Generalizations
Generalizing is a way of trying to make it seems as though everything happens all the time to everyone, everywhere. Statements about generalizations regarding time (this always happens) to generalizations about people (everyone is like that) damage our compassionate perception about ourselves and others. Thinking this way when we are living with anxiety also creates more difficult thoughts for ourselves regarding our anxiety. Instead of thinking about our present moment and present circumstances, we are carried far away to other times and places.
Impossibilities
We wish we could just will our anxiety away when it starts. Anxiety can be difficult to live with when it creates intrusive thought processes and obsessions which are not welcome. Treatment and therapy gives us the many tools we need to process anxiety and manage anxiety in healthy ways. Though our many tools and tips help us reduce the symptoms of anxiety, they do not make anxiety go away. There is no cure for anxiety, so we cannot control whether or not our anxiety exists. We can, however, control how we relate to our anxiety, to ourselves when we are anxious, and to the way we want to manage our anxiety when it comes up.
Insecurities
Insecurity is a common experience in anxiety, especially for people who are experiencing social anxiety. Sometimes our insecurity can border paranoia when we start thinking about others and their perception of us. We become insecure about the way we are acting because of our anxiety. We even become insecure about having anxiety at all. Shame and stigma make us think that having a mental illness like anxiety makes us different from others in a bad way.
Comparisons
Insecurities are also grounded in comparison. The only reason we feel insecure about our anxiety is because we are comparing ourselves and our experience with anxiety to others. When we don’t compare, we have no reason to feel insecure because we are confident in ourselves, especially because we live managing a mental illness.
Uncertainties
Nothing can make anxiety worse like uncertainty. Fear building on top of fear is what drives anxiety for most people. We try to create something we can hold onto in a future which is mostly out of our control. Rather than get hung up on uncertainties, we have to practice living in the present moment and finding what we can be certain of right here, right now.
There’s one thing you can be certain of: you can recover from anxiety. Our residential programs at Cypress Lake Recovery are crafted with a delicate balance of life-enriching therapy and wellness. Striving to help restore confidence while rejuvenating mind, body, and spirit, our programs for dual diagnosis are designed to heal. For information, call us today: tel: 866-217-2636
