In today's society, there are many factors that cause anxiety and restlessness, and strategies to combat them are often difficult to find.
This period is characterised by the 'shaking' of fundamental values, norms and aspirations that drove man towards fulfilment and healthy relationships with others.
The current wars around the world, the memories of them for older people, and the threat of nuclear war add to the list.
In such a hostile climate, human isolation is accentuated.
Each person has their own way of reacting: the most common is a sense of unease, anxiety, feeling in danger without knowing what the danger is; a sense of ruin, or something else.
We often fail to understand the cause of all this. People feel helpless, and if this unease is strong, it can be discharged onto the body.
Muscle stiffness may be noticed, or there may be tremors, a feeling of weakness or tiredness; even the voice may tremble.
At the cardiovascular level, palpitations, fainting, increased heart rate and increased blood pressure may occur.
Nausea, vomiting and stomach ache may also occur in the intestines, which have no organic origin.
There may also be other symptoms typical of each person's history, and there is no organ that cannot be affected by internal tension.
I remember that in my professional life I have met people with psychological problems that were 'discharged' in different parts of the body, sometimes in the most unimaginable places.
I have encountered alopecia (hair loss), locked limbs, visual disturbances, fainting, and more recently, teenagers who cut themselves...
If a person feels overwhelmed by a sudden wave of inner discomfort, they may react inappropriately or even dangerously (alcohol, drugs, speeding, gambling, etc.).
Understanding these disturbances, worries and anxieties is important in determining whether they are normal or not.
Unusual states of anxiety are distinguished from more or less persistent apprehension with acute crises.
These states are to be distinguished from the state of generalised worry that we find common in our daily lives.
Let us remember that in order to define our anxiety and agitation, we must convince ourselves that it is something normal when the individual feels threatened.
Agitation should be distinguished from fear, where the danger is real: the individual can assess the situation and choose whether to face it or flee.
When we talk about agitation in the normal sense, we mean that it is human nature to feel it when faced with danger, illness, etc.
It represents the deepest way of living our human existence.
It makes us face our limits and weaknesses, which are not manifestations of inner discomfort or illness, but expressions of human nature.
The more aware we are of our limits, the better we are able to live with our anxieties.
For our fellow human beings who feel omnipotent, agitation and anxiety are unbearable, as they bring to consciousness the limits that are a wound to their 'feeling of being a superior creature'.
We experience normal unease even when we leave an 'old road for a new one'.
From this point of view, it accompanies us in our changes, in our evolution, and in finding meaning in our lives.
Dr Francesco Giovannozzi, psychologist and psychotherapist
