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In the last lesson, I showed you how your thoughts are driving your emotions. And if you can simply improve your thinking you will improve how you feel.

I showed you how your mind (like the mind of many others) can easily, naturally DISTORT reality and trick you into thinking un-necessary thoughts that can easily trigger anxiety and panic attacks.

Fortunately, I showed you how Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help you resolve these distortions by substituting healthier, more realistic thoughts that make you feel better.

Today, we’ll take it one step further with an example.

We’ll look at a question submitted by a subscriber and apply CBT to some of the anxiety producing thoughts.

This person’s true identity is held in confidence, but for the purpose of a learning example, let’s refer to this individual as John.

Question: “My fear is whether I’m having a panic attack or just going mad. I feel as if there is no way out of this fear. I could be driving home and I get a feeling over me and I get very scared.”

I have not been told by docs that I suffer panic attacks but had blood tests and all come back fine. What tests are there for panic attacks anxiety? Will I ever get my life back to normal?”

Okay.

John knows his blood tests are normal according to doctors, but wants to know if there’s a specific test for anxiety.

I assume the doctors would have also done a physical exam. So the first thing I need to stress is that it’s re-assuring to know blood tests are normal.

Now John would proceed to a psychologist who can diagnose the panic attacks and anxiety. He/she will do an assessment as part of his/her process and can then make the diagnosis. That would be the test for panic attacks / anxiety.

Next, we’re going to use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to analyze the thoughts behind the statement to locate the cognitive distortions and then substitute healthier thoughts that can make us feel better.

The key points of the statement are:

“I feel as if there is no way out of this fear. I could be driving home and I get a feeling over me and I get very scared.”

NOTE: I recommend for you to review the list of Cognitive Distortions by clicking here and then try to locate what possible distortions might be present in John’s thinking before continuing this lesson. Don’t worry these will open in a new window while this page remains open too.

Hint: There is more than one distortion present. Once you’ve done this, write them down or type them out and then come back to this spot.

If you guessed that the following four distortions are present then you’re right:
1. All-or-nothing thinking,
2. Overgeneralization,
3. Emotional reasoning,
4. Making should statements.

Let’s look specifically at how each distortion is actually present in this statement and then we will look at some alternative more realistic thoughts.

1. All-or-nothing thinking – By stating that there is no way out of the fear (or feeling this way) John is making an absolute statement :“ which is exactly what All-or-nothing thinking refers to.

2. Overgeneralization :“ Instead of John being specific about this particular moment in his life, he’s MAGNIFYING this episode and generalizing it to the rest of his life. Naturally, this will only make his anxiety worsen!

3. Emotional reasoning :“ One key word John used is “feel.” This is important because instead of basing his reasoning on real-life, objective evidence… he’s basing his reasoning on his feelings. This can cause anxiety and panic very, very easily — often un-necessarily.

4. Making should statements :“ John believes he shouldn’t feel this way when driving home. It’s okay to have feelings. But by stating he shouldn’t feel a certain way, he is beating himself up for having feelings — and actually increasing his anxiety.

Now let’s substitute healthy thoughts in place of the distortions. Try to generate some on your own. Write them down or type them out, then come back to this spot.

Okay here are some alternatives:

Just because John cannot think of techniques to deal with his panic attacks in that exact moment, does not mean there’s no way out of them.

He is reasoning from his emotions instead of objective reality. It’s a perfectly natural thing to do, but there are many techniques that have helped people overcome panic. You’ve learned several already.

But instead of John concluding there is no way out of the fear, he can acknowledge his anxiety AND acknowledge that there is no real evidence to suggest he will always feel this way.

John has a “should” rule in is mind that he should not feel anxious while doing simple tasks like driving.

The truth is, he is feeling anxious and that’s okay. This does not mean he is inadequate or that he will always feel anxious doing routine tasks.

By “buying into” the belief that he shouldn’t feel anxious, he feeds his anxiety and make it worse.

The simple act of learning to accept his anxiety, will lessen his anxiety and make him feel more comfortable doing routine tasks.

Hopefully by now you see the importance of locating any cognitive distortions in your thinking.

They represent a “locked-in” belief that can easily be changed to reduce anxiety, reduce panic and put you in control in the face of panic.

While it’s not realistic to think you can do this once and get better overnight, this is definitely a technique you can use today to effectively deal with anxiety and panic attacks.

Using cognitive behavioral therapy to eliminate the negative thoughts and distorted reality perceptions, will strengthen your muscle to LIVE and ENJOY your life in the present moment instead of allowing your mind to race into the distant future.

Remember, you hold the reigns.

You’re in control.

When you firmly understand these techniques and practice them, you’ll not only recover from panic and anxiety attacks, but you’ll improve the quality of your entire life.

In the next lesson I will show you how CBT fits into an overall recovery from anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia, and share with you a more holistic approach to recovery.  To view the next lesson, then click here.

Take care,

Matthew Wagner
PanicAttackRecovery.com