The anxiety state is one in which we are highly sensitized, so our reactions to experiencing anxious thoughts, symptoms or emotions are exaggerated.
These reactions are intense and feel very real and important. We tend to believe their message that something is seriously wrong with us
We look for answers, focusing on the most serious and worrying possibilities. Of course we do, because we are convinced our state must be the result of something awful and potentially life-threatening.
This is all part of the normal, natural way that anxiety behaves. Rest assured that while the anxiety state causes us serious levels of pain and suffering, and seriously impacts our lives, it is not actually serious, it just FEELS that way.
We know this because very often a few hours or days later, our suffering lifts. Yet nothing significant has changed in our lives. It is just that for whatever reason we perceive the world in a more positive light.
This insight can be very reassuring, but reassurance itself however does not relieve our anxiety for long. If we wish to recover properly, we must develop the ability to stop adding fear about our anxiety state and the accompanying thoughts, symptoms, and emotions.
It is this added fear – the second fear – that keeps the anxiety state fueled and elevated.
If we want the anxiety fire to die down, then we must stop adding fuel to it.
We can do this by practicing an attitude of indifference to our symptoms. We can shrug at them and say: “So what?!” Or we can call them out, and say,: "I don't believe you. I'm not going to pay any attention to you", and then not follow them down the rabbit hole.
It takes time to become really skilled at this, but this is the way to cut off the anxiety at its source, and to recover fully and permanently from the anxiety state.
How to overcome anxious thoughts.
