Challenging Anxiety

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) approximately 6.8 million adults about 3.1 percent of people 18 and older experience Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).  People with generalized anxiety are plagued with a constant state of worry and fear that can have an impact on the way they feel and behave, which can interfere with work, school, relationships, and social activities. In addition there may be serious physical implications.

The feeling of anxiety is fueled by negative, irrational or distorted thoughts. Challenging anxiety proves a way to test the truth of the negative and irrational beliefs. Questioning the reality of the anxiety promotes peace of mind. For example, my friend is mad at me that is why she hasn’t called. This thought she be challenged with, she probably is really busy know no point in jumping to conclusions (distortion). We are close if I said something wrong she would probably call.

Another example would be a client who had an argument with her neighbor and the neighbor called DSS as revenge. The client thought the case was closed. She moved to a new city and received a message from DSS stating they wanted to talk to her. I could tell she was anxious and near tears.  We first identified her anxious or fearful thought as: DSS is going to take my children away from me.

We challenged the anxiety by reviewing the following questions.

·         Do you physically abuse your children? No

·         Are your children clean and well groomed? Yes

·         Do your children attend school on regular bases? Yes

·         Is your home free and clear of organisms that may cause disease? Yes

·         Do you or anyone in your house sexually abuse your children? No

By answering these questions my client was able to see that her fear of DSS taking away her children was irrational because they had no grounds for removing the children from the home.  She was able to regain her composure and contact DSS to find out they just wanted a final interview to close the case.

An additional example would be fear of taking a test: The fearful or anxious thought is I am going to fail.

Challenge anxiety:

·         I have overcome harder tasks before

·         I am a quick learner

·         I have friends who are willing to study with me

·         I am willing to dedicate the time it takes.’

Challenge Anxiety

My anxious or fearful thought is::

Challenge it

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Challenge it