Common Traps That Keep Your Thoughts Anxious
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions in the world for a reason. It’s cyclical. It often fuels upon itself, making you feel trapped and overwhelmed more often than not.
When you’re dealing with anxious thoughts, it can be extremely difficult to escape them. You start questioning the “what if” scenarios of everything and think more about the unknown than the realities and certainties surrounding you.
Sound familiar?
If so, you’re certainly not alone. But it’s important to understand some of the common traps that keep your thoughts anxious. When you’re able to recognize those traps, you can take more active steps to free yourself from them. So, let’s take a closer look.
All-or-Nothing Thinking
Life isn’t always black and white. Most situations have a lot of gray areas, and that can be a good thing. It requires you to think things through so you can make the best decisions for yourself and the people you care about.
But, it’s a common anxiety trap to ignore that gray area and fall into the idea of an all-or-nothing mindset. This occurs when you see things in extremes, one way or another. This kind of thinking also leads to overgeneralizing, where you’ll make broad assumptions about something rather than looking at the finer details. Both are problematic when it comes to fueling anxiety.
Ignoring the Positives
Do you find yourself with feelings of doom and gloom more often than not? While it can be hard to find the silver lining in some situations, there are usually positive elements that shouldn’t be overlooked.
If you choose to ignore or explain away those positives, you’re going to be trapped in a state of anxiety. Gratitude is often the enemy of anxious thoughts. By working to find at least a single plus side to a negative situation, you can keep anxiety from completely taking over, and you can shift your mindset from a state of doom.
Personalization
As the old saying goes, you are your own worst enemy.
That’s especially true for people dealing with anxiety. It’s a common thought trap to blame yourself for things that are simply beyond your control. This includes blaming yourself for things you think you should or shouldn’t have done, even if the result had nothing to do with you.
Personalization also tends to make you think your emotions are indicators of the truth.
Everyone has the right to feel their feelings. But anxiety tends to twist reality and turn it into something scary. You can feel anxious, overwhelmed, and nervous, but that doesn’t mean your emotions make a situation real. You have to focus on the things you can control and be willing to let go of the things you don’t have a direct impact on.
You also can’t make assumptions and assume they are true. For example, it’s not uncommon for a person with anxiety to assume people think negatively of them or are saying harmful things behind their backs. Unless you have proof, that kind of assumption will fuel your anxiety and make it difficult to break free because you’ll never be able to find any kind of closure.
Overcoming Thought Traps
Anxiety can paralyze you with how powerful and cyclical it is. But you don’t have to let it control your life.
One of the best things you can do to fight back against these thought traps is to reach out to a mental health professional. Therapy will help you better understand where your anxiety stems from. You’ll also learn effective, healthy strategies for managing your symptoms and challenging negative thoughts.
If you’re tired of feeling trapped by your anxious thoughts, please contact me to set up a consultation to learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
