Day 3: How You Accidentally Feed Anxiety

Introduction

• Presenter: Emma from Therapy in a Nutshell
• Topic: How to accidentally feed anxiety and strategies to rewire your brain for reduced anxiety.
• Overview:
  • The brain's role in detecting safety and danger
  • Leveraging brain functions to reduce anxiety
  • Personal anecdotes, including a life-threatening encounter with a herbivore
  • Part of a 30-day online anxiety course

The Brain and Anxiety

Adaptation and Threat Perception

• The brain rewires itself based on thoughts and experiences.
• The default state of the brain and body is safety, allowing relaxation and normal body functions like digestion and connection.
• Example: Walking down a trail and reacting to a sudden scare (realizing it's just a friend and returning to a safe state).

Amygdala's Role

• Amygdala: Brain's fire alarm, perceives threats and triggers fear or anxiety responses.
• Fight-or-flight system: Gets the body ready to face or escape threats.
• Resolution: Body and brain work together to restore a sense of safety after the threat subsides (e.g., laughing off a scare).

Avoidance Behavior and Its Effects

Megan's Story

• Camping in Tetons with teenagers; Megan afraid of bears.
• Megan's Avoidance:
  • Sleeping in a car, avoiding water, clinging to groups
  • Running away from rustling sounds, feeling relief after avoiding
• Brain's Learning: Avoidance teaches the brain that the threat is persistent (brain increases anxiety to ensure avoidance).
• Result: Increased anxiety and decreased confidence.

Facing Fears and Building Confidence

Hike to Amphitheater Lake

• Group hike with precautions in bear territory.
• Megan faced her fear; saw a bear without negative outcomes.
• Result: Megan's perception of rustling sounds changed, felt more relaxed and confident.
• Brain Learning: Facing fears re-categorizes threats, lowering anxiety.

Practical Strategies to Deal with Anxiety

Example: Public Speaking

• Avoidance leads to increased anxiety and decreased confidence.
• Gradual Exposure:
  • Practice at home, with close ones, then at work in small settings.
  • Each successful experience reduces anxiety and increases confidence.

Learning from Real Danger

• Confidence increases when managing real threats correctly.
• Example: Nearly getting killed by a moose and learning to avoid real danger more effectively.
• Key: Choice and action in dealing with real danger.

Breaking the Anxiety Cycle

Internal Safety Through Confidence

• Key to breaking the anxiety cycle: Re-evaluate threats and take actions that build confidence.
• Facing fears is essential to reduce anxiety.
• Avoidance maintains the anxiety cycle by immobilizing and building up anxiety.

Upcoming Content

• Exploration of avoidance and its effects on anxiety.
• Antidote to avoidance in upcoming lessons.
• Goals:
  • Relate to anxiety differently
  • Break the anxiety cycle
  • Safely face fears to grow confidence and reduce anxiety

Additional Resources and Outro

• Full course, exercises, workbooks, and Q&A sessions available on therapyinanutshell.com
• Next videos: More on avoidance and strategies to counteract it.
• Thanks for watching.