Anxiety is like a toddler in a grocery store.
When you’re about ready to pay for your stuff and get on with your life, a toddler will start screaming that it wants candy.
Well anxiety is like that. What does anxiety want you to do? What action is it trying to get you to take?
There’s some real power in asking that question.
Anxiety wants you to stop doing what you’re doing and pay attention to it. Social anxiety wants you to avoid your friends. Agoraphobia wants you to quit your job and never leave your house. Driving anxiety wants you to stop taking the freeway. And Health anxiety wants you to spend your afternoon seeking reassurance from the internet that your headache isn’t a brain tumor.
Ask yourself- what does your anxiety want from you? Pause the video for a minute and write it down. What does your anxiety want from you? The answer is usually that it wants your attention and it wants you to stop doing what matters to you. (That sounds like a toddler to me)
But the problem with anxiety is that when you stop taking the freeway your anxiety gets quiet for a minute. It feels good. Just like that toddler in the grocery store. Or when you google your symptoms for the 6,000th time, you feel that sense or relief for a moment. Or when you avoid that party with your friends…your stress goes away…for a while. But then the next time, your anxiety comes back even stronger. Just like the kid who learned that screaming gets you candy, your brain basically learns “I have to make anxiety really loud to get my human to avoid “dangerous” things like friends and headaches” “I have to avoid stuff to stay safe from anxiety”.
But anxiety isn’t actually dangerous. Your kid doesn’t actually need a candy bar.
Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional for $65/week. Try it now for 10% off: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell
Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapynutshell.com/?utm_medium=YTDescription&utm_source=YouTube
Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell
Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapynutshell.com?utm_medium=YTDescription&utm_source=YouTube
Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books
Check out my podcast, Therapy in a Nutshell: https://tinpodcast.podbean.com/
Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life’s direction.
And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe
If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services.
Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC
—-
Music licensed from www.Bensound.com or Artlist.io
Images from Freepik.com (premium license), Pixabay, or Wikimedia commons
therapy in a nutshellemma mcadammental health
