When you are faced with constant anxiety, you go through every day with more fear than most people. Your mind approaches each situation with trepidation and in certain circumstances the fear will erupt into a full blown panic attack.
What you may not know is that in each situation, you may be training your brain to expect anxiety.
Expecting Fear
Studies have proven that people prone to panic attacks typically deal with heightened fear most of the time. Scientists have studied the brain and thought patterns of people suffering from chronic anxiety disorder and have seen extreme fear responses to otherwise benign events happen frequently throughout each day.
In any situation, they are filled with more worry than non sufferers. In certain cases, the worry becomes so great that it results in a panic attack.
What scientists found most interesting about their studies is how soon the anxiety appeared in each situation, such as shopping in public or riding a bus.
In most of cases, the patient became overly worried very early in their exposure period. Many began to feel heightened anxiety as soon as they knew the exposure would happen, before they were actually exposed.
In these cases, the patient expected there to be a problem or some kind of danger. They expected the exposure to be difficult for them and they anticipated anxiety in the situation. They expect fear.
Training Your Brain
The problem with expecting fear is that you become your own self-fulfilling prophecy. You expect there to be anxiety and, resultantly, the anxiety appears. This is because you are training your brain to have chronic anxiety symptoms.
Your brain is always looking for more efficient uses of energy. This process is no different when it comes to anxiety and panic attacks. Once your brain realizes that anxiety is the expected emotion, it will begin to deliver it quicker.
Anxiety is very powerful, but it can also creep in silently and take over before you realize it is there. If you have been training your brain to expect fear, the fear will begin to grow before you even know it. Even worse, each time the fear will arrive sooner and sooner until you are eventually non functional in most situations.
Retraining Your Brain to Expect Better
It may be too much to immediately start expecting the best. However, you can start training your brain to expect better. You can teach your mind to expect that you will get through the situation unharmed and the outcome will be at least neutral.
Expecting better is a very good, attainable goal. It does not place undue pressure on yourself, nor will you be disheartened if you have a setback.
It may seem difficult at first, but you are fully capable of achieving this for yourself. Once you are consistently expecting better, then you can begin to expect the best experiences and positive outcomes with less pressure.
There are several ways to retrain your brain and combat chronic anxiety. You can do meditative and reaffirming thought sessions well in advance.
Teaching yourself to address the situation differently, such as emphasizing the positives and noticing the struggles of others, is also an option. Diversion techniques will also help.
There are many other options and you may have to employ several techniques to finally overcome your problem. The Linden Method can teach you the details of these different techniques, empowering you to overcome your problem. You will also learn about the other factors that influence your constant anxiety and panic attacks. The program will help you retrain your mind and body to never expect fear and prevent anxiety.
