Anxiety is Not Really the Problem

Surprisingly, if you are struggling with anxiety, or even an anxiety disorder, such as OCD, generalized anxiety, panic, etc., as hard as this is to believe, it’s not really the anxiety that’s the problem. It’s the intolerance of anxiety that’s causing the problems. The fear of anxiety, the desperate efforts to avoid it and all the attempts to vanquish it from your life are likely to cause far more distress than the actual anxiety itself.

As humans, anxiety is always going to be our companion–like a nervous passenger, riding in the back seat, pointing out all the dangers and telling you how to drive. When I’m working with clients troubled by anxiety, my primary goal is not to get rid of or even decrease their anxiety. My goal is to increase their tolerance for anxiety and help them to be less reactive to its rantings.

Anxiety is basically our reaction to a potential threat, a crisis, an urgent problem that must be solved. So then, what happens when anxiety is perceived as a crisis, a threat or an urgent problem that must be solved? We react to anxiety with more anxiety and that’s what causes the escalation and even panic that seems to take on a life of its own.

What we can do to reduce anxiety may seem counter-intuitive, but really works. We can stop trying to get rid of the anxiety, we can stop listening to it and begin to treat it as a neutral event. That doesn’t mean it feels good or even feels neutral or solves the original problem that brought on the anxiety. It just turns anxiety from a crisis into an unpleasant sensation that will run its course. And then, when anxiety is no longer activating another anxiety response, it just naturally becomes less intense.

If you are ready to get support on managing your anxiety, schedule an appointment with me today.