Therapists Say These 6 Common Habits Are Fueling Your Anxiety
HuffPost
Experts reveal the thoughts and behaviors that are secretly making you more stressed.
Anxiety is a very normal but a very unwelcome feeling. Most of us would choose not to experience it if we could.
In some ways, it’s like a smoke alarm, said Natasha Reynolds, a psychotherapist at Bloom Psychology & Wellness in Toronto. That smoke detector alerts you to actual danger and allows you to get out of your home safely, but it also alerts you to things that aren’t actually dangerous, like how a smoke alarm can go off over a piece of burnt toast.
Similarly, “that threat detection part of our brain... might go off at what it perceives as a threat, but it’s not truly dangerous to us,” Reynolds said.
When that smoke alarm goes off frequently to things that aren’t dangerous, it can be a sign to seek support and develop tools to navigate this stress response, Reynolds said. Additionally, common thoughts, behaviors and actions make your anxiety smoke alarm go off more frequently than it should. Here’s what they are:
Black-And-White Thinking
