness and cause despair. Thus, it perpetuates a series of problems in the body and transforms our perception of the world.

Causes of distress

Most of the causes of anguish are related to a lifestyle that stimulates feelings of guilt, regret, insecurity and frustration. These stimuli are the result of degrading habits for body and mind and require some attention so as not to worsen your condition.

This feeling of anguish that we all feel can also be a sign of depression. Research shows that there is a three times greater risk of developing diseases or disorders from this feeling, so therapeutic treatment is recommended if you feel that the feeling of anguish is intensifying.

Symptoms of distress

Anxiety can trigger psychological and physical symptoms at different levels. In the beginning, the symptoms may seem mild and even go unnoticed, however, you must take care of yourself so that it does not aggravate other aspects of your health. Follow the reading and identify what are the most common symptoms of anxiety.

Lack of concentration

We are inserted in a world in which the retention of the audience has become a valuable bargaining chip, thus existing several mechanisms capable of stealing our attention constantly. This leads us to a loss of focus and consequently a lack of concentration.

It has become difficult to concentrate on the simplest tasks of our day, not being able to fulfill any responsibility we become frustrated. The lack of concentration appears as a symptom apparently harmless, but with its advance we become restless and irritable.

Being excessively worried about this condition makes us anxious and distressed, besides the stress caused by the waste of time. Because our routine demands a fulfillment of these responsibilities and when we start to neglect them with the lack of concentration we realize how much time we are losing in daydreams.

It is possible to alleviate the symptom of lack of concentration, but for that it will be necessary to know the tools that can help you keep your focus. Remembering that in addition to the exercise of concentration it will also be necessary to work on your emotions, so that they do not interrupt your flow of thought.

Insomnia

This happens because we often take to bed all the problems and worries of our day. Soon, thoughts arise like a whirlwind when we are lying down, hindering our sleep and preventing our consciousness from relaxing.

The feeling of anguish is capable of awakening thoughts and generating a restlessness in our consciousness that can often make it difficult for us to sleep. It happens that in this difficulty we start to have intermittent sleep or sleepless nights. This absence of sleep becomes constant and soon affects our daily lives.

The individual soon feels difficulties in staying awake during the day, a consequence of tiredness due to lack of sleep during the night, which often leads to feeling irritable, tired and lack of concentration. Anxiety appears as a starting point, but with the evolution of your insomnia picture it becomes worse and worse.

Feeling of anxiety

The feeling of anxiety is linked to nervousness, fear and exaggerated concern about the future. Our body generates this feeling naturally, as long as we can deal with them everything will be fine.

However, there are people who do not know how to deal with this feeling and take anxiety as a bigger problem than it seems to be. This thought may be a consequence of anxiety, because we start to feel it too much and we can not stop this line of worries.

Soon, anxiety becomes a constant in the person's life, often evolving to a more severe clinical picture such as anxiety disorders.

Inner clutter

Inner disorder can express itself through the messiness of living spaces. For example, if you have a messy room this can mean that you are saturated with your thoughts and ideas, thus generating an inner confusion caused by the absence of an inner order.

Pessimism

Pessimism is a thought that can be triggered by anxiety. It usually reveals itself under conditions of stress or during crises. However, if you feel pessimistic frequently in your daily life, it means that there is some inner disorder that has triggered negative emotions in your life.

The persistence of this feeling of pessimism manifests itself in those people who believe that everything in life seems to go wrong, reliving this thought in their routine whenever difficulties arise.

Fear and anxiety are usually the biggest culprits in this state of consciousness. If you feel a sense of not belonging, a fear of rejection, or even have a low self-esteem this means that you are feeding pessimistic thinking about yourself.

Constant pain

The perception of distress can trigger a series of symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness, tachycardia and shortness of breath. These sensations can trigger a series of physiological problems such as chest pain and the feeling of tightness in the throat.

Change in appetite

There are also cases in which anguish, through pessimism and existential emptiness, leads people to feel unmotivated with their own lives. For them, their lives no longer make sense, which generates a change of appetite so that they do not see self-care as a fundamental part of their existence.

Discouragement

The mood of many people who feel distressed is usually the first to be compromised. The absence of a reason for being generates destructive thoughts towards life and compromises their state of mind.

As a result, from the distress these people soon become discouraged and any positive stimuli such as pleasure and happiness seem to make no sense in their thoughts.

Lack of air

Shortness of breath happens in those cases in which anguish has completely contaminated the person's state of consciousness. Initially, the person feels a tightness in the chest and then starts to feel shortness of breath. It is common for this symptom to appear together with other problems such as anxiety and tachycardia.

Change in heart rate

Cardiac arrhythmia indicates that your heart is beating irregularly. This impairment in blood pumping occurs through anguish when a person is invaded by intrusive thoughts. It affects the entire functioning of your body on a psychic and physical level.

How to treat distress

To deal with anxiety, you first have to understand that it is an innate perception of every human being. This feeling is usually generated when we are involved with tasks or immersed in negative emotional states for our life, so it has a recurrence based on our life model.

However, you may not be able to get rid of distress, but you are able to develop skills that can strengthen your mind and body in order to deal with this problem. Discover the tools you need to treat distress below.

Meditation practice

Meditation is nowadays one of the most recommended practices for the treatment of several psychological and spiritual problems. Through its breathing exercises you will manage to reduce stress and calm your mind, besides improving your attention and focus.

The most common practice for those who will begin the exercises is mindfulness. This is the type of meditation that can help in the treatment of distress, because it will help you to better deal with your thoughts and exercise full attention. Soon, you will become more aware of the symptoms and know how to respond to these stimuli.

Regular physical activity

The regular practice of physical activity is capable of bringing a series of benefits to your body and mind. From its practice you will promote the release of hormonal substances in your body that favor your well-being and help you have a better quality of life.

These substances will be responsible for relieving the symptoms of distress, as well as helping you relax your body, relieving tension and pain. You only need 30 minutes a day to exercise your body and you will already feel the benefits in a few weeks!

Healthy eating

A healthy diet improves the functioning of your body, besides fighting the symptoms of distress and promoting your well-being. A tip is to consume foods rich in tryptophan such as cheese, pineapple, eggs, tofu, potatoes, bananas and some oilseeds such as almonds, walnuts and nuts.

This substance is ideal for a regular formation of the serotonin hormone, which can prevent problems such as depression, stress and anxiety, thus relieving the feeling of distress.

Yoga practice

Yoga works as a set of postures that can exercise the body and mind. It is based on three elements which are: posture, breathing and meditation. Practicing yoga will help relieve the symptoms of distress as well as improve balance and your emotional well-being.

Full attention

Mindfulness will help you keep your focus on the present, so you'll lessen your worries about the future and take the guilt out of your past memories. You'll feel freer to make choices and react to situations in a more fluid way. A great way to practice mindfulness is through mindfulness.

Breathing

Breathing is fundamental to maintaining control over your body. Paying attention to the timing of inhalation and exhalation will help you calm your mind, as well as regain control of your thoughts by not allowing the intrusive thoughts generated by distress to take hold of your consciousness.

Positive thoughts

Thinking positive thoughts will help you combat pessimism, as well as alleviate the negative emotional charge that some situations awaken in your consciousness. For this, you can create a mantra capable of reminding you of these positive thoughts, so you can regain consciousness and avoid moments of distress.

Through this exercise you will realize that a process of re-signifying these feelings, soon they will flow through you in a way that strengthens your thoughts and makes you more resilient in relation to adversity.

Relaxing bath

Taking a relaxing bath helps in the physical and psychic relaxation of the body in a way that relieves the body tension and relaxes the muscles. The relaxation would soon help to relieve the symptoms of anguish, besides leaving the body lighter and discharged of the negative emotions that had accumulated in your routine.

Contacts for good

Relationships are fundamental to alleviate the symptoms of anguish. After all, the human being is a collective animal, that is, we cannot live alone in our thoughts. Talking with friends or family takes you out of the state of loneliness that often awakens the anguish.

Soon, you will feel more relaxed and be able to deal with these feelings in a way that makes you realize the impact of your existence not only to the world, but also to the people close to you. When you allow yourself to receive the support of others, you understand the importance of friendship and feel good about existing.

Explore your feelings

Self-knowledge and emotional intelligence are fundamental for you to be able to treat distress. By exercising your self-awareness you will become aware of the emotional cycles to which your consciousness is subjected and you will notice the triggers responsible for developing this perception of distress about you.

Soon, you will understand how your emotions work and you will know how to deal with them in a way that respects your state of consciousness without eliminating the anguish. But not letting it cause such a negative impact on your life.

Can anguish be cured permanently?

The perception of anguish is innate in every human being, in some cases it can assume a recurrence and even awaken negative symptoms in the body and mind. Its aggravation happens by the way we deal with this state of consciousness, especially when we give a negative sense to it.

However, distress can be re-signified as something positive. From the moment we realize our importance in the world and understand ourselves as human beings, we become capable of developing protective mechanisms in relation to its symptoms.

In this way, we do not completely link our individual to the existential emptiness inherent to anguish, but we start to use it as a process of reflection, or investigation, questioning our existence and trying to understand who we are. Anguish would help us by assuming a process of self-awareness and meaning our existence.