Anxiety is part of life.  It is the cost of admission of the human condition.  It is the price of the ticket to go on this ride. Life is hard and wonderful and bumpy and beautiful, and anxiety is just a part of it.   The fact that anxiety is part of life, however, is not the source of...

There are many forms of psychotherapy and many of them are good.  When it comes to anxiety, though, the evidence is now clear: cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment.   In 1993, the American Psychological Association appointed a special team to determine which...

Let’s make sure we are on the same page before continuing onward.  While anxiety is a part of life, it is definitely not the only part.   There is also a joyfulness to existence.  A jubilation in getting to do this.  A grateful exuberance that accompanies the act of living.  Sure,...

Many definitions of anxiety have been offered throughout history.  For our present purpose, it can be defined as a sense of apprehension or dread about something that might happen in the future.   Imagine walking a dark and dangerous jungle path where tigers may lurk in the underbrush....

The terms “anxiety” and “fear” are often used interchangeably.  While closely related, however, the two experiences have different biologies and distinct functions, and are not the same: Anxiety arises when we believe something in the future might threaten us Fear arises when we...

All of us experience it.  Half of us struggle with it.  A quarter of us suffer from one of its disorders.  So why does the feeling called “anxiety” exist in the world in the first place?   To answer this question, we must review one of science’s most important ideas: the theory...

Many of us are anxious about being anxious.  If anxiety gets too strong, we assume, something terrible might happen.  Maybe it will kill us.  Or make us lose control.  Or induce a nervous breakdown.   But there is good news here.  There is no such thing, from a scientific...

Avoidance, avoidance, avoidance.  Most roads in our dilemma lead back to this behavior.  But before avoidance becomes a problem, it starts as an inclination: a strong, ingrained tendency to avoid anxiety.   This avoidant tendency is not a real surprise.  Experiencing anxiety is clearly...

By now, a logical question has likely made an appearance.  If avoiding anxiety is protective, what is so bad about it?  Why is avoidance disruptive if it helps us deal with threats (i.e., avoid anxiety = avoid the tiger)?   Because this ancient function has been short-circuited in the...

Anxiety is a sense of apprehension or dread about things that might happen in the future.  It is the feeling nature provided to help us defend against threats.  Because threats are part of life, anxiety is part of life.   Like all animals, humans have a powerful tendency to avoid...

Imagine arriving at work one morning and a coworker shares a rumor: layoffs may be coming.  Even though this information was received from a single source, we decide that it is valid.  Layoffs could indeed occur in the next few weeks.  Yet we don’t just assume they could occur.  We jump...

The science of anxiety can be complex.  Luckily, there is a model we use in CBT to help us keep our bearings.   Most anxiety problems consist of three components: Feelings:  Research suggests that feelings are anxiety’s core — the part that presidents share with penguins.  There...

A caveman walks an ancient path in the fading light of evening.  His head swivels from side to side, scanning for signs of danger.  His eyes quickly dart from right to left.   Suddenly, something rustles in the ferns beside the pathway.  What was that?  A tiger?  A rival clan member?...

Imagine reading an advertisement on a late-December day: “Participants Wanted — Paid Experiment.”  Finding ourselves tight on cash after holiday shopping, we decide to go sign up.  We are greeted by a researcher when we arrive at the facility, who attaches an electrical device to our...

Most anxiety problems, we have seen, are really avoidance problems — and the thing we are trying to avoid is anxiety itself.  Observing our dilemma from a high level, we do this in two different ways. By not engaging in behaviors that increase anxiety (passive avoidance), and engaging in...

In our last post, we explored the first avoidance-fueling factor: negative reinforcement.  I call the second factor the Anxiety NONO, which stands for the “non-occurrence of negative outcomes.”   The Anxiety NONO has its roots in a happy situation.  Because we overestimate the...

Quitting smoking is tough and people don’t do it for fun.  They quit because smoking has costs.   In the same way, it takes hard work to resolve the problems caused by chronic avoidance.  It is very possible and important.  But it can be hard.   So before we work on resolving...

It is one of life’s great ironies.  We go to tremendous lengths to avoid anxiety.  Yet the things we do to avoid anxiety actually keep us anxious.   Say we measure our average anxiety on a scale from 1 to 10.  Over time, why does anxiety remain at 7 or 8 instead of dropping to 3 or...

Avoidance creates and maintains the symptoms of anxiety disorders.  People with OCD, for example, often check and recheck to ensure a task is complete.  Studies show this checking is an active form of avoidance, with each check followed by brief anxiety reduction (“phew!”).   This...

No one likes feeling anxious.  And no one enjoys worrying for hours on end.  Yet the biggest cost of avoidance is not the way it keeps us anxious or maintains our symptoms.   The biggest cost of avoidance is how it impacts effectiveness.   Many people believe that anxiety affects...

“Courage.”  The word is familiar, but often misused.  Images of gallant knights come to mind, laughing fearlessly as they gallop into battle.   Yet soldiers and first responders know that courage is not the absence of fear.  It is the act doing what needs to be done when we are in...

Recall that an anxious mind is biased toward scanning the world for threats.  Our brain searches for tigers more than fences, flowers, and coffee cups.  Once a threat is identified, two things tend to happen: perseveration and elaboration.   Perseveration involves thinking about...

Imagine playing catch near a swampy body of water.  When the ball inevitably lands in muck, someone has to retrieve it.   There are two ways to handle this task.  We can plod through the swamp in a steadfast manner, grab the ball, and plod back.  Alternatively, we can gingerly walk in...

Managing something and mastering something are two different things.  In the three steps above, we have not been trying to manage anxiety, or directly influence its length, strength, and frequency.  Instead, we have been mastering how we live in the face of it.   At the same time, no...