Recovery From Anxiety Disorders

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When it comes to really changing the behaviors, thoughts, and feelings we have ‘rehearsed’ for years, the work required can be significant. After all, chances are, if you have an anxiety disorder, you are very ‘good’ at feeling nervous, afraid, and avoiding certain places, things, thoughts, or feelings. Think of all the energy you have used up suffering from your fear. What would happen if you put as much energy into practicing new behaviors?

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ur. uenee !ordan, Already Well, publlshed 8/7/2013
When lL comes Lo really changlng Lhe behavlors, LhoughLs, and feellngs we have 'rehearsed' for years,
Lhe work requlred can be slgnlflcanL. AfLer all, chances are, lf you have an anxleLy dlsorder, you are very
'good' aL feellng nervous, afrald, and avoldlng cerLaln places, Lhlngs, LhoughLs, or feellngs. 1hlnk of all
Lhe energy you have used up sufferlng from your fear. WhaL would happen lf you puL as much energy
lnLo pracLlclng new behavlors? AnxleLy dlsorders are very perslsLenL and can produce Lremendous
sufferlng. AnxleLy ls naLural, deblllLaLlng anxleLy ls noL. ln facL, baslc anxleLy ls necessary. lL ls our
chemlcal preparaLlon for poLenLlal danger. 1he more anxlous we feel, Lhe more we lose our ablllLy Lo
use our human lnLellecL and Lhe more prepared we become Lo proLecL ourselves from llfe-LhreaLenlng
danger, much llke a wlld anlmal. l llke Lo Lhlnk of lL as awareness movlng from Lhe 'fronL' of Lhe braln
(locaLlon of raLlonal, reasonable Lhlnklng), Lo Lhe 'back' of my braln (locaLlon of baslc survlval).
When we llved ln Lhe wlld, a rapld shlfL from lnLellecL Lo 'flghL, flee, or freeze', was absoluLely necessary,
however ln modern socleLy, lL can creaLe a myrlad of problems. We seldom are ln Lruly llfe-LhreaLenlng
slLuaLlons. 1he lnLeresLlng Lhlng ls LhaL panlc ls a reacLlon Lo help !"#$#%& us from dylng, buL lL ls so
uncomforLable lL feels llke we '"# dylng. ln facL, a 'panlc aLLack' lLself can be much more uncomforLable
Lhan Lhe supposed 'danger' and evenLually Lhe panlc aLLack lLself (#)*+#, Lhe danger. 8ecause panlc ls
aL Lhe end of Lhe Survlval SpecLrum, Lhe parL of Lhe braln LhaL can dlscern Lhe dlfference beLween a llfe-
LhreaLenlng slLuaLlon and one LhaL lsn'L, has already been dlsengaged. 1hls ls why loglc can seem so
useless when Lrylng Lo manage a panlc aLLack. lL ls supposed Lo be llke Lhls so we are ln Lhe opLlmal
defenslve sLaLe. ln many ways, Lhey can be compared Lo golng lnLo shock when Lhe body ls badly
ln[ured.
1he message from Lhe body and Lhe braln ls LhaL Lhere ls lmmlnenL, llfe-LhreaLenlng danger. LvenLually,
Lhe braln auLomaLlcally assoclaLes Lhls feellng of Lerror wlLh a 'Lrlgger' or cause ln order Lo avold Lhls
danger ln Lhe fuLure. We belleve Lhe 'cause' of our panlc aLLack ls Lhls 'Lrlgger', when, ln facL, Lhe cause
of our panlc aLLack ls our lack of ablllLy Lo recognlze and regulaLe our feellngs or fear responses. Þanlc
aLLacks do noL come ouL of nowhere. 1hey are aL Lhe end of a progresslve survlval conLlnuum. 1here
can be many conLrlbuLlng facLors, besldes Lhe 'Lrlgger' LhaL can lnLenslfy anxleLy and Lhese are lmporLanL
Lo conslder as well (l.e. faLlgue, hunger, lllness, eLc.).
When looklng aL anxleLy dlsorders lL ls very lmporLanL Lo see how Lhe sLlmulus-reacLlon cycle becomes
progresslvely worse. 1he reason belng LhaL Lhe more anxlous we become, Lhe more we lose our ablllLy
Lo raLlonally manage our feellngs and Lhe more falLh we lose ln our ablllLy Lo do so. A person becomes
afrald of fear lLself and beglns Lo llve ln a progresslvely more lnLenslve basellne anxlous sLaLe, becomlng
more suscepLlble Lo a full-blown panlc aLLack. WlLhouL lnLenLlonally breaklng Lhe cycle, lL frequenLly
happens agaln and Lhe basellne anxleLy goes up even furLher.
LvenLually a person compleLely loses falLh ln hls/her ablllLy Lo respond ln healLhy, manageable ways Lo
general sLress and/or Lhe 'Lrlgger'. S/he naLurally Lrles Lo conLrol Lhe percelved danger (golng ouLslde,
germs, becomlng homosexual, eaLlng cerLaln foods, belng dlrLy and so forLh) and Lhls leads Lo avoldanL
behavlor, obsesslve Lhlnklng, wlLhdrawal and shame. lL becomes a progresslvely vlclous cycle.
Þeople wlLh AnxleLy ulsorders can ofLen Lrace a hlsLory of 'orlglnal anxleLy'. ln oLher words, Lhere ls
frequenLly a slgnlflcanL level of anxleLy s/he learned Lo have ln Lhelr early years LhaL Lhey have carrled
wlLh Lhem. 8emember anxleLy ls a naLural response Lo percelved danger and 'percelved' danger as a
chlld, can be slgnlflcanLly more lnLense Lhan LhaL of an adulL. Chlldren by naLure lack Lhe sklll Lo
adequaLely manage slgnlflcanL sLress and anxleLy and lnLernallze lL. nearly every person l have worked
wlLh who has CCu or oLher anxleLy dlsorders has a hlsLory of basellne nervousness. Agaln, recognlLlon
of basellne anxleLy levels becomes an lmporLanL parL of recovery.
l ask my cllenLs Lo use a raLlng scale for Lhelr anxleLy levels 1 Lhrough 3:
1- WlLhouL boLhersome anxleLy
2- noLlceable anxleLy- Able Lo funcLlon ln usual acLlvlLles
3- AnxleLy ls prevalenL- lnLerferlng ln ablllLy Lo engage ln usual acLlvlLles
4- AnxleLy ls exLremely uncomforLable - noL able Lo funcLlon ln usual acLlvlLles. Consclous fear of
havlng a Þanlc ALLack
3- Þanlc ALLack- Þhyslcal sympLoms (rapld hearLbeaL, shorLness of breaLh, sweaLy palms,
llghLheadedness, Lerror, and so forLh)
1he use of a scale helps Lo conLaln Lhe anxleLy and helps a person Lo vlew hls/her feellngs more
ob[ecLlvely. 1he scale ls used as a reference polnL mulLlple Llmes a day. 1he person beglns Lo recognlze
more subLle flucLuaLlons ln feellngs and pracLlces prescrlbed skllls Lo regulaLe Lhem. 1he person Lhen
beglns Lo bulld back self-LrusL and sees s/he ls capable of experlenclng dlfferenL levels of day Lo day
anxleLy, recognlzlng lL and regulaLlng lL. lL ls essenLlal LhaL Lhe person sees LhaL lL ls a loss of falLh ln Lhelr
own ablllLy Lo respond accordlngly Lo people, places and slLuaLlons LhaL ls Lhe problem. 1hey are afrald
of Lhelr responses, noL of Lhe acLual Lrlgger. We wlre Lhe Lwo Lhlngs LogeLher ln Lhe braln when acLually
Lhey are separaLe.
1he good news ls LhaL recovery ls posslble wlLh compasslon, courage, paLlence and commlLmenL.
8ecovery ls very slmple, buL usually noL easy. lL lnvolves a serles of lndlvlduallzed physlcal and menLal
exerclses Lo re-Leach Lhe braln how Lo respond Lo dlfferenL levels of anxleLy. 1hese exerclses are done
dally and monlLored and supporLed dally. 1he baslc ldea ls LhaL 'ÞracLlce makes Þrogress'. 1he more a
person pracLlces hls/her recovery, Lhe more progress wlll be made. 1he goal ls Lo resLore a person's
ablllLy Lo recognlze and regulaLe hls/her feellngs ln an effecLlve, lovlng way. 1hls recognlLlon and
regulaLlon ls done conslsLenLly wheLher or noL Lhere ls an uncomforLable level of anxleLy. Puman belngs
funcLlon beLLer when we remaln ln (or reLurn Lo) Lhe 'fronL' of our bralns where we are able Lo calmly,
raLlonally, deal wlLh our llves. We are amazlng creaLures wlLh amazlng bralns. We have anxleLy aLLacks
as a perfecLly naLural reacLlon Lo our !#")#!&.*% of lnLense danger and our drlve Lo survlve. We can
learn Lo respond dlfferenLly as a naLural parL of our need Lo LrusL ourselves, feel safe, and evolve.
AnxleLy can be crlppllng, buL lL ls acLually naLure's way of Lrylng Lo proLecL us. WlLh compasslon and
commlLmenL, lL ls enLlrely posslble Lo regaln Lhe ablllLy Lo regulaLe a very naLural response Lo llfe.

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