Investment in Anxiety

The Unconscious Fuel of Anxiety

Often, without realizing it, we become the main investors of our own anxiety through a series of recurring behaviors and thoughts.

These habits, although performed with the intention of protecting ourselves or understanding what is happening to us, actually serve as fuel that keeps the fire of anxiety alive.

Let's explore the most common ways in which we invest our mental and emotional energy to, paradoxically, make anxiety become even more powerful.

The Vigilant Mind. Constantly Assessing Risks

One of the most direct ways we keep anxiety high is by constantly assessing the risks of future situations, even when we're in a safe place.

Our minds become obsessed with going over and over what could go wrong, a process also known as ruminative thinking.

This can happen when we wake up, when before we even shower our brain has already locked onto a worry that triggers anxiety for the entire day.

The body doesn't have the ability to differentiate between a threat that is real and one that is only potential or imagined by us.

For example, the brain reacts with the same panic if we don't receive "likes" on social media as it does if a real car is heading dangerously towards us.

Every time you perform this risk assessment, you are activating the fight-or-flight response, flooding your body with stress hormones for no reason.

Give It Voice. The Power of Talking About Anxiety

Another form of inversion is the way we constantly talk about our anxiety, whether in casual conversation or in everyday social interactions.

When you respond to a "How are you?" with a "Terrible, very anxious," you are giving anxiety power, as if you were feeding it sugar.

While it's necessary to talk about it in therapy or with a doctor, making anxiety your regular topic of conversation reinforces its hold on your life.

The Search for Certainty. Research and Self-Diagnosis

We invest in our anxiety every time we go online to research our symptoms, searching for certainty that never quite assuages the fear.

When you search online, you can find hundreds of different types of anxiety, and you might think that if you can just self-diagnose, you can finally get the help you need.

This search, far from providing relief, often only intensifies the worry, as you are exposed to a wealth of information that can be alarming.

Even when you receive an official diagnosis, such as "complex post-traumatic stress disorder," you run the risk of investing in that label and making it part of your identity.

The Craved Identity. When Anxiety Becomes Who You Are

The deepest reversal occurs when anxiety stops being something you feel and becomes who you think you are.

You start using phrases like, "I can't do that because I'm an anxious person," limiting your own abilities and justifying avoiding new challenges.

Over time, this identification becomes so strong that you may forget who the real person is beneath that mask of anxiety.

Summary

In the fight against anxiety, we are often our own worst enemies. We invest in it by constantly assessing future risks, as our brains don't distinguish between a real and imagined threat, activating the fight-or-flight response.

Another way we fuel anxiety is by talking about it. By making it the main topic of our conversations or when searching for information online, we give it power over us. This rarely provides relief and instead increases worry.

The deepest reversal occurs when anxiety becomes part of our identity. By saying "I am an anxious person," we limit our abilities and justify avoiding new challenges. It's crucial to stop these habits to free ourselves.