Did Intense Exercise Or Worry Cause My Setback?

Video Transcript

I recovered and then had a setback because of returning to intense exercise. This has happened a few times before, too, so now I've developed a fear of exercising because it’s been causing setbacks. My question is, did the intense exercise cause my setbacks, or was it worry?

I suggest it’s the worry that’s causing your setbacks.

A setback can be defined as: a return to anxiety sensations and symptoms due to increased stress, most often caused by a return to anxious behavior.

Remember, there are Two Levels of anxiety disorder recovery:

Level One Recovery, which is understanding anxiety symptoms are symptoms of stress, reducing stress sufficiently to eliminate symptoms, and becoming unafraid of anxiety symptoms.

And Level Two Recovery, which is identifying and successfully addressing the underlying factors of anxiety – the unhealthy behaviors (thoughts and actions), situations, and circumstances that cause issues with anxiety.

To answer your question, I can’t be certain without knowing more about your recovery work. However, based on the Two Levels of anxiety disorder recovery, it sounds like you attained partial Level One recovery only.

I say that because while intense exercise stresses the body and can cause symptoms of stress, it doesn’t cause a return to anxious behavior. A return to anxious behavior, such as worry, would only come from unaddressed Level Two recovery.

Keep in mind that many people have symptoms of stress but aren’t anxious.

Getting rid of anxiety symptoms means you’ve reduced your body’s stress sufficiently to eliminate symptoms, but that doesn’t mean you’ve dealt with your anxious behavior, which is Level Two recovery.

If Level Two recovery isn’t addressed, it’s generally only a matter of time until unaddressed anxious behavior causes a return to chronic stress (hyperstimulation) and symptoms.

Moreover, because you developed a fear of exercising, that suggests you are still somewhat afraid of your symptoms, meaning you haven’t attained complete Level One Recovery. And the fear and worry suggest you still have Level Two Recovery work to complete.

If you had attained both levels of recovery, you wouldn’t be worried about an uptick in symptoms of stress or have developed a fear of them or the activity that caused the uptick.

To remedy this, I suggest completing both levels of recovery. Attaining Level One and Level Two recovery success will insulate you from setbacks despite a return of stress symptoms due to physical exertion.