The Important Distinction Between The Behavioral And Physical Aspects Of Anxiety

Video Transcript

The Important Distinction Between The Behavioral And Physical Aspects Of Anxiety

There’s a distinct difference between the behavioral aspects of anxiety and the physical aspects of anxiety. Knowing this difference was vital to my recovery.

Behavior can be defined as: the ways we think and act.

The behavioral aspects of anxiety are the anxious ways we psychologically and emotionally cope with adversity, uncertainty, and risk. This anxious coping style creates the physical aspects of anxiety, which is stress and how it affects the body. In other words, anxiety symptoms are the physical aspects of anxiety.

This difference can be expressed as:

Cause (anxious behavior) = Effect (stress and symptoms of stress)

To behave anxiously, we must think and act anxiously.

However, we can physically “feel” anxious without behaving anxiously. That’s because the physical feelings of anxiety are symptoms of stress. Chronic stress (hyperstimulation) can make us “feel” physically anxious without being anxious behaviorally.

So, when you feel anxious, ask yourself, “Am I behaving anxiously or just feeling the physical effects of stress?”

Being aware of this difference can significantly impact your recovery from anxiety disorder.

When you can easily identify the cause, you can change the effect.

For instance, to stop anxiety symptoms, you must stop the anxious behavior that creates them.

When you change the “Cause,” you can change the “Effect.”

Because we are all in charge of how we think and act, we can stop the creation of anxiety and its symptoms.

That means we have complete control over anxiety and its symptoms.

Again, when you change the cause (behavior), you change the effect (symptoms)!

While many anxious people focus on their symptoms, the real focus should be learning to exchange unhealthy anxious behavior with healthy ways of coping with adversity, uncertainty, and risk.

It would then be only a matter of time until the body’s unhealthy stress is eliminated, eliminating ALL anxiety symptoms.

Again, when you change the CAUSE (anxious behavior), you change the EFFECT (stress and symptoms).

We dive into this in more detail in upcoming videos.