Oh, the Big ‘A’ - would be fabulous if the Big ‘A’ was Awesome, but we are talking about ANXIETY !
So many of us feel it – Australian statistics reveal that over 20 % of our population suffer from anxiety and related conditions – yes more than 5 million people like you, or someone you know, can relate to what we are about to discuss. Well, if so many of us suffer from anxiety, what is it?
Interesting question… Doctors, Psychiatrists, Psychologists & other health and life experts have tried to define anxiety – here’s what I know after 35 professional years:
- Anxiety is FELT, it is a bodily experience which can range from uncomfortable to downright terrifying ( eg panic attack)
- It is a group of sensations that affect many parts of our body eg heart, blood pressure, muscle tension, digestion, hormone levels etc
- It makes us feel ‘Out of Control’
- People suffering anxiety develop ( a term I have created) Predictive Pressure – this means that we train ourselves to anticipate the problems associated with anxiety, before the ‘anxiety provoking ‘ situation is present.
- By the process of imagining that a future event is going to cause us anxiety we TRAIN ourselves to expect it.
- Now we have both a thinking and a feeling problem which results in a doing problem….
A familiar examples occur with ‘Social Anxiety’ or Speaking Anxiety” where the person anticipates the situation as fearful in some way and the IMAGINES the situation playing out with a negative outcome.
In plain language we get anxious BEFORE the event.
Now hold on – does that make sense ?
How can something that has not happened, is not real in time and therefore , has not impacted on us in any way – cause us to be anxious?
Great questions – in fact these questions are the KEY to reversing existing anxiety and preventing or minimizing future anxiety.
Congratulations… today we have started with increasing AWARENESS and asking good QUESTIONS.
There is a wise saying – “To get a better answer- ask a better question”.
So, here’s your ‘homework’ – should you choose to participate :
1. Write down at least one situation ( work/home/social etc.) where you have regularly felt anxiety and...
2. Explore your mind and fossick out the thought that you had about that situation …
(eg. I’ll look silly speaking in front of my teammates, I don’t know how to meet new people etc. )
3. Now ask yourself a very Important Question :
- Do I know this for 100 % sure or is there any possibility at all ( even 1%) that it may not be true?
