Anxiety and phobia – what is it?
Anxiety and its intensification in the form of a phobia lead a person’s attention to an unreal world of fantasy.
In conditions of uncertainty, anxiety habitually “draws” in the imagination various negative scenarios.
Why, in the absence of real danger, does an anxious person assume the worst?
The answer will be paradoxical – in order to better mentally prepare for the most terrible outcome, to foresee all options, to protect yourself.
For instance. A person close to you is delayed. You do not know the reason and what do you think?
– Oh my God! Maybe he had an accident? Maybe in serious condition? Maybe attacked by bandits? Or maybe he’s not alive at all?
You worry more and more, mentally imagining terrible pictures of events.
I would like to ask a question:
– How does it help you?
– Does it help at all?
Clinical studies show that the tendency to rumination only worsens the condition of a person and does not contribute to solving problems.
Rumination is a constant “scrolling” in the head of the same thoughts, a constant “mental chewing gum” that does not lead to solving problems.
A person “gets stuck” in negative thoughts, which he cannot get rid of, more and more “winds” himself. This can lead to serious anxiety disorders.
What to do?
First you need to realize that your fear is the result of your fantasy. It has nothing to do with real events. You don’t know what really happened!
Yes, there is real fear. It manifests itself in really dangerous situations associated with a risk to life.
For example, if you were attacked by bandits and threatened with a knife, then your fear is well founded. Or you are standing on the edge of a cliff and fear warns you against the possibility of falling and killing yourself.
In many other situations, fear and the anxiety associated with it is far-fetched.
How to distinguish a far-fetched fear from a real one?
Reality therapy can help you.
You can find out more information about what is really happening. More real facts.
Then you can be guided by facts, not speculation. You can estimate the likelihood of a negative development of events.
Turn to evidence-based and scientifically proven methods!