Therapists Say These 6 Common Habits Are Fueling Your Anxiety

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

“A common unhelpful thinking pattern can be called black-and-white thinking, or also known as all-or-nothing thinking,” Reynolds said.

This kind could mean looking at situations as good or bad and not considering the gray areas, Reynolds explained.

“So, for example… if I made an error in an email, this must mean I’m incompetent, and the other person thinks this too,” she said. In reality, it doesn’t mean you’re incompetent; a mistake means you’re human, and the person on the receiving end thinks this, too (that is, if they even notice the mistake).

These thoughts can get you down and even make future communications really stressful, causing anxiety to creep in every time you have to email this person or even causing you to stop emailing altogether.

Avoidance

Speaking of stopping