No action to be taken

Interestingly, my wife just emailed a link to an article saying that a 25-year-old actress is in therapy for a panic and anxiety disorder. In her case, she described her fear as:

“I think too much and overanalyze things. I'll start worrying about my parents or my dog, and I'll picture him opening the window of my apartment and falling out, even though I can't get that thing open myself."

In her case, she becomes anxious and panicky about the fear that her dog may open and leap out of the window. Now, if it were a true concern or a real possibility, she would go home and ensure that the windows are bolted shut or dog-proofed, or she would have someone watch or check on her dog. But because it is not a realistic fear, she does not take any action. This perception of danger with nothing to do about it result in panic and anxiety as the brain feels trapped, thinking that something is or may go terribly wrong and there is nothing I can do about it. But the reality is that there is nothing wrong or that may realistically go terribly wrong, and that’s the very reason she is taking no action. And, that if there were in fact an actual or possible danger, there are actions to be taken and she would take action. The brain is confusing the lack of action actually being taken (due to the reality that there is no danger and therefore no action to take), with the lack of action to be taken (in the event of a true emergency).

So to get at the core, I need to look past all the symptoms and the lack of action being taken and to realize at the core that there is in fact nothing wrong, and therefore no action to be taken, and as a result, no action is being taken. It is all imagination, what-if, worst-case scenario prediction and fortune telling, and not actual or factual. And there is no action to be taken for an imaginary what-if. And that’s why no action is being taken.

So let’s roll it back:

• I am not taking an action

• Because there is no action to be taken

• Because there is no actual situation to react to

• Because the danger is in my imagination

• And my imagination is causing me to be anxious

• Which is causing symptoms that reinforce my imaginary fears

• And since the symptoms are a result of anxiety

• And the anxiety is a result of an imaginary fear

• And the imaginary fear is not real or realistic

• There is no reason for anxiety

• And there is no point in focusing on imaginary situations

• And instead I should be focusing on the reality

• And reacting to it physically and emotionally

• All the time, knowing that if there were ever a true and actual situation, there is action to be taken and I would take it.

Also to note:

• A doctor or emergency responder can treat a real situation or emergency

• But a doctor cannot treat an imagined problem. You cannot tell a doctor to treat a wound you don’t have or a wound you are afraid you may get.

• A firefighter can’t put out a fire in a building you are afraid will go up in flames

• There is either no real problem and therefore no one to call because there is nothing that can be done

• Or there is a real problem, and things to do about it

• Or there is no problem, no reason to worry, no benefit to worrying, and no one to call and nothing to do

• And while there is no reason to worry about what might happen, there is reason to focus instead on what is happening, to be in the present and enjoy it

• To not get wrapped up in imaginary fears that there is nothing to do about

• And to get wrapped up in what is actually happening, where there is what can be done about it – enjoy it.

And the key point:

• While a doctor or emergency responder can treat a true situation, it is only I myself who can provide the reassurance that I am okay when there is no real situation.

• A doctor would say there is nothing for me to treat

• And his reassurance that I am okay would not last because what if something goes wrong in the future? What if there’s something wrong and the doctor doesn’t know or missed it?

• That’s where I myself come in: I need to reassure myself that I am okay, and I need to trust and believe in myself and my reassurances.