Life Dominated by Fear: Uncontrolled Anxiety and Its Impact
Fear can be a bitch, huh? It's like a roadblock that keeps you from living your life the way you want. But don't worry, there's a way to tackle it, thanks to the brilliant minds of psychologists like Kristen Lindgren, Ph.D.
Lindgren, who practices at the UW Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, helps people deal with their fears, so they can enjoy life to the fullest. She practices cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a therapeutic approach that helps identify, understand, and modify thought and behavior patterns.
According to Lindgren, fear can be overcome – there's a brighter, less anxiety-ridden life waiting on the other side. A therapy she recommends (called exposure therapy) involves diving headfirst into the situations that we dread the most. It may sound harsh, but it's all about challenging our assumptions and experiencing things differently.
Most of the time, the things we fear aren't nearly as dangerous as we think. We may overestimate their danger, underestimate our capacity to cope, or both. Lindgren calls these cognitive errors. Fears typically revolve around not-so-dangerous situations like crowds, public places, and conversations, rather than Bengal tigers (thank goodness!).
By avoiding the situations we fear, we deny ourselves the opportunity to test our assumptions and learn that the experience wouldn't be as bad as we anticipate. Lindgren emphasizes that there is a way to break the cycle and find a way out.
Lindgren begins her therapy sessions by encouraging clients to take an in-depth look at their specific fears. Understanding the fear itself and the result anticipated upon exposure is crucial to overcoming it. For example, someone who fears small group interactions may fear being ridiculed or made fun of. The initial steps of exposure therapy focus on understanding the fear and preparing for controlled exposures to challenge those assumptions.
The exposure process consists of gradual exposures to the feared situations, which give individuals a chance to test their assumptions and learn that they can handle things better than they thought. Exposure therapy, first developed in the 1950s, is the mainstay technique used by cognitive-behavioral therapists to treat fear and anxiety. It has proven to be highly effective at challenging individuals' unique filters and retraining the brain to think about things in a different light.
The design of the exposure process depends on the individual, with their fears, goals, and desired learnings guiding the strategy. Lindgren helps clients identify new learnings that challenge the assumptions underlying their fear, such as the understanding that they may survive uncomfortable situations and that good moments can sometimes outweigh the bad.
Reviewing notes from planned exposures after they've occurred helps clients recognize the discrepancies between their expectations and the actual outcomes, reinforcing the learning process.
As clients successfully challenge their fears, they build resilience and confidence, eventually learning to tolerate fear and re-open opportunities that were previously restricted due to fear. Embracing our fears is a healthy way to learn, grow, and move forward.
In the realm of health-and-wellness, particularly mental health, licensed psychologist Kristen Lindgren advocates various therapies-and-treatments to help individuals conquer their fears and live more fulfilling lives. One such therapy Lindgren recommends is exposure therapy, which involves actively engaging with feared situations to challenge assumptions and ultimately learn that experiences might not be as terrifying as anticipated. This approach, first developed in the 1950s, is a key technique used by cognitive-behavioral therapists to alleviate fear and anxiety, leading to personal growth and the rise of resilience and confidence.
