A phobia is the triggering of your instinctive “fight or flight” response by an inappropriate stimulus. This response is very primitive – very basic – and is present in all creatures that are capable of defending themselves or escaping. This is why it’s so difficult to override it, even when you know, consciously, that there is no real danger. About 60% of people will suffer a phobia at some time in their lives.
A primer for the anxiety prone on how to identify distorted thoughts and eliminate them, an important step in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
When anxiety turns to panic, it feels like the world is falling down on top of you.
The pressure is instantly physical, squeezing the heart in your chest and the air in your lungs.
A litany of thoughts run in a cycle through your head, one replacing the other in the forefront of your mind without pause, feeding each other into a frenzy and snowballing out of control.
Some time after the panic attack has ended, you may be able to see that the way your thoughts developed was irrational.
Whatever thought triggered the feeling that the world would end was wrong, because here you stand with the world intact around you.
Because of the exacerbated nature of a panic attack, it can be easier to see in retrospect that the thoughts that led to the attack were flawed.
What is not easy to see, however, is that the same thoughts are the cause of more commonplace anxiety as well.
The cognitive aspect of Cognitive Behavior Therapy focuses on the identification and eradication of these flawed thoughts.
Even someone who does not suffer from an anxiety disorder can benefit from identifying these types of thoughts when they occur, a process which can improve one’s mood and outlook on life.
☞ DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Panic Attack…
☞ Breaking the Cycle: Identifying “Distorted Thoughts”…
☞ Failing to See the Big Picture…
☞☞ Distorted Thought Types:
1. All-or-nothing thinking
2. Mental filter
3. Discounting positives
>> Conclusion:
These three types of distorted thinking actively block out other, more positive ways of thinking.
It is like looking at the Sistine Chapel ceiling and not being able to perceive some of the frescoes. Using such selective ways of looking at the world limits your ability to see reality clearly.
☞ Without all of the information, how are you able to make rational decisions?
☞ Making a Mountain of a Molehill…
☞ Distorted Thought Types:
1. Overgeneralization
2. Jumping to conclusions (mind-reading and fortune-telling)
3. Magnification (and/or minimization)
>> Conclusion:
All of these distorted thoughts presume more than can be evidenced. Reality has little to do with these types of thoughts, which take negatives and enhance them or create them from nothing.
☞ Making It Personal…
☞ Distorted Thought Types:
1. Labeling
2. Emotional reasoning
3. “Should” statements
4. Blame
>> Conclusion:
The bottom line to take away from these distortions is that your internal life does not dictate your external reality and vice versa.
☞ How to “Untwist” Your Distortions…
1. Identify distortions
2. Straightforward approach
3. Examine the evidence
4. Reattribution
5. Acceptance paradox
Whichever technique you choose to employ, the very act of attempting to gain insight into your thought processes can give you more control over how you react to an anxiety-provoking situation, stopping a panic attack before it can even start.
More on How to Conquer Your Phobia:http://bit.ly/1dJF4Vk ;
Highly Supportive:
☞☞ A strategy to conquer phobias ☞☞
See Exposure Therapy:
☞☞☞ Important Insight ☞☞☞
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Kenneth Carnesi holds a Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School and a Professional Certificate in International Banking from Harvard Law School. Kenneth Carnesi is the Director of Operations and Government Sales at Anaptyx LLC and sits on the Boards of The Lazarus Organization, Monkeetech LLC and MG Madison Phillips, Inc. Mr. Carnesi has also founded CICG - Carnesi International Consulting Group, a company specializing in strategy consulting to small to mid-size businesses.
Kenneth Carnesi 
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