511: How to stop being scared of anxiety

Today we’re talking about how to protect yourself from being swept away by the fear of anxiety.

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Notes from the show:

Because anxiety is such an overwhelming and horrible experience, it’s common to feel scared of anxiety flaring up. Anxiety can be very physical of course a strong range of symptoms in the body which many anxiety sufferers come to dread.

How anxiety symptoms can make us scared of anxiety

Some anxiety sufferers become dizzy and feel like they might faint, some have trouble catching their breath, or fear they might choke, and some fear they might lose control, or have a heart attack or even die. Anxiety causes such chaos in the body that your mind develops a strong reaction to it, the mind gets shaken up by anxiety and becomes fearful of its own anxiety, and so we caught in a mental landslide that causes more anxiety and exhausts us.

Talk to someone

Anxiety can make us isolate. Sometimes we feel weak, or that we should be coping better, and we might shut down and feel nervous about talking to others.

Speaking breaks the spell of anxiety. Whether you choose to talk to a trusted friend, or in an online support group, or with an anxiety coach or counsellor, it’s important to have somewhere where you can voice your fears and be heard with respect and preferably talk to someone who can help you learn tools and skills that can calm your anxiety.

Go back to the basics of self-care for anxiety relief

Notice what makes your anxiety feel worse and cut it out

Look out for: Caffeine Violent, scary, or fast-paced entertainment: music, movies, TV, video games. Stress, social pressure, expectations, or confrontations.

Get Curious. Keep a journal and log what you notice adds to your anxiety and see what changes you can make to reduce its presence in your life.

Notice what helps you feel better and increase it Look out for things that help you feel safe and relax.

Things like creative activities, yoga, walking, gardening, cooking, inspiring reading, breathing exercises, guided relaxation.

Keep a journal and log what you notice reduces your anxiety and see what changes you can make to include those things in your day.

Start challenging your anxiety

When you have anxious thoughts — challenge them.

Challenge your thoughts: sometimes we have a physical symptom that can be a symptom of anxiety but it can also come from something else.

A fast heart can come from exercise or climbing up the stairs, but many anxiety sufferers will begin to feel anxious anytime the heart rate becomes fast, or they feel anything close to palpitations even if it is because they've just been exercising.

If you feel a physical sensation that could be from anxiety, ask yourself if you've ever felt it at another time?

Stop and breathe and question your thoughts and try to learn to stop your mind and nervous system from jumping to conclusions.

Learn some techniques to calm anxiety

Anxiety can feel like an immovable mountain when it gets hold of her mind we often feel like we’re at its mercy and there’s nothing we can do to feel better.

This isn’t true.

Proactivity is the key to overcoming anxiety. There are actions you can take that can stop anxiety from escalating, there are practices you can learn that can stop an anxiety attack in its tracks. The challenge is convincing an anxious mind to do something. When you choose to take action and your fears will start to dissolve.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.com Are stress and anxiety interfering with your happiness? Have you been considering seeing a therapist but not sure where to start? BetterHelp will assess your counseling needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist so you can start getting the support you need online, in under 24 hours.
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