Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety and depression are probably two of the most common mental health issues. One report said 40 million Americans suffer from it at any one time. These two things can go together and often feed off each other. But today I want to focus on anxiety. Most people will deal with some form of worry, fear, dread or feel overwhelmed at some time in their life. Some people’s personality is more wired to be a worrier or anxious. Some people have absorbed anxiety from the environment they grew up in. Some have been the victim of trauma and anxiety is a symptom of that. Many are so stressed out from modern living that it has made them anxious.

The Role of the Brain in Anxiety

We do have a part of our brain, the amygdala, which triggers our nervous system into flight or fight mode upon sensing danger coming our way. This will trigger anxiety as our body starts pumping out adrenaline and cortisol. Some people are blessed with a very laid back personality and it takes a lot to get them anxious. Some people have a personality that gives anxiety to others. However, never think you are beyond suffering from anxiety or panic attacks. Given the right time and circumstances anyone can find themselves struggling with anxiety. I have seen many clients who have said, “Anxiety has never been a problem for me,” or “I never thought I would be dealing with this problem.”

Taking Control: The Power of Thoughts

All this being said, we are not defenseless when it comes to dealing with anxiety. There are many modes of treatment for anxiety. Nothing works for everyone but hopefully something can work for you. Today I want to focus on one tool that is the easiest to use – your brain; your thoughts or self-talk. We are always talking to ourselves; what are you saying to you? This self-talk originates early in our life. It is programmed by our key attachment bases, our environment, our culture and the experiences that happen to us in life. More specifically it is our interpretation of these events that determine our core schema (how we think and feel about ourselves on both a conscious and unconscious level).

How Thoughts Create Emotions

To keep it simple, most of our emotions come from our thoughts. If you are feeling something you are thinking something. Anxiety is an emotion that is surrounded by thoughts of fear, stress, being overwhelmed and unsure of the future and the unknown. It is also accompanied by negative thoughts about ourselves and projections of worst case scenarios. There are other things that can produce anxiety but I want to focus on this one big thing, the thoughts of our brain. Because this is one thing we can control. No matter how long we have thought a certain way, we can change our thoughts.

The Brain Can Change: Neuroplasticity

We can identify anxious, negative and fearful thoughts. Many, if not most of these thoughts are untrue or certainly unhelpful to our life. These thoughts can be changed and eliminated. They can be replaced with healthier and more positive thoughts and change our emotions. I know this because this is how God made the human brain, we call it neuroplasticity. Anything new our brain learns changes it. It creates new neurons and neural pathways. We just have to be intentional to practice implanting the reframed thinking. It takes work but it is one of the most simple things we can do. We call this Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; there is empirical evidence it works. We already know it works in the negative sense, thus our anxiety. So it is logical to assume it will work in the positive sense.

Change Takes Effort

If this is so easy why don’t more people do it and be anxiety free? I didn’t say it was easy, I said it was a simple process. But like any life change or learning of a new skill it takes work. Change is hard because most people will still do what they know and be comfortable, even if it doesn’t work or help them. Step one is the decision to change. This usually requires some type of motivational crisis. As someone has said, “You have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Once you are ready to start the hard work of change you need to know what to change and how.

A Transforming Thought

I want to give you one of the most powerful, positive and true thoughts to reprogram your mind with. If you truly internalize this thought at your soul level (your mind, emotions and will) it will transform how you see yourself and life. It will eliminate negative thinking and anxiety. It will be your own super power. Here is the thought:

God created you to bless you.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply… Gen. 1, 27-28.

Why God Wants to Bless You

Why did God bless you? Because he loves you, he is for you, he desires the best for you and through you he wants to bless others. Most people I know believe in some concept of God. They may have many different ideas of what this God is like. But I am here to tell you that God wants to bless your life. I know this is a messed up world in which many evil and unjust things happen. But I am telling you that God’s original plan was to bless people and it still is.

The Blessing and Our Free Will

We were created in the image of God. Part of the meaning of this image is that we have free will. God’s desire is to bless us but the blessing was conditional. The blessing was conditional on us believing what God said and acting on it. One of several aspects of this blessing was eternal life. God said should we choose to not believe and disobey him, the consequences would be a curse (death) rather than blessing. The choice was up to us. We know how this story turned out. Today humanity and all of creation abides under the curse. Without going into a long bible study we just need to know that God is in a process of restoring the blessing to his creation and to all who want it now.

Your 5-Step Prescription to Reprogram Anxiety

So this is how you reprogram your thinking.

1. Identify any thoughts that make you feel negative or anxious about yourself or life in general.
2. Repeat these thoughts to yourself:
   ● God created me to bless me.
   ● God loves me and is for me.
   ● God will protect and provide for me.
   ● God has a plan for me.
   ● God wants to bless me so I can be a blessing to others.
3. Keep repeating these thoughts until the old negative thoughts leave and the anxiety lifts.
4. Practice saying out loud to yourself these new thoughts each morning and evening for the next 90 days.
5. This week look for a simple way to bless others.

Follow this prescription for the next 90 days and let me know how your anxiety is doing.