The Dirty Trick Your Anxious Brain Plays on You

The anxious brain conflates possibility with probability, confusing feared outcomes with likely ones. It assumes all the bad things it can envision happening very well may (or definitely will) happen. Rarely is this an accurate assessment of reality—and rarely is this an accurate forecast.

How to Stop the Anxious Brain's Faulty Forecasts

1. Recognize. Start by identifying when you're in a state of anxiety. Look for the physical signs: shallow breathing, clammy or sweaty hands, racing thoughts and difficulty concentrating, elevated heart rate or blood pressure, muscle tension, and feeling a heightened sense of threat.
2. Assess. Next, interrogate the worst-case scenarios running through your brain. Ask, how likely, on a scale of one to five–with one extremely unlikely and five extremely likely–is this feared outcome to happen?
3. Prepare. For many people, it also helps to envision the worst-case scenario and, despite its low likelihood, brainstorm how to best prepare for it. Preparatory steps like these can help you feel more confident in being able to handle feared outcomes—which helps reduce anxiety even further.
4. Visualize success. Imagine yourself succeeding in its face the next time you're plagued by fear of an unwanted outcome.
5. Remember past victories. Remember past situations where you were convinced you couldn't handle something, but you did—despite your anxiety.

Read the complete article available at Psychology Today!

Reflection:

How do you cope with your anxious thoughts?

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