We’re simply curing anxiety at Recovatry and this article points the way.

Anxiety is extremely common. Most people feel anxious from time to time. It’s a normal experience to:

• Be nervous about making a public speech
• Get the jitters before a job interview
• Fear the worst-case scenario

Normal anxiety vs. anxiety disorder

Anxiety is a normal experience, but some people worry more than most. Worry comes from the Old English wyrgan “to strangle,” which is what it feels like to suffer from an anxiety disorder.

Extreme anxiety chokes our hope, leaving us obsessing over the worst-case scenario. There’s nothing wrong with considering the worst. In fact, studies show that a little pessimism actually makes us happier.

However, obsessing about the worst-case scenario does not improve our mental health, it harms us.

What is an obsession?

When we fall in love with someone we don’t obsess over them. We ruminate. Lovers think about each other because they want to. They ruminate voluntarily because it feels good to love.

Obsession is thinking about something we’d rather not be thinking about. It’s getting stuck with thoughts we’d rather shake. It’s a negative experience, often fueled by anxiety. People usually obsess about things such as:

• They think I’m ugly
• What if I can’t fix this?
• What if they hate me?
• Everyone will leave me
• I’m going to lose everything!

Thoughts and feelings

When we’re stuck on obsessive thoughts, such as these, then we’re stuck with anxiety, too.

People with anxiety disorders don’t want to be anxious, nor do they want to obsess over the worst-case scenario. Recovering from this dilemma has more to do with changing the way we think. Once we see things differently, then our feelings will simply follow suit.

At Recovatry, we do this with an intervention known as Socratic questioning. We wrote an article about it. To learn how it works: