About Anxiety

There has been much misinformation spread about anxiety over the years.  Many groups have spent a tremendous amount of time, money, and energy to spread misinformation about anxiety disorder for their own benefit.

Due to the distribution of this misinformation, many people have strongly held beliefs about anxiety disorder, its cause, and treatment.  Unfortunately, much of this information is often incorrect.  Research has found that once a belief has been internalized as ‘true’ – even if it actually isn’t true – it’s not easy to change even if there is an abundance of evidence to the contrary.  While this research may be surprising, it actually echoes how humans behave and why long-held beliefs are difficult to change.  Healers and therapists run up against this barrier all the time, and is one of the many reasons making a healthy change takes much longer than one might think – because many people have difficulty changing their belief systems regardless of the abundance of evidence that proves a long-held belief is untrue.

Believing misinformation about anxiety disorder and recovery – rather than what has been proven true – is another common barrier to lasting recovery.  Look at all the pharmaceutical companies that propagated the ‘chemical imbalance’ myth about anxiety disorder, which was dispelled in 2011.

It’s sad to think, even many years later, many people (including many medical and mental health professionals) still believe anxiety disorder is caused by a ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brain, when in fact it never was.

Even more, in spite of the wealth of information about genetics, some people (including many medical and mental health professionals) still believe anxiety can be caused by a genetic predisposition, when it isn’t.  And, in spite of the abundance of information about how the brain functions, some people (including many medical and mental health professionals) still believe anxiety disorder is caused by a biological problem with the brain, when no such biological problem exists or ever did.

By just “believing” anxiety is caused by something other than its actual cause means a person can spend a lot of time, money, and energy trying to solve a cause that doesn’t exit.  And of course, if you don’t solve the real cause, the problem will remain.  This is why many people have spent years on medications yet their problem with anxiety remains.  Sure, some people (approximately one third of those who take psychotropic medications) may have seen a reduction in symptoms, but anxiety symptoms are just the symptoms of the problem and not the real problem itself.  Until the real cause of problematic anxiety has been appropriately addressed, problematic anxiety and its symptoms generally remain since anxiety disorder seldom resolves on its own.

Anxiety is an emotional, physiological and psychological state that occurs when a person behaves apprehensively.  So, anxiety is a result of a certain style of behavior and not caused by any other problem.  Dealing with the true cause of anxiety unwellness – unhealthy behavior – solves anxiety for good.  When you deal with the true cause of anxiety disorder, you eliminate the problem and its symptoms by default.

All of us have the ability to overcome anxiety with the right information, help, effort, and support.  No one needs to be a victim of anxiety, especially since anxiety is something we create rather than something we are victims of.

If you truly desire to overcome problematic anxiety, you might need to challenge your perception of it so that you, too, can be empowered to make meaningful and lasting change.