How To Stop Anxiety Step 4

Building On The Facts,

An absolute necessary tool that has worked for many people that have gone through and overcome their own anxiety disorders is building on the facts. Building on the facts means a full understanding that a panic attack has never hurt anyone or has contributed to lesser health in the future, building on the facts also means looking at your own past and building your self esteem and confidence from knowing that what you fear most has not come true and never will. It means replaying that mental image in your mind of how you let the storm of panic pass that time you thought you were doomed. So much energy and attention is given to our fears, we give it so much respect when in fact it's all an illusion. Many recoverees in fact make small cards that they carry around with them to remind them of the facts of their past (definitely worth doing), the successes they had in the past after the storm of a panic attack had passed and facts about their worries that have in fact never came true.

Using The Past To Help Not Hurt,

To go a little deeper into this extremely important step on how to stop anxiety that leads to panic attacks, let's look at how looking into the past may hurt you and how it may help you:

Thoughts And Actions That Hurt,

During the feelings of physical symptoms of anxiety that lead to panic attacks, you may look into the past and remind yourself that the location you were in at that moment was the same location that brought on panicky feelings.
Thoughts of the past full blown panic attack that had eventually led you to a location such as an emergency room could pop up which could lead to more adrenaline, which feeds your anxiety levels.
Thoughts brought on by past experiences that lead to the possibility of these sensations of anxiety being a real possible physical issue, could leave you in a cycle of panic and confusion.

Thoughts To Shape The New You,

Your greatest fears of losing control of your mind, or your body have never come true.
Fearful Thoughts alone DON'T manifest into reality the way you think they will (this thought alone will help you take a different kind of action when things get freaky)
In the case of hypochondria and health anxiety, if tests have been done that have ruled out any physical issues it's time to listen to your true voice rather then your critical voice that leads you to think there may be that tiny chance they 'missed something.'

Conclusion,

You see, looking into the past can be a HUGE confidence and eventually self-esteem booster if you turn your focus to the true facts about how your fears never came true. Building on the facts will lead to turning your focus from 'what if,' to 'why bother.' I know it helped me tremendously in my recovery from generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks, and once you start to take your mind off of focusing on your critical voice during signs of high levels of anxiety you'll begin reaping the benefits too, see you in Step 5.