There are many symptoms associated with panic attacks and other anxiety disorders (shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, etc.). However, one of the scariest and more damaging is the thoughts that initiate and fuel the anxiety and/or fight or flight response. If we are able to control our thoughts, we are able to control, reduce, or stop the intensity of the anxiety felt.
The question most people would ask is “how can I control my thoughts?” Asking this question is often the beginning of the problem. Have you ever really tried to control your thought? Let’s try a little exercise. Think about a dolphin (like Flipper for those of you who remember that show). Now that the thought and/or image of a dolphin is in your head, try to force it out of your thoughts. Try again. Don’t think about a dolphin. It is likely that the more you tried to force yourself to stop thinking about a dolphin, the stronger it got. I can remember walking into a store that had many delicate items when I was a child. My parents told me to make sure I didn’t touch anything. Although I hadn’t previously thought of touching anything, all I could think about was touching something. It was as if I was preoccupied with wanting to touch something. Trying to force my thoughts was actually intensifying the intensity of the emotion and thought.
Thoughts after all, are a natural cerebral process. We cannot stop this process. We can however influence the result of having them. Much like a television commercial tries to influence your consumer behaviour, our mind sometimes tries to influence our emotional behaviour…if we let it. We do not go running to the grocery store to buy chips every time we see a commercial for them (unless we are Homer Simpson). In the same way, we can learn to be entertained by our anxiety producing thoughts instead of giving in to them.
A more effective question to ask would be “how can I detach myself from my thoughts?” It is important to realize that we are not the product of our thoughts. We are bombarded with thoughts every minute of every day. The secret then is to learn how to not give too much attention to a thought that provokes or intensifies anxiety. Learn how to be a passive observer of your thoughts instead of actively fuelling them. We will examine two ways of doing this: redirecting our thoughts and analyzing them.
Redirecting our thoughts: When we begin to recognize a thought that provokes and/or intensifies anxiety, we can learn to redirect our thoughts to something more calming. One way to do this is through Mindfulness meditation practice. When one learns how to meditate mindfully, our thoughts slowly begin shifting to the present moment giving less importance to other fleeting thoughts that have the potential to induce negative emotions. This process happens naturally as one meditates regularly. There have been many studies that have supported the practice of Mindfulness meditation to alleviate anxiety and depression.
Another way to redirect our thoughts is through mental imagery. When our thoughts begin to make us feel a little anxious, we can choose to redirect our thoughts towards other thoughts or memories that have a calming effect on us. Try remembering a past experience that left you feeling calm, peaceful or perhaps another strong emotion like love or happiness. Engaging in the mental recreation of past positive experiences can ignite positive emotions and feelings thus reducing or eliminating the hold that anxiety producing thoughts can have on us. This technique can also be very useful in the preparation for an anxiety provoking situation. If for example having to give a speech in front of your peers is making you nervous, thinking about you last family vacation can help distract you from your anxiety provoking thoughts.
Analyzing our thoughts: When negative thoughts enter our minds, one way to approach them is to analyze them. Try to detach yourself from the thought by putting it under an investigative loop. What provoked that thought? How realistic is it? Have you always felt that way? By trying to analyzing or gather information about the thought in question, you are detaching yourself from its hold and may encounter a few “aha” moments that can reduce the anxiety or panic inducing component of that thought. This is a technique that many children use naturally and we as adults tend to forget: Learning to be curious about anxiety or something we fear. Think about a child always asking why. Why can’t I play with that? Why is it dangerous? Why will I get hurt? Instead of being frightened by a particular thought, try being curious about it.