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How To Conquer Anxiety Attacks Using Biased Thinking By: Wendy Brausch
These are mental and emotional processes which intensify and become distorted as fear levels increase. Anxiety-related problems tend to be associated with the overestimation of danger coupled with an underestimation of coping resources. For example, overestimating the dangers of driving and underestimating one's driving skill would be consistent with a fear of driving; overestimating the likelihood of failing an examination and underestimating one's intellectual ability would give rise to performance fears.
This unbalanced view is unnerving and can further increase distress which, in turn, can enhance psychological distortion or bias so that the reality of the situation and one's ability to cope recedes further. Imagine that you are running late for an appointment and you can't immediately spot your car keys on the kitchen table. If you weren't under pressure, you would simply scan the room in case you had put them somewhere else; and if you did not see them, you would begin to think of all the other places where you might have left them.
In a state of stress, the importance of the meeting increases: "This is the one meeting this week that I can't afford to miss!" (overestimating the danger) and the expectation of finding your keys diminishes: "I'll never find them in time!" (underestimating ability to cope).
You become more anxious and your mind goes blank. You can't think where they might be. You begin to predict that you will miss the appointment and your position in the firm will be at risk. The worry makes you careless as you pick up bowls and cushions at random, unable to organize your search. Your tension levels rise further and all you can think about are the disastrous consequences of missing this now very important meeting. You are so focused on your escalating fears that you miss the obvious - your partner points out that the keys are in your pocket.
In this example, it is clear that an anxious mind can be a distorting mind, biased towards the negative with thoughts such as: "I'll never find them!" Such biased thinking is a common response to stress.
Re-read the article and consider how many situations you respond to in a similar manner that are currently causing your anxiety attacks.
The mood changes that are sometimes associated with stress and anxiety can impair one's ability to cope with the stress and anxiety, creating a vicious circle. The experience of constant anxiety attacks can be demoralizing and promote a hopelessness and misery which then undermine coping. It is therefore important to learn how to catch problem worry, fear and anxiety as early as possible.
Irritability, which is often linked with stress, can also fuel anxiety attacks because this mood state can easily impair performance or social functioning and thus promote worries about failure.
Experiencing anxiety and panic attack symptoms can be like a never ending cycle - so often a perfectly healthy response to stress develops into anxiety and panic attacks, so you get caught up in the cycle. The first step in breaking this cycle is to identify the various cycles that cause the attacks, and then learn how to deal with and conquer them.
This unbalanced view is unnerving and can further increase distress which, in turn, can enhance psychological distortion or bias so that the reality of the situation and one's ability to cope recedes further. Imagine that you are running late for an appointment and you can't immediately spot your car keys on the kitchen table. If you weren't under pressure, you would simply scan the room in case you had put them somewhere else; and if you did not see them, you would begin to think of all the other places where you might have left them.
In a state of stress, the importance of the meeting increases: "This is the one meeting this week that I can't afford to miss!" (overestimating the danger) and the expectation of finding your keys diminishes: "I'll never find them in time!" (underestimating ability to cope).
You become more anxious and your mind goes blank. You can't think where they might be. You begin to predict that you will miss the appointment and your position in the firm will be at risk. The worry makes you careless as you pick up bowls and cushions at random, unable to organize your search. Your tension levels rise further and all you can think about are the disastrous consequences of missing this now very important meeting. You are so focused on your escalating fears that you miss the obvious - your partner points out that the keys are in your pocket.
In this example, it is clear that an anxious mind can be a distorting mind, biased towards the negative with thoughts such as: "I'll never find them!" Such biased thinking is a common response to stress.
Re-read the article and consider how many situations you respond to in a similar manner that are currently causing your anxiety attacks.
The mood changes that are sometimes associated with stress and anxiety can impair one's ability to cope with the stress and anxiety, creating a vicious circle. The experience of constant anxiety attacks can be demoralizing and promote a hopelessness and misery which then undermine coping. It is therefore important to learn how to catch problem worry, fear and anxiety as early as possible.
Irritability, which is often linked with stress, can also fuel anxiety attacks because this mood state can easily impair performance or social functioning and thus promote worries about failure.
Experiencing anxiety and panic attack symptoms can be like a never ending cycle - so often a perfectly healthy response to stress develops into anxiety and panic attacks, so you get caught up in the cycle. The first step in breaking this cycle is to identify the various cycles that cause the attacks, and then learn how to deal with and conquer them.
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