Is Trying to Control Your Anxiety Making It Worse?
It sounds counterintuitive, but for many people, the harder they try to push anxious thoughts away, the more persistent those thoughts become. If you have ever told yourself to stop worrying, only to find the worry intensifying moments later, you will recognise this pattern. Understanding why this happens, and what to do instead, can be a turning point in how you relate to anxiety.
At Oak Grove Psychology, our experienced psychologists offer tailored anxiety therapy for individuals across the UK, delivered via secure video call.
How Anxiety Can Interfere
Anxiety is the mind's attempt to keep you safe. It flags potential threats, prompts caution, and prepares the body to respond. In short bursts, this is useful. The difficulty arises when the threat-detection system becomes overactive, generating a constant stream of worry about situations that may never occur. At that point, anxiety stops being protective and starts getting in the way of everyday life.
The Problem with Avoidance
A natural response to anxiety is to avoid the things that trigger it. Declining social invitations, putting off difficult conversations, or steering clear of certain situations can all bring short-term relief. But avoidance tends to reinforce anxiety over time. Each time we sidestep something that feels threatening, we send a message to the brain that the threat was real and worth avoiding, which makes the anxiety around it grow stronger.
A Different Approach to Anxiety
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a different way of working with anxiety, one that focuses not on eliminating anxious thoughts but on changing your relationship with them. Rather than treating anxiety as something to be defeated, ACT encourages you to observe thoughts with a degree of distance, recognise that a thought is not the same as a fact, and make choices based on your values rather than your fears.
This approach helps to reduce the grip that anxiety has on your behaviour, so that even when worried thoughts arise, they are less likely to dictate what you do or do not do.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Reading
Whether you are dealing with persistent worry, panic, or social anxiety, we can help you find a more workable way forward. To arrange your initial consultation, speak to our team today on 07359 577510, or email us at drannanorris@oakgrovepsychology.co.uk.