Anxiety: The Mind's Fake News
These worries, fears, phobias, and panic attacks are your mind lying to you! It’s fake news… your mind is telling you there is something to be fearful, worried about, when it’s not true. Like all fake news, you can ignore it, but it will find a way of creeping back in, and each time it tries to be more and more convincing. It is still lies from your mind.
Think of anxiety as unconscious stress; stress that originates inside your mind. Your mind wants you to avoid anything similar to that unconscious stress so it interrupts your behaviour to prevent that happening.
And not just your behaviour…
Unconscious stress intrudes on your thoughts. Ask anyone who suffers with anxiety and they will tell you how much they think about it. It is rarely far from their thoughts, and while they consciously know that there is nothing to feel anxious about, they cannot control the thought that just maybe there is something to feel unsettled about.
An Over-Estimation of Potential Danger
Evolutionary Psychologists suggest that anxiety is an evolved response to dangers which would have been very beneficial. Think about it…
Prehistoric man is hunting and in the grassy landscape close-by, he spots some movement, just a fleeting glance out of the corner of his eye. In that moment he has a decision to make:
- Ignore it. After all it is probably just the wind moving the long grass.
- Assume it is a predator stalking and ready to strike, so take evasive action.
Whichever one he chooses, let’s assume he is mistaken. The first choice means he is quite likely to be killed or at the very least seriously injured. Taking the second choice and being mistaken means the no harm befalls him. Which is the best choice?
Number two of course… and now he has learned to over-estimate the potential threat because that ensured his survival.
The same behaviour will be passed on through generations because it promoted the survival of all that did the same thing.
What does this tell us? It suggests that we have evolved the tendency to over-estimate the potential threats in our environment. When the threats are physical and life-threatening this makes sense, but the threats we face nowadays are very different. The problem is, we still have an evolved behaviour which means we have a tendency to over-estimate the potential threat.
Even though we know (at least consciously) that there is nothing to be scared of travelling in that lift, or making that important phone call, the claustrophobic or the social phobic is going to disagree. They will find the default thought process is an over-estimation of what the potential threat is and magnify it.
The claustrophobic person will think: “what if the lift breaks down and I can’t get out?” The social phobic person will say: “but what if I say the wrong thing, or stutter or something?”
You could reassure them that those things are very unlikely to happen, but it makes no difference, the anxious person is gripped by the thoughts that something might happen and that threat is more important.
The reality of the situation is pointless… the anxiety wins the day. Like fake news, it has convinced them that there is something to be concerned about regardless of any supportive encouragement.
What does this tell us? It suggests that we have evolved the tendency to over-estimate the potential threats in our environment. When the threats are physical and life-threatening this makes sense, but the threats we face nowadays are very different. The problem is, we still have an evolved behaviour which means we have a tendency to over-estimate the potential threat.
Even though we know (at least consciously) that there is nothing to be scared of travelling in that lift, or making that important phone call, the claustrophobic or the social phobic is going to disagree. They will find the default thought process is an over-estimation of what the potential threat is and magnify it.
The claustrophobic person will think: “what if the lift breaks down and I can’t get out?” The social phobic person will say: “but what if I say the wrong thing, or stutter or something?”
You could reassure them that those things are very unlikely to happen, but it makes no difference, the anxious person is gripped by the thoughts that something might happen and that threat is more important.
The reality of the situation is pointless… the anxiety wins the day. Like fake news, it has convinced them that there is something to be concerned about regardless of any supportive encouragement.
What can be done?
You could focus on attempting to change the thoughts and behaviours which come from the anxiety ‘fake news’. You could challenge thoughts and implement different thoughts to prevent the limitations such thinking has on your day-to-day life. In general this would be the aim of cognitive therapy: changing the way you think to change the way you behave.You could also ask yourself a different question: Where does the anxiety come from? WHY is your unconscious mind making you over-think things in that way? Perhaps you could look at the worry, over-thinking, phobia, depression, anxiety and panic attacks as a symptom of an inner anxiety?
We could work from the principal that your anxiety symptoms are: an outward expression of an inner anxiety. There is something inside your mind that is making you feel and behave the way you are, but it is out of your control to change.
Analytical Hypnotherapy (Hypnoanalysis) has the principle of cause and effect: for every effect (symptom) there has to be an unconscious cause. Rather than controlling the symptoms through the use of techniques or strategies, we work to reveal and resolve the unconscious cause of anxiety. Once that inner stress has been resolved, the anxiety symptoms serve no purpose and the sufferer is free from them permanently.
You can find out more about anxiety and Hypnoanalysis by clicking here. You can also contact me directly to book an initial consultation through my website.
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