It's A Trap: A look At The Anxious Cycle

Anxiety can be a vicious cycle, often changing from physical symptoms, thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. The cycle can happen so naturally that people often don’t recognize that it’s even occurring.

Sounds rough, right? For many, this is their day to day cycle and it can be exhausting. I like to think of stress as if it was a Chinese finger trap. Stress is harder to get out of the more you struggle. But don’t you fear. You have control over your own anxiety.

​Hard to imagine when we are in the negative cycle, but we do have power over our anxiety. We have the power to filter out the unnecessary negative thoughts before they become beliefs and behaviors. Similarly, we can reverse back some of the negative effects of prior thoughts (which have already turned into beliefs). 
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​Sounds daunting doesn’t it? I promise that it gets easier with practice. Taking this strategy one step at a time can prove to be very helpful.  We start by observing the thought and allowing other conclusions. For instance, if the thought was “I’m the worst employee” then we can consider alternative results by looking at the evidence.
1) I have only been late once
2) I never got negative feedback from my supervisor
3) I’ve been promoted within the last few years

Looking at the evidence, we can see that the original concern was a cognitive distortion.

Still sound like a lot? That’s okay. This process might feel hard or awkward at first. It’s trying to undo some thoughts that we may have had our whole lifetime. Keep practicing and I’m sure you will get it. If you’re ready to start the process, contact a psychotherapist in your service area. 

Stay well,

Author

Megan Bowling, M.A., LMFT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Southern California.  She has been in the mental health field for more than ten years. Megan's specialties include: anxiety, trauma, life changes, mood, relationships, and school challenges.