Stress and anxiety have a common feature – they are unpleasant in experiencing. They become an issue when they occur in excess. They damage health and interfere with our functioning. We need good mental health to live a good and fulfilled life. We can take care of it in the immersive VR TierOne GO environment.
Thought, emotion, reaction
Our interpretation of the situation, the thought of it, evokes a specific emotion and a physiological reaction thereto. This in turn translates into our behaviour, and looking further on the way and quality of our life. If in the cognitive sphere there is a belief that a given situation is threatening, anxiety will appear as an emotion, and stress as a reaction. Anxiety appears in the absence of a real threat, triggered by stimuli that are not perceived by others as threatening. Therefore the body is stimulated in waiting for the danger that is not coming. Such mobilisation of power and energy is an expensive process. If it is repeated frequently and there is no justification in reality (false alarm) it will lead to a weakening of the body and may result in health disorders at the physical and mental levels.
Too much anxiety
When anxiety is excessive, and it causes suffering and negatively affects the life of an individual, then we talk about anxiety disorders. Nearly 300 million people in the world suffer from anxiety. This is not a homogeneous group of disorders. Everyone has probably heard about phobias, but it is not a phobias, but the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) that is the leader in the rankings and, like depression, causes a decrease in the quality of life. The predominant symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder are:
- slowly evolving anxiety of a chronic nature,
- constant anxiety without being able to indicate its specific source,
- undue concern about everyday events,
- feeling of increased muscle tension,
- constant worrying,
- fatigue,
- soreness,
- sleep disorders,
- inability to relax.
There are many causes of the disorder, we can’t influence genetic factors for example, but we can bring about a reduction of stress, as a factor increasing the likelihood of anxiety disorders. It is worth paying attention to what we feed our psyche with. Stimulating yourself with negative information, providing yourself with too much terrifying news from the world (war, pandemic and other cataclysms) can worsen your mental condition and increase your anxiety. The surrounding reality seems dangerous, and worrying begins to dominate, and eventually fear takes over. To restore mental equilibrium, it is worth looking for contact with what is good around us, e.g. with nature. Contact with nature allows us to distance ourselves from negative thoughts. If physical contact with nature is impossible, VR TierOne GO, thanks to immersive environments, will bring us closer to experiencing the soothing power of nature.
Ways to reduce stress and anxiety
Avoidance behaviours offer temporary way to reduce unpleasant anxiety, but these fail to solve the problem, reducing the quality of life instead. They only allow for a moment of relief. An effective method for treating anxiety is the exposure to an anxiety stimulus, which is initially not pleasant. Confronting anxiety means experiencing this difficult emotion, instead of suppressing it. Emotional avoidance leads to choosing ineffective ways of dealing with anxiety, e.g. through alcohol and suppressing the perception with “do not think” attitude, so for a short time we do not feel anxiety. Behavioural avoidance also does not pass the exam in the long run, after all, avoiding a task today makes us avoid the difficult situation only for a moment, until we are forced to confront it again. Avoidance sustains anxiety because there is no confrontation, and therefore no verification of the validity of our negative beliefs. Psychotherapy supplemented by relaxation is the right way to get rid of anxiety disorders. Before stress and anxiety take over and threaten our health, we need to put relaxation prophylactically into our daily mental hygiene routine.
Immersion for anxiety and stress
Relaxation is aimed at reducing unpleasant vegetative tensions, i.e. those created in the result of activating the sympathetic (vegetative) system. Chronic stress sustains anxiety, which is why rest is so important. By practicing relaxation, we can reduce stress and anxiety and learn to calm down faster in situations that arouse anxiety. Practicing relaxation exercises can be challenging, as it sometimes proves difficult to focus and devote yourself fully to the practice. People practicing diving, literally immersed in another environment, are able to rest perfectly, because they experience a cut-off from stressors and at the same time a sense of full presence and commitment to the moment. A similar immersion on the sensory level can be achieved with the immersive VR technology. Simply put on the relaxing VR TierOne GO headset to let your body relax and feel comfortable. Immersive films made in 360° VR technology, supported by therapeutic voice-over recording, will bring relief and reduce the stress and anxiety experienced. The natural scenery draws attention without effort required on your part. If you are looking for optimal conditions for regenerating relaxation that will support your health, do not be afraid to look into the virtual world of VR TierOne GO.
