Simple Cognitive Tools to Control Your Anxiety and Eliminate Panic Attacks

When we succumb to anxiety or panic, we succumb to many different forms of erroneous and fatalistic thinking. What we need to do when our minds start playing tricks on us, possibly triggering a panic attack, is to change our mindset. If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. This is known as cognitive therapy.

Shakespeare said in "Hamlet:" "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Human beings have always known about cognitive therapy, but it was not "named" or used as an official therapeutic technique until recently.

Perceptions of a scenario can dictate your emotions, and even your health. There are several types of fatalistic perceptions that people tend to fall prey to under stress. Let's identify the most common types of fatalistic thought processes, and see how dramatically the picture can change when we choose to look at the reality of the situation instead:

All or Nothing Thinking:
Perception: There's something seriously wrong with me that I'm so anxious all the time.
Reality: You're not anxious all the time, only recently. And sadly in our culture anxiety has become the norm. You're not so unusual or different if you have anxiety and it is not a sign of a severe mental illness. There's nothing seriously wrong with you.

Categorizing:
Perception: I'm a jerk for feeling this way.
Reality: You're not a jerk for panicking and feeling anxious; these are not uncommon emotions in today's busy, demanding, and stressful world.

Black and White Thinking:
Perception: I'm always such a mess; I'm never any good to anyone.
Reality: You've had a few panic attacks in the past few weeks, as many people do. Usually, you're very well put together. Even now you're functioning well other than the brief moments of panic.

Looking at the Negative Only:
Perception: I'm a loser and I'm weak for not being able to deal with this.
Reality: You lead a very functional life and are successful; you are having difficulty dealing with this particular area of stress, but you'll get through it with some work, and see that you are, in truth, very strong for doing so.

Amplifying the Problem:
Perception: Why do I always have so much trouble keeping a handle on things?
Reality: You sometimes have trouble like anyone, but it's actually very rare. Most of the time you are highly functional.

Time Distortion:
Perception: This has been going on forever and will never end.
Reality: This just started a few weeks ago, and with your motivation to work on the problem, it will likely end soon.
When we are able to recognize that how we're thinking about situations and people effects the way we experience them, we are able to change the way we think about them. That makes everything seem more manageable. We can change the way we think about people and past events.

When you are in control of your thinking, you will feel a greater sense of control overall. Being freed from the tyranny of "always and never" statements, as well as self-blame, can go a long way toward helping you to take care of yourself as well as helping you to feel empowered and strong. It can be difficult to do this, but ultimately, it serves us well and will bring us peace of mind, instead of panic.