In a recent post, I shared four myths about anxiety, as described in The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety by John P. Forsyth and Georg H. Eifert:
· Myth 1: Anxiety Problems are Biological and Hereditary
· Myth 2: Intense Anxiety is Abnormal
· Myth 3: Anxiety is a Sign of Weakness
· Myth 4: To Live a Vital Life, You Must Manage Your Anxiety
It is important to see how these myths can impact you if you let them.
It is not a matter of letting go of these myths because they aren’t true. You let go of them because your experience tells you that buying into these myths does not take your life in the direction you want it to go. If you buy into the ideas that anxiety is something you were born with or is a sign of weakness, it is hard to see your way forward. Look at your experience; does controlling and managing your anxiety really give you a meaningful life?
Forsyth and Eifert continue in their book to discuss four factors that fuels these myths and keep them alive. The first factor is fusing with your thoughts.
The Mind Trap: Fusion With Your Thoughts, Images, and Memories
It is easy for your anxiety to be fed by a collection of thoughts, images, and memories. Forsyth and Eifert say that when “you fuse with your thoughts, you’ll tend to treat them ‘as if’ they were the same thing as the experiences or events they describe” (p. 81).
They offer a simple exercise to experience the power of this fusion. Think about the word “panic.” If you stay with the word long enough and deeply enough (especially if you have experienced panic before), all kind of images come up. You may have images of not being able to breath or feeling like you are having a heart attack. There may be thoughts like “I’m losing it” or “I’m about to go off the deep end.” There may be feelings of impending doom as you wonder if this is every going to end.
If you stay with these images and thoughts long enough, you may remember moments of panic in the past or worry about moments of panic that may come in the future. You might even begin to feel some of the symptoms that have come to mind. And it doesn’t stop there. You may begin judge yourself as weak, bad, or flawed because of the panic.
Forsyth and Eifert conclude: “What’s important to see here is that the word ‘panic’ is not a real panic attack, nor is it the same as the associations and evaluations linked with the word. The word ‘panic’ is just a word. The evaluation ‘bad’ is just a word. You could choose to treat them just as words. Or you could respond to the word, associations, and evaluations as if they are more than that” (p. 82).
Fusion is when you respond to these thoughts, words, and memories as if they are the same things as the actual life events they are related to.
Please understand. I am not saying that you’re the thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations of your anxiety are not real. In the moment they are happening, they are a real part of your experience. With the idea of fusion, I am inviting you to look closely at what you are responding to that is actually creating the anxiety. Are you responding to the actual experience or what your mind is telling you about the experience?
Take the thought: My heart is racing. You can sense this and experiencing this simply as something that is happening in your body. But when you fuse with the thoughts your mind gives you—This could well be a heart attack…You are about to lose control—your anxiety takes over.
If you are struggling with anxiety, there are a collection of thoughts that show up so often you believe they are description of who you are. Defusing from your thoughts helps you to sense that your thoughts are part of you; they are not you.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the approach that I use for treating anxiety, will teach you a variety of defusion practices and exercises that allow you to look at your thoughts instead of through your thoughts. When you can do it consistently, defusion gives you the emotional space you need to choose a response that is more aligned with your values.
You can visit my anxiety treatment page to learn more about how therapy can help you escape this mind trip. In future posts I will discuss the other three factors that fuel the myths of anxiety and keep them present in your life.