Key Step on Defeating Anxiety

It's been a while since I've posted here, I would say at least 2 years, but I do get messages and thought it would help to make a new thread about a key stage to cut off the anxiety feedback loop. Although anxiety does show up different with different people, I think this can be at least helpful.

If you think about it, anxiety seems to start with a trigger, that trigger creates a feeling, that feeling leads to anxiety, which causes that feeling to get worse which increases anxiety and so on.

Step 1- Trigger
Step 2- Horrible anxious weird feeling
Step 3- That feeling causes fear
Step 4- Step 2 gets worse
Step 5- Step 3 gets worse

Now, guess which step is key to stopping anxiety?

Obviously Step 1. However there is a catch.

If the trigger is an outside event or situation, cutting this off creates more problems, because then we train the brain that avoidance and retreating is needed for survival. This obviously causes more problems.

If the trigger is internal, well, we may not know exactly what it is, and sometimes we have no idea what the trigger is. When we think it is internal we take medication or we take supplements, but what about when we have no idea and the anxiety just pops up out of nowhere?

Step 2 is the one everyone wants to stop, because without that horrible feeling, we are home free. The problem is finding out how to actually do this and if it was easy, nobody would have anxiety.

THEREFORE, the key stage is Step 3. It appears that Step 3 is the engine to the entire feedback loop. It is Step 3, anxiety of the anxious feelings, that power the entire thing. Really try and understand what I am saying here. The anxiety of the fearful uncomfortable feelings cause that feeling to get worse which causes more anxiety, and since we cannot always stop Step 1 or Step 2, we have some control over Step 3.

When the first stages of anxiety hit, however that anxiety manifests, first thing is don't get anxious about that feeling. Break that chain that Step 3 has on Step 2. That chain is the feeling happens which make you get anxiety about that feeling. Break that chain so all you have is that scary bad feeling, but no reaction to it.

This is not easy to do, but staying calm, breathing slow, calm, deep breaths, and doing your best to not react to that fear happening at Step 2, seems to take the power away. Eventually Step 2 dissolves and things are back to normal. It is getting lost in Step 3 where the anxiety grows.

See it as 2 separate stages- One is the anxious feeling and the other is the anxiety in reaction to that anxious feeling. Try and prevent yourself from having that reaction to that anxious feeling. Of you try this, I think you will see what I mean that it is two things connected that can be broken.

It appears, that the way this works, is that when you can cut off that Step 3 from happening, not to react to Step 2, that Step 2 goes away quicker and happens less over time. It seems that once one can react less to that fear feeling, to eventually have no reaction at all, Step 2 loses more and more power over time, until hopefully, it eventually goes away and doesn't return.

The problem is people train their brain with Step 1, by avoiding certain places or activities, which keeps anxiety alive.

What I am suggesting here, is to focus on Step 3 by not reacting to whatever comes. If you practice this, you will see what I mean, that you break that chain.

The good news is if you are on medication, or not on medication, poor, rich, busy or not busy, or whoever you are, you got nothing to lose by trying this out. When the anxiety hits, focus on simply not getting anxious about the anxiety and see what happens and let us all know how it went.

I can not believe Panic cured is back, Welcome back Panic

I thought you were cured? Just kidding. Glad your back and doing your thing.

Step 3 sounds on the mark for me. Understanding how fear works can help, although is still very my a practice regardless of knowledge. Proactive Vs Reaction. I'm still learning that one in as much having to do more more than think. Breathing, removing myself momentary or even cutting ties (literally letting go) and so on. Graduated exposure in the right context for one's tolerance level can also help. At least that is how I am thinking.

I might go try some of this now whilst out on my walk. When passing other people.

Take care and thanks for the advice. ;)

Thanks for the advice panic. Will try to put some of it to use or at least be a bit more mindful that step 4 and 5 will result if I can't catch it before it gets out of hand. I will say (since your advice is intended to defeat anxiety rather than depression) Its rare that I don't recognize the trigger as being from an outside event, I usually see it coming and I'm getting better at recognizing my triggers and have to avoid them for self preservation, sometimes anxiety comes out of nowhere but its the depression that usually hits me and without an outside trigger.

Thanks again.

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Originally Posted by the_self_of_all_selves

Where is this from, Panic? Claire Weekes?

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I wrote this.

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Originally Posted by salvator here

Thanks for the advice panic. Will try to put some of it to use or at least be a bit more mindful that step 4 and 5 will result if I can't catch it before it gets out of hand. I will say (since your advice is intended to defeat anxiety rather than depression) Its rare that I don't recognize the trigger as being from an outside event, I usually see it coming and I'm getting better at recognizing my triggers and have to avoid them for self preservation, sometimes anxiety comes out of nowhere but its the depression that usually hits me and without an outside trigger.

Thanks again.

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It seems that the key is breaking that chain of first feelings and reaction, where the feelings come, but there is no reaction. If there is no reaction, the cycle breaks. So then the question is, "How to get rid of the anxious/scary/weird feelings?" My guess is by not reacting, over time those feelings fade little by little as they need your reactions for fuel.

Then the question arises, "How to stop the initial triggers that cause those feelings?" This is the part that is the most complicated, because avoiding triggers helps drive the anxiety deeper, since it trains the brain to think that the cause is the situation, not from you, and by avoiding the situations you will be better. But this does nothing to heal the anxiety, only delays it. So the question then is, "What is the fundamental cause of an anxiety disorder in the very first cause?"

I think at this level we are dealing only on a theoretical basis, or totally individualized, that we may not be able to make a blanket statement here. If we were to make a blanket statement here we would know the cause and the cure and nobody would ever have anxiety. Perhaps this is something that can be dealt with in therapy over time, or perhaps there is adrenal exhaustion where it releases adrenaline too easily and one needs to take supplements to treat that, or perhaps it's a subconscious automatic habit that one develops over time, or maybe something else entirely. Whatever it is, it seems the first cause is not simply some bio-chemical defect of the brain ONLY. Some people may be prone to develop anxiety more than others genetically, but that doesn't explain everything. It does seem there is a mind and a brain, and the mind can greatly affect and change the brain.

What I am suggesting here is the possibility that the key to all of this may be to treat what we can control and work on which is Step 3 and then work backwards. At the very least, it can't hurt to give it a try.