The two main causes of anxiety are experience-based and mind-based stimuli. Experience-based stimuli are upstirrings of anxiety caused by what you actually see or hear. They can be threats to your life or someone else’s and can be witnessed by others. Mind-based stimuli are upstirrings of anxiety caused by your thoughts and beliefs. They only affect you and can’t be witnessed by others.
Examples of Experience-Based Anxiety
Experience-based stimuli that anxiety include, but aren’t limited to—
- Being threaten or seeing someone else threaten by an attacker
- Receiving a life-threatening diagnosis about yourself or someone close to you
- Hearing an unexpected loud knock on your door
- Smelling something burning in your home
- Changing lanes while driving and hearing the blast of a car horn
- Feeling faint and not knowing why
- Learning that your partner cheated on you
Examples of Mind-Based Anxiety
Mind-based stimuli that cause anxiety include, but aren’t limited to—
- Thinking someone is thinking bad things about you
- Predicting that something terrible is going to happen
- Believing you failed a test but not really knowing
- Thinking that since you feel anxious, something bad is happening
- Believing that you must worry, or things will go wrong
- Believing that since something is possible, it’s likely to happen
- Taking your insecurity to mean that your partner cheated on you
The Key Differences Between Experience-Based and Mind-Based Anxiety
Experience-based anxiety is healthy. It’s based in reality and others can witness it.
Mind-based anxiety is harmful. It’s based in scary mental fantasies. These fantasies are short stories we tell ourselves that haven’t and aren’t likely to happen. Others can’t witness these fantasies because they only happen in our minds.
What to Do About Your Mind-Based Anxiety
If mind-based anxiety is diminishing the quality of your life, please get in touch with me. I can help. When you do Life Therapy Education with me, you learn more about mind-based anxiety and how to resolve it.