Sandhya Raghavan
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Written By: Sandhya Raghavan | Published : November 22, 2017 11:00 AM IST
Remember the bubbly feeling you get in your stomach when you are excited? Feels awfully similar to anxiety doesn't it? That's probably because both the feelings -- anxiety and excitement-- have some overlapping features. Both give us the "butterflies-in-the-stomach" feeling and both cause nervousness, palpitation and restlessness. The difference lay in the way we interpret both them; excitement is a positive experience for us whereas anxiety is negative.
I have battled anxiety for as long as I can remember. All I know is that it would rear its head in the most inopportune moments, leaving me palpitating, frightened and sweating profusely. Before I was officially diagnosed with the problem, I believed that I was just a shy kid, frightened at the prospects of meeting new people and making a fool of myself.
Asking yourself to calm down during a stressful situation is foolish because you are asking your body to go against its natural tendency to freak out and worry. Instead, try this simple science-approved trick to turn your anxiety into excitement. Not to say that I am fully free from the problem, but this trick helped handle my anxiety problem to a certain extent. These essential oils can also help in reducing anxiety.
The technique is called "anxious reappraisal" and it involves autosuggestion. Researchers of this technique believe that anxiety and excitement operate in the same way. So by telling yourself that you are excited every time you are anxious, you will be able to convert your nervous energy into something constructive. All you have to do is say, "I am excited!" whenever you feel an anxiety attack approaching. This little suggestion changes your own response to the situation and helps you deal with the experience in a positive way!
Think of your anxiety as a large snowball headed in your direction. Instead of taking it head on and stopping it in its course, you use its momentum to redirect from its course and turning it into excitement. It's a very simple solution for a rather complex problem, but that doesn't mean it is not effective. The technique has helped me turn many of adversities into opportunities. It's true that it's difficult to think logically when you are anxious, but with practice, you will get better.
References:
Hofmann, S. G., Heering, S., Sawyer, A. T., & Asnaani, A. (2009). How to Handle Anxiety: The Effects of Reappraisal, Acceptance, and Suppression Strategies on Anxious Arousal. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47(5), 389 394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2009.02.010
Brozovich, F. A., Goldin, P., Lee, I., Jazaieri, H., Heimberg, R. G., & Gross, J. J. (2015). The effect of rumination and reappraisal on social anxiety symptoms during cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. Journal of clinical psychology, 71(3), 208-218.
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