Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic (Treatments That Work) by Craske Michelle G. & Barlow David H

Author:Craske, Michelle G. & Barlow, David H. [Craske, Michelle G.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780195311341
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2007-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Mistakes in Anxious Thinking

Years of research have shown that when we become anxious or panicky, we make two mistakes in our thinking. The mistakes are: (1) to jump to conclusions about negative events and (2) to blow things out of proportion. These mistakes lead us to believe that events are more dangerous than they really are and to make us more anxious. It is important to learn how to correct those mistakes.

Jumping to Conclusions About Negative Events

To jump to conclusions means to believe an event to be much more likely to happen than it really is. Can you think of times when you caught yourself jumping to a negative conclusion only to find out later that you were wrong? Maybe you were sure that you would not get tickets into the theater because you were at the end of the line, and then you did. Maybe you were convinced that someone was going to be upset with you, and they were not. This means that you were inflating the likelihood of a negative event. Now think about your panic and anxiety. How many times have you thought that something terribly wrong would happen, and how many times has it actually happened? Most often, you will find that what you are afraid of has never happened or has happened only rarely. For example, how many times have you thought that you might faint, and how many times have you actually fainted? Or, how many times have you thought that you would lose control and start screaming, and how many times has that actually happened? The fact that these things do not happen shows you that you are jumping to conclusions.

You might say, “Yes, I know those things are probably not going to happen, but I still get frightened by the possibility.” Why do these mistaken beliefs persist? There are several reasons why you might believe that bad events could still happen in future panic attacks.

Perhaps you have consistently avoided what you are really afraid of, so that you have not gathered evidence to the contrary. For example, perhaps you have avoided driving on freeways because of the mistaken belief that you might lose control of the car or pass out at the wheel. However, by avoiding driving, you have not given yourself the opportunity to learn that those things—losing control of the car or passing out—do not happen. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to face your fears.

Maybe you think that what has happened in past panic attacks is not good evidence for what could happen in future panic attacks. However, for the most part, past experience is a good predictor of future experience. For example, if you have never fainted up until now, then chances are that you will not faint in the future. This is because the chances of fainting (or whatever else it is that you are afraid of) are pretty much the same each time that you panic.

Or, maybe you think that

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