{"id":33445,"date":"2015-06-05T09:17:09","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T17:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=33445"},"modified":"2015-06-05T09:17:09","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T17:17:09","slug":"the-7-ways-of-thinking-that-make-us-more-anxious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/the-7-ways-of-thinking-that-make-us-more-anxious\/","title":{"rendered":"The 7 Ways of Thinking That Make Us More Anxious"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Those of us who suffer from anxiety problems know it doesn\u2019t always take very much to trigger our anxiety. We can go from zero to a hundred in nothing flat. And once we get started, it\u2019s hard to come back down. We might have some strategies for calming ourselves, some of us will use medications to help us along.<\/p>\n

Have we ever really stopped and looked at what we do that might be causing us to trigger ourselves? David Burns, in his book, \u201cWhen Panic Attacks,\u201d lists ten cognitive distortions, twisted ways of thinking, that can cause feelings of anxiety, depression and anger. We\u2019re going to examine some of these distorted ways of thinking now and look at how they can help us feed our anxieties.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortune Telling<\/strong>.<\/i>\u00a0We predict what\u2019s going to happen in the future. Usually, we\u2019re telling ourselves that something awful is going to happen. For example, if you\u2019re shy or scared of public speaking, you might say, \u201cI know I\u2019m going to look like a fool when I give that presentation at work tomorrow.\u201d If you have a fear of getting stung by bees, you might think, \u201cI don\u2019t care how lovely the flowers are, I\u2019m not going anywhere close to that garden.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mind Reading<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/i>Mind reading is when we assume people are judging us or looking down at us, even when there\u2019s good reason for them to do so. This is one that I was very guilty of during my retail career. If I wasn\u2019t feeling confident that day or if I was the slightest bit unsure of the advice I would be giving to customer, I would feel like they could see right through me. I\u2019d see them getting a second opinion or reading the product\u2019s packaging and think, \u201cThey could probably tell I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m talking about so they decided what I said wasn\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Binocular Trick<\/i><\/strong>. When you look at your shortcomings, they seem to be huge and out of proportion. When you look at your good qualities, you flip the binoculars around, and they appear to be tiny and insignificant. This can often be the case when we\u2019re trying to convince ourselves to do something we\u2019re scared of. The idea of asking that girl out is world-ending-terrifying, and the fact that you\u2019re a really nice, sweet guy won\u2019t play any role in her decision-making process. Did you notice how this example also had a touch of mind reading to it as well?<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotional Reasoning<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/i>This is when we base our reasoning on how we feel. We think, \u201cI feel scared, so I must really be in danger.\u201d We can easily escalate our fears into sheer terror using this kind of thinking, but I know it\u2019s one that I\u2019m very guilty of using.<\/p>\n

Should statements<\/strong>.<\/i>\u00a0We use statements with should, shouldn\u2019t, ought, must and have-to in order to criticize ourselves. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t feel so anxious. There must be something wrong with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labelling<\/i><\/strong>. You take a flaw about yourself and make it your whole identity. Idiot, depressive, nervous, loser. The list can go on and on. Take your pick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-Blame<\/strong>.<\/i>\u00a0Instead of figuring out what caused a problem, you just blame yourself. You beat yourself up over every flaw you can find.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know the first time I looked at this list, I was able to find myself in a few of the distortions. After looking at it a couple more times, I realized that I could find myself in every item on the list. That\u2019s not uncommon, so don\u2019t feel bad if you\u2019re the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, being able to recognize yourself performing these distortions is really the first step to using them to help ease your anxiety. Become familiar with this list and see if you can\u2019t catch yourself. Remember, these are all twisted ways of thinking \u2013 they\u2019re all inherently untrue. They\u2019re all lies. When you\u2019re able to find the lie in the way you\u2019re thinking about yourself, you\u2019ll be able to reduce the amount of anxiety you\u2019re feeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re feeling anxious and you find the lie about what\u2019s making you anxious, the anxiety will disappear \u2013 you\u2019ll see that it\u2019s just not true.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look again at the person who was scared of getting stung by bees. He made an assumption that going to the garden would automatically result in his getting stung. First of all, it is untrue that going to a garden will automatically get you stung by a bee. Secondly, he never considered his options to protect himself from what he feared. He could have worn a long-sleeved shirt and jeans to minimize his risk. He could have purchased repellent. He could have carried a fly-swatter with him. By finding the lie in this man\u2019s fear, we can see all sorts of other options to carry on with what might have seemed like an otherwise impossible task for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look at the labelling distortion. There\u2019s a real quick distinction to make here. The phrases, \u201cI\u2019m nervous\u201d and \u201cI feel nervous\u201d are wildly different. Absolutely none of us are the physical manifestation of anxiety \u2013 it just doesn\u2019t exist. But every single one of us knows what feeling nervous is. It is a feeling that we experience, separate from ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are lies present in every single one of these distortions. The key to using them to reduce our own anxiety is to look at ourselves honestly. When we recognize that we\u2019re using one of the distortions, we want to examine our thinking and find the lie in it. Finding the lie will show us that the thinking that\u2019s causing our anxiety is simply not true.<\/span><\/p>\n

———<\/p>\n

Jason has suffered from depression and anxiety for over twenty years. He is a regular writer over at www.DailyZen.co.uk<\/a> and can be contacted at: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jason.large.12?fref=nf<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those of us who suffer from anxiety problems know it doesn\u2019t always take very much to trigger our anxiety. We can go from zero to a hundred in nothing flat. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":33447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2162],"tags":[1743,367,4162,4641,51,66,4008,4629],"yoast_head":"\nThe 7 Ways of Thinking That Make Us More Anxious<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to less anxious: Those of us who suffer from anxiety problems know it doesn\u2019t always take very much to trigger our anxiety. 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