Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of arousal-related sensations, arising from beliefs that the sensations will have adverse consequences such as death, insanity, or social rejection. You can think about it as second fear. Whereas first fear is the automatic fight-or-flight reaction that arrives in response to a perceived threat, second fear is the interpretation that the …
You will have recovered from your anxiety disorder when you overcome your anxiety sensitivity, or second fear. Anxiety treatment can’t and shouldn’t mean that you’ll never be anxious again. Becoming anxious is a normal, healthy adaptive reaction to doing challenging things with uncertain outcomes. I would never want to take the capacity to become anxious away …
Acceptance-based cognitive behavioral therapy is based on a theory of psychological science that studies the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The idea is that feelings influence thinking, thinking influences behavior, and behavior influences feelings. Regardless of why you are thinking, feeling, or behaving a certain way, you can learn to observe it and choose …
Many people seek psychotherapy because they just don’t feel good. They say they feel stuck or that they don’t feel like themselves. They feel tense and keyed up. They can’t stop worrying about work, money, or their relationships. Many say they’ve been sleeping too much or waking up throughout the night. They’ve started drinking or …