Self Talk Question
My anxiety is tipped off by health concerns. If I get a shooting pain in my heart for example all of a sudden I freak out and spiral into a panic. I just watched the intro dvd, and I had a quick question. How do you say, "What if..." and have that calm you down if the question is, "What if I am having an aortic dissection?" Lucinda says "it's not life or death.." But my What If's ARE life or death. My what if's make me MORE scared, so how can I use that as calming self talk? I could see if it was like "What if I fail this test?" Then I could use the tool, but when it comes to my health, any what if's really scare me. Does this make sense?
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Guest
Suzie -
In the case of health "what ifs", you need to take a step back and ask yourself if your thoughts are realistic. You know you have anxiety. You know that anxiety can cause all sorts of bodily reactions that can be uncomfortable. So is it more likely that your pain or whatever symptom you're experiencing is part of your anxiety or some life threatening illness? If you're being honest with yourself, most often the answer is, it's just the anxiety.
I'm assuming (so please forgive me if I'm wrong) like the rest of us, that you've been to the doctor and ER and had every test imaginable done and they have all confirmed you're healthy. If that's the case, then trust that you're OK and that your symptoms are just anxiety. As I was once told by one of my therapists, there is the chance that an airplane could lose power and crash onto your house right now with you inside. But the likelihood of that is so remote and there's nothing you can do about it, so why worry? The same goes for all the health concerns.
That's not to say that if you are having persistent problems you shouldn't see your doctor. Of course if something unusual comes up, its normal to have it checked out. Just be reasonable. Another useful quote to think about is "when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras." In other words, the most reasonable explanation (e.g. anxiety) is probably the most likely.
Be well,
Jamie
In the case of health "what ifs", you need to take a step back and ask yourself if your thoughts are realistic. You know you have anxiety. You know that anxiety can cause all sorts of bodily reactions that can be uncomfortable. So is it more likely that your pain or whatever symptom you're experiencing is part of your anxiety or some life threatening illness? If you're being honest with yourself, most often the answer is, it's just the anxiety.
I'm assuming (so please forgive me if I'm wrong) like the rest of us, that you've been to the doctor and ER and had every test imaginable done and they have all confirmed you're healthy. If that's the case, then trust that you're OK and that your symptoms are just anxiety. As I was once told by one of my therapists, there is the chance that an airplane could lose power and crash onto your house right now with you inside. But the likelihood of that is so remote and there's nothing you can do about it, so why worry? The same goes for all the health concerns.
That's not to say that if you are having persistent problems you shouldn't see your doctor. Of course if something unusual comes up, its normal to have it checked out. Just be reasonable. Another useful quote to think about is "when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras." In other words, the most reasonable explanation (e.g. anxiety) is probably the most likely.
Be well,
Jamie