#### [[notes_Learned Anxiety ]] **Creator**:: [[Dr. K]] **Source**:: [[course_Dr. K's Guide to Mental Health]] **Link**:: [learned-anxiety](https://coaching.healthygamer.gg/guide/lessons/learned-anxiety), [tension-in-the-mind](https://coaching.healthygamer.gg/guide/lessons/tension-in-the-mind), [feeding-the-beast](https://coaching.healthygamer.gg/guide/lessons/feeding-the-beast), [thought-loops](https://coaching.healthygamer.gg/guide/lessons/thought-loops) ## Notes - [[anxiety]] is strange monolithic term - People are anxious about different things - Our anxiety is unique to us - learned [[anxiety]] - Manifestation and roots of anxiety are different - once source of anxiety can lead to thought loop or it can lead to a [[panic attacks]] - [[Samskara]] wire our brains to worry about particular things - Situation:: child being bullied - [[Amygdala]] and [[Hippocampus]] are super active - [[Adrenaline]] is present causing [[fight-or-flight response]] - leads to [[Samskara]] of if I am center of [[attention]] I am in danger - situation:: abusive parent - [[Samskara]] allows for the brain to immediately tell whether the parent is mad or note - [[Triggers activate stored emotional responses for certain situations]] - our [[brain]] wires for very specific situations - strong emotional reactions can rewire our anxiety around new events - situation:: you find out your SO has been lying to you for years - [[Samskara]]'s are colloquially known as baggage - [[Samskara]] can build up over time - dread builds up over time which makes the suffering even more impactful - [[Vedic Psychology]] sometimes suggests that [[Samskara]] come from past lives - Processing this [[trauma]] that we have never experienced can lead to the same benefits of processing real [[trauma]] - tension in the [[mind]] fuels [[anxiety]] - adding [[energy]] to the mind makes anxiety worse [[anxiety]] - [[Thought Loops]] [[notes_Learned Anxiety]] - harder you try to not be [[anxiety|anxious]] the more anxious you get because it creates tension - ex: [[insomnia]], if I don't go to sleep bad things will happen, creates [[anxiety]] can't [[sleep]]. - [[Buddhism]] two arrows - getting shot causes us to shoot ourself - ![[Pasted image 20220123193714.png]] - How to talk to yourself to promote less [[anxiety]] - empathic mirroring - show memory for yourself - have [[compassion]] for yourself - acknowledge that you are going to be okay - you can't beat [[anxiety]] but you can't give into it because that causes it to grow - notice the desire to give into [[anxiety]] - even if the [[information]] doesn't produce more [[anxiety]] it builds the process of supporting that [[anxiety]] and if you develop more anxiety over time it's black and white thinking will cause you to start to overblow information to support your anxiety - addicted to [[anxiety]] - trust is about having faith and not knowing 100% - [[Anxiety tries to make us assume the worst]] - [[Thought Loops]] - grappling and exhausting, unproductive - always come back around to the same thought - the [[mind]] loves to think, when it needs to relax to more it wants to think - sometimes your organs do things that aren't good for you - The ultimate goal of your [[mind]] is to keep thinking - [[Our brain will do anything it can to protect itself]] - [[anxiety]] is a buffet for the [[mind]] - if there is nothing else for the mind to focus on it can fall back to [[anxiety]] and thought-loops - what do we do about thought-loops - [[mindfulness]] - when you are in the the thought loop take a step back, and realize that it is just your [[mind]] looking for thoughts - as you recognize it, your reduce it's power - thought loops usually fixate on one insecurity, so as you address those your thought loops will be addressed - [[We carry our childhood wounds into adulthood]] - [[We value our biggest insecurities because they protect us from the biggest threats]] next:: [[notes_Solutions to Anxiety]]