Whether you have an anxiety disorder or are struggling with panic attacks, there are thinking patterns that serve to increase and maintain suffering.

Here are three. Do you engage in any of these?:

1.) Personalization:

This type Cialis of thinking involves taking people’s responses personally. Although people’s responses can feel personal, they never really are. Personalizing tends to block this reality.

For example, a neighbor is not interested in talking to you. When personalizing, we take offense and tell ourselves a story about how we are not worthy or, conversely, how horrible this person is. Meanwhile, the reality is neither. This individual might have just received terrible news an hour ago. Or they are not feeling well. Or they hate their job which Brand Levitra is causing them stress. Or . . . There are a multitude of possibilities. Their “disinterest” has nothing to do with you.

And it goes without saying (but I’ll go ahead and say it anyway) that how a neighbor or anyone else responds to you has nothing to do with your worthiness as a human being.

Yet, when anxious, everything can feel personal.

2.) Catastrophizing:

You’re catastrophizing when you create an emergency out of a small, very non-lethal situation. We all can do this from time to time, but for those struggling with anxiety it is even more frequent. One example of anxiety-based catastrophizing is, “I’m having an anxious feeling. This is the worst day ever!”

3.) Overgeneralization:

This type of anxiety thinking occurs when you take one event gel viagra and crown it the defining moment. For example, you mispronounce one word during a speech and determine you are “inarticulate”. Or you have a fear and label yourself “unable to handle anything”.

These patterns of thinking are a strong area of focus during anxiety treatment for a couple of reasons. One, because they continue to encourage anxiety. Two, because they’re false and require correct treatment to empower one to focus on reality and drop illusion. In order to reduce symptoms of an anxiety disorder, one must change the style of thinking that helped create it. This is the “cognitive” part of anxiety treatment in CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) – the only proven form of treatment for anxiety disorders.

As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of a great quote by Shakespeare. Here it is: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”. It’s all about perspective. Unfortunately, we are a society that frames just about everything in “good” or “bad” terms rather than working with the present moment without judgment.

The above and other long-practiced thinking patterns are not easy to change alone. To correct these cognitive errors, one needs to learn and practice specific strategies and tools.

Author Bio: Dr. Craig April can be seen on A&E’s hit TV series OBSESSED. He is the Director of The April Center For Anxiety Attack Management – Los Angeles. Take a look at his website at www.KickFear.com or follow this link to view a key anxiety treatment strategy

Category: Health/Diseases and Conditions
Keywords: anxiety, anxiety disorder, panic attacks, CBT, anxiety treatment