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Mastering Fear and Anxiety,
anti-anxiety lessons on a CD
Events in your external or internal world act as "triggers" for rapid, automatic reactions in your brain and body. These reactions consist of Thoughts (words, images), Feelings (your awareness of your body state and its changes) and Behaviors (what you actually do). These reaction patterns are highly automatic. They are automatic because you've done them so many times - they're well practiced. You are used to these reactions; they feel natural even though they're uncomfortable. You may imagine that "anyone would feel that way."
Think of a common trigger for anxiety. You are driving along, when suddenly red lights begin flashing and a police siren goes off behind you. What is your "natural" reaction? Does your heart race? (Feeling) Do you think "Omigod, what'd I do?" and quickly look at the speedometer? (Thought plus Behavior) Do you feel rattled for a long time after? (Feeling) Or do you check that you're clear to pull over to the shoulder, thinking the police car needs to get past you on its way to an emergency?
Depending on your reactions, the overall response to the traffic ticket situation may be "adaptive" or "maladaptive." If you feel rattled for a long time afterwards, or if the experience adds to an already fearful stance toward driving, this is "maladaptive." Malo = bad. Adaptive = fitting in with your world as it actually is.
Excessive fear and anxiety that is generalized or that surrounds specific situations is made of maladaptive patterns of Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors. Usually, if you really have trouble with anxiety, you're a person with what I call a "bouncy" nervous system. Just as some people are very tall and some very short, some people come with very "bouncy" or reactive nervous systems. This may make you capable of great passion, great laughter, but also great anxiety. A bouncy nervous system with a bunch of negative, anxiety - inducing Thought-Feeling-Behavior patterns laid into it will not be very comfortable.
"Mastering Fear and Anxiety" is an easily understood audio recording teaching methods to reduce unwanted fear and anxiety. The tape is 45 minutes on each side. I describe how to use simple concepts from cognitive psychology to take control and modify your reactions to situations. There are plenty of times to stop the tape, take out a notebook, make observations of yourself, design and practice alternative reactions.
"Mastering Fear and Anxiety" takes you through systematic ways of figuring out how you're anxiety works, developing alternative thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and making your new choiceful patterns automatic. You also learn how to start practicing success instead of failure. Worrying about a potentially frightening situation gives you "mental practice" in being frightened by that situation. You can learn how to turn your worrying into constuctive, positive practice in mastering fear and fear - triggering situations.
This recording is a nice complement to "Learning to Relax," which focuses on detailed instructions in progressive relaxation and meditation on the breathing.
If you have recurrent, severe anxiety that gets in the way of your everyday functioning, please don't try to use this recording as a "do it yourself" stand - alone "cure." Get talking with someone competent. And don't settle for the explanation that you've got a "chemical imbalance" and all that can be done is maintain you on drugs. That just isn't so. Medicines may help calm you down enough to do the necessary internal and behavioral work to put you in charge, but they are no "cure."
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