Two Techniques For Reducing Anxiety

Here are two techniques for dealing with anxiety, which I’ve been putting into practice in my own life and have had some success with.  Like most (all) anxiety techniques, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.

Technique #1: This technique is based on the idea that anxiety is present when there is a possible danger in the environment, in order to make sure you are paying attention to the danger and doing everything in your power to prevent the danger from affecting you.  If you can “satisfy” the anxiety by attending to the danger, taking appropriate measures to deal with it, and being convinced that you have done all you can do, the anxiety will no longer need to be there and can be reduced.

1. Name the danger. Often we have a feeling of anxiety without explicitly thinking about what we are anxious about.  So the first step is to get specific about what we’re worried about — what is the possible danger?  Sometimes there will be several dangers at the same time, in which case you should pick one to focus on first, and then repeat these steps with the remaining ones.
2. Figure out what you can and should do about the danger. The next step is to form a plan — what should you do about the danger?  Sometimes the answer is “nothing”, which is okay.  You may not know specifics about all that will have to be done, which is also okay — you just need an overall plan and next steps.
3. Decide to implement your plan. This step simply involves deciding that you will carry out your plan.
4. Write down any future actions you’ll need to remember. This can be in a “to do” list on paper or in a computer or your cell phone, etc.  The important thing is that you no longer need to rely on anxiety to remind you.
5. Determine whether continued anxiety is helpful. Anxiety does serve a very useful purpose in some cases.  In particular, it prepares your body to deal with short-term threats by increasing your heart rate, releasing adrenaline, etc.  If you are in a situation where you may need to respond to a short-term threat, such as someone following you at night, then it makes sense to keep the anxiety turned on.  However, in many other cases the threat is longer-term or of such a nature that increased heart rate, etc. is unhelpful.  Ask yourself, “Does having a fast heartbeat and sweaty palms and feeling terrible help me handle this situation?”
6. If further anxiety is not helpful, imagine thanking and dismissing the anxiety. You can thank the anxiety for bringing this potential danger to your attention, and let it know that it’s services are no longer required.  It has provided a useful function, but staying longer is not necessary since you’re handling the situation and doing all that you can do.  If there is nothing that can be done, you’re still doing all that is possible, and so anxiety is still no longer needed.

Technique #2. This technique uses the idea that sadness, in contrast with anxiety, is about negative things that have already happened or which you can do nothing about, whereas anxiety is about something that hasn’t yet happened and which you might be able to avoid.  In a sense, sadness and anxiety may be incompatible emotions.  Of course, things get complicated and depression and anxiety can very much co-exist, but there still may be a sense in which a type of sadness is incompatible with anxiety.  The idea here, then, is to imagine that the worst has already happened and evoke sadness, which may cause the anxiety to dissipate.  [As a side note, I personally have found that sadness often isn't nearly as unpleasant as anxiety, and in fact sometimes doesn't seem unpleasant at all, ironically.]

1. Name the danger. Same as above — get explicit about the possible danger.
2. Figure out what the worst-case scenario is. Try to imagine the worst possible outcome, even if that scenario is unlikely.  Don’t hold back — think of all of the negative consequences of this worst case.
3. Imagine that the worst-case scenario has already happened. Try to vividly imagine that the worst has happened.  The more details and negative consequences, the better.  Imagine that there is no more time to fear the worst — it has already happened.
4. Think about how much it sucks that this has happened. Think about how awesome it would have been if things had gone differently, and how everything is ruined now that this has happened, exaggerating the negative outcome if possible.  If you can work up some tears, so much the better.  The worst has happened, now you’re going to have to live with it.  Imagine this for a few minutes, and see if the sadness lessens the anxiety.