It is important to learn how to analyze our anxious thoughts and assumptions, because anxiety causes us to have biased thoughts, among which you will notice the following: overestimating the likelihood that something bad will happen; reassessment of the seriousness of the event; underestimation of one's ability to overcome fear;
It is important to learn to analyze your ineffective coping strategies. For example, if you are afraid of dogs, you may always avoid talking about them out of fear. But this way you will never test your fears. And you will not be able to know that when talking about a dog, anxiety appears, but very soon it can save. Avoidance patterns prevent us from gaining the confidence to face our fear.
It is important to learn to analyze your anxious thoughts and assumptions. This stage involves a series of questions about our thoughts and beliefs. And of course - the search for answers. For example, an appropriate question might be: What is the evidence for and against my beliefs (Question: What are the risks that a dog will harm me? How many people in this country suffer from dog bites?); Am I not confusing feelings and facts?; Am I overestimating the seriousness of something bad happening; What risk can I take to overcome fear?; Am I underestimating my ability to deal with this fear?
It is important to learn how to do experiments to test your anxious assumptions, which involves facing your own fear. And at this stage, it is important to remember that anxiety is our feeling, which cannot harm us. Important steps are: drawing up a plan for the experiment; record your disturbing assumptions; facing fear The main thing is not to run away and not to use protective behavior (for example: when meeting a dog, pray to God. Such coping can form the opinion that only thanks to prayer to God, the dog did not harm me).