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00:00 Intro
03:01 How Anxiety About Anxiety Looks Like
06:02 What’s The Opposite?
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In our culture we have this myth that anxiety is super dangerous for you. That there’s an epidemic of anxiety. That Anxiety itself, the feeling, is a threat, that having that feeling is dangerous, it’s harmful, and that it’s worse than it’s ever been before. This is fueled by cultural messaging that screams - If you’re not happy all the time, something’s wrong with you! (And you should probably buy what we’re selling to fix it!) and it’s also fueled by modern media which profits off of scaring people. Literally.
I googled the anxiety epidemic and got 35 Million results. I mean, there are actually good reasons to have anxiety, if you look you can find that trouble abounds. But as far as actual dangers, we’re safer than ever.
So now instead of having a real threat to face, fight off or escape from, we’re sitting around navel gazing, getting anxiety about our anxiety. We are afraid of our feelings. We feel we must escape from them, or force them to change.
The truth is that yes, more people have disordered anxiety than ever, but the narrative that the feeling of anxiety will harm you is a lot like the idea that cauliflower is a suitable substitute for rice: a straight up lie.. Chronic stress, and chronic anxiety (which is what causes chronic stress) can cause physical illnesses. But, those are treatable, they aren’t inevitable. Feeling anxiety won’t harm you. Your body is wired to feel anxiety. It’s supposed to. You can handle it.
But when we become afraid of our feelings, then suddenly we get stuck in a super unhelpful spiral. We start struggling against them, trying to force ourselves to calm down with “deep breathing or meditation” anything to make the anxiety go away.
But this just makes things worse.
We pile anxiety onto our anxiety.
Anxiety about anxiety looks like
-Fear of losing control
-Anticipatory Anxiety:
-Feeling anxious about your anxious thoughts. Oh no! I’m catastrophizing again! This will ruin everything!
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Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.
And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love [ Ссылка ]
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