I know you have dealt with anxiety for many years. There must be a couple of tricks you have learned to help talk yourself down in anxious moments, right? Things that work for you to help you calm yourself?
For me, one of the most helpful things I ever read was a book written by a doctor who worked with anxiety patients. He said that anxiety patients are often (a) very smart and (b) very creative and (c) very visual. And what happens when we get a bad thought is this: We almost run the entire movie in our head of the bad things that could happen. We are so smart that the movie gets very detailed. We are so creative that it seems very real. And we are so visual that we can actually SEE it happening.
Take fear of flying. Maybe a plane is bumpy with turbulence. A normal person would notice the bumps but not react much to them. An anxiety patient would notice the bumps, see the flight crashing, feel the fear, and even imagine the faces of those she loves when they find out she died. The anxiety person can see the whole movie, which makes it VERY real to our bodies.
In order to undo that, we MUST force ourselves to also "see" the CORRECT movie. For that anxious flyer, she needs to make a movie run in her head that is far more likely to happen: that the bumpiness will cease, the plane will land, and life will go on as planned. She needs to see the details of that plane smoothing out, and imagine how it feels when the wheels touch down, and see herself walking out the door, carry-ons and all. And in that way our brain can also react to this new movie, and calm itself down.
When you feel the palpitations and you panic about them, try to figure out what movie you are seeing, and then run one that is more likely.
Bad movie: These palpitations will give me a heart attack. I could die.
Correct movie: My heart will calm itself down. This is anxiety.
Bad movie: There is something really wrong with me.
Correct movie: This makes sense because I have an anxiety disorder. Many many people deal with this daily. I'll talk to my psychologist about it.
See the difference? You need to "see" the good stuff (even though it will seem very unrealistic in that moment of panic) in order for your smart, creative, visual brain to settle itself down and settle down your stress hormones at the same time.
Give it a try, Lhohertz. It works for me. I don't always remember to do it -- such is the nature of anxiety -- but when I do, it really does help.
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Ah. Well, of course, that makes perfect sense.
When is your next psychologist appointment?
I know you have dealt with anxiety for many years. There must be a couple of tricks you have learned to help talk yourself down in anxious moments, right? Things that work for you to help you calm yourself?
For me, one of the most helpful things I ever read was a book written by a doctor who worked with anxiety patients. He said that anxiety patients are often (a) very smart and (b) very creative and (c) very visual. And what happens when we get a bad thought is this: We almost run the entire movie in our head of the bad things that could happen. We are so smart that the movie gets very detailed. We are so creative that it seems very real. And we are so visual that we can actually SEE it happening.
Take fear of flying. Maybe a plane is bumpy with turbulence. A normal person would notice the bumps but not react much to them. An anxiety patient would notice the bumps, see the flight crashing, feel the fear, and even imagine the faces of those she loves when they find out she died. The anxiety person can see the whole movie, which makes it VERY real to our bodies.
In order to undo that, we MUST force ourselves to also "see" the CORRECT movie. For that anxious flyer, she needs to make a movie run in her head that is far more likely to happen: that the bumpiness will cease, the plane will land, and life will go on as planned. She needs to see the details of that plane smoothing out, and imagine how it feels when the wheels touch down, and see herself walking out the door, carry-ons and all. And in that way our brain can also react to this new movie, and calm itself down.
When you feel the palpitations and you panic about them, try to figure out what movie you are seeing, and then run one that is more likely.
Bad movie: These palpitations will give me a heart attack. I could die.
Correct movie: My heart will calm itself down. This is anxiety.
Bad movie: There is something really wrong with me.
Correct movie: This makes sense because I have an anxiety disorder. Many many people deal with this daily. I'll talk to my psychologist about it.
See the difference? You need to "see" the good stuff (even though it will seem very unrealistic in that moment of panic) in order for your smart, creative, visual brain to settle itself down and settle down your stress hormones at the same time.
Give it a try, Lhohertz. It works for me. I don't always remember to do it -- such is the nature of anxiety -- but when I do, it really does help.
March 31, 2010 - 10:14amThis Comment
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