Explanation model
This model shows a way to understand what happens when we experience anxiety and how problematic patterns can persist.
Situation: Studying for a hall exam
Stress reaction
We experience a stress reaction that includes negative thoughts, strong emotions and bodily reactions. Typical thoughts might be "I don´t understand anything!" or "I´ll never pass this exam!". Typical emotions can be worry, sadness, shame and fear. Bodily reactions might be a rise in heartbeat, tunnel vision, tense muscles and shortness of breath.
Various attempts to deal with the situation
Attempts to deal with the situation are often in the form of avoidance and so called safety behaviours. Safety behaviours are things that we do in order to reduce the risk of experiencing anxiety. One example is to study exessively until the last minute to reduce the risk of missing some important information. One example of avoidance is to postpone studying to avoid the anxiety associated with everything reminding you of the exam.
Short term consequences
In the short term, avoidance and safety behaviours lead to temporary anxiety relief. This is very reinforcing and in similar situations in the future makes us deal with the situation in a similar way.
Long term consequences
In the long term, these strategies contribute to feeding the problem – we become stuck in short-term avoidance. The next time we face a similar situation, the fear is just as strong. Through our safety beahviours and avoidance, we also teach the brain to continue associating exams with danger and anxiety, and that our thoughts and feelings are “true.”
Breaking a negative pattern
So, how can we break this negative pattern? We can’t influence the anxiety reaction and the thoughts and feelings that come automatically in a triggering situation, but we can influence our actions. We need to pay attention to what our thoughts and feelings suggest, and choose our behaviour carefully. This often means trying to do the opposite of what the anxiety reaction tells us to do.
In the short term, it will be harder to stay in a triggering situation, but in the longer term it can actually become easier. By practising to allow difficult thoughts and feelings, we can become more confident and trust ourselves more to handle this, which means that our anxiety reaction can subdue over time. Remember to have a friendly and compassionate attitude toward yourself throughout the process. Read more about what you can do differently under "Strategies".