Anxiety Disorders can be distilled down to two words: What if….(insert worst case scenario)? No one has ever come to see me and asked, “What if everyone loves me and thinks that I am great?” It is always worst case scenario after worst case scenario. Believe me – I hear so many of them that I even start to wonder when something bad will happen. But, in the 14 years of practicing Exposure and Response Prevention therapy, almost no one has had their worst thing happen to them, and those that did realized that it was nowhere near as bad as they thought it was going to be. So, anticipation is almost always worse than reality.
Be afraid – Be very afraid
“Be afraid – Be very afraid,” is a term that we may say to joke around with others, but there are many people who live life this way. And, it is easy to see why some individuals might just think this is true, with the news giving us stories of bombs, shootings, natural disasters, and the like. But, what we really need to consider is what is the likelihood that something like this could happen to us? Yes, bad things can happen, but how likely are they?
Welcome!
Welcome to the ACI blog. I am Patrick B. McGrath, Ph.D., the President of Anxiety Centers of Illinois. I look forward to writing about anxiety for all of you as well as answering your questions about anxiety. At times we will also have guest writers who will give their take on anxiety and how it is experienced and treated.
Please feel free to write about any topics you wish to see covered and my team and I will be happy to work on some answers for you to assist you with your anxiety.