Anxiety: Change the Context, Not the Content

Tweet from @CombatCounselor:

"You cannot make #anxiety go away. You can change your relationship to it and #embrace, rather than #avoid it.#StayPresent, #BeResilient"

http://twitter.com/CombatCounselor/status/141986877350752257

What I mean is that if you TRY to eliminate anxiety by avoiding it, it only makes things worse. By avoiding, it may be very rewarding in the short-term, but you don't learn that anxiety naturally goes away on its own. This process is called HABITUATION.

If you fear anxiety, you'll avoid it and make it your enemy. If you change the way you relate to it, embracing anxiety instead, you can experience it on your terms, making it less threatening.

Changing the CONTEXT, the way you perceive anxious thoughts, sensations, and memories, rather then trying to change the CONTENT (e.g. positive thinking), allows you to control the situation. Because you can't control anxiety, control.the way you react to it.

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