7. The three core biases of anxiety

7. The three core biases of anxiety. 

As we have seen, our distress is largely caused by how we are thinking about any situation.  The most common ANT in anxiety is “fortune telling.”  That is, without always being aware of it, we are predicting that something bad will happen.  It is always helpful to try to identify the negative outcome that we are dreading.  When we do that, we will often find that we are allowing our thinking to be distorted by one or more of the following three mental biases: 

1. We might be overestimating the likelihood that the bad thing will happen.  The outcome we dread might be a very unlikely event, but we are reacting as if it was absolutely certain to happen.  “The doctor is going to tell me that I have an incurable disease.”  “The elevator will get stuck.”  “The boss will berate me if I ask for a raise.”   We can become so focused on the possible negative outcome that we fail to see that more neutral or even positive outcomes might be more likely.   If we cannot be absolutely certain that the bad outcome will not occur, we assume that it definitely will occur. 

2. If the bad outcome occurs, we might be overestimating the consequences.  Yes, bad things happen, but we might be exaggerating the extent of their negative impact.   We might be telling ourselves that something that is merely unfortunate, troubling or inconvenient will be “awful,” “unbearable” or “a catastrophe.”  Illnesses can be treated.  There is nothing inherently dangerous about a stuck elevator.  Getting berated by the boss is unpleasant but it happens to people all the time and they don’t die. 

3. If the bad outcome occurs, we might be underestimating our ability to cope.  When we are anxious, we seem to forget that we have skills, experiences, resources, and support systems that can help us cope.  If we have a serious illness, we can seek medical care.  If the elevator gets stuck, we can occupy the mind until help arrives.  If the boss berates us, we can handle it calmly and express our own thoughts and feelings appropriately.  We are all endowed with the ability to think things through, seek support if necessary, and engage in active problem solving.  Human beings can be very resilient and can bounce back from almost any untoward circumstance.