Caroline Cavanagh explains why your brain treats imagined threats like real danger, triggering anxiety, IBS, and migraines. She teaches a simple technique to ask whether a problem is real or imagined, retraining your mind to respond only to genuine threats.
Chapters
If you had a fire in front of you, you'd probably look to throw a bucket of water on it, right? But if the fire was imagined and you threw a bucket of water on it, you just end up with a wet floor. Might sound a bit weird, but effectively this is what we do when we worry about things that are not real. When you're laying in bed at 3 o'clock in the morning worrying about something that in that moment is not real, but your mind is trying to solve the problem, like throwing that water on a fire, and all you end up doing is being in a mess. But the reason our brains are doing this is because your mind can't tell the difference between reality and imagination. Whether the fire is real or whether it's something in your mind, it will still try and put it out, try and solve the problem. And this is why so many people struggle with anxiety. When the fire is real and you put it out, problem over. But when it's in your head, it can bounce around in there for a very long time, leading to all of those feelings that we associate with anxiety. And over a long period of time, can end up in conditions such as IBS, migraines, and some very serious conditions. There is a very simple technique that you can learn that retrains your mind to step back and ask yourself, is the problem real or is it imagined? And this is a technique that I can really easily teach you. I'm Caroline Cavanagh. I'm an anxiety specialist and I love helping people for whom anxiety is the one leading them rather than them leading their anxiety. Anxiety is not a bad thing. Bucket of water is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a brilliant thing if you've got a fire in front of you, but it's not very useful if it's just created a puddle on a floor that you have to clear up. So if you'd like to learn how to use your mind a little bit more, to give your mind leadership, to allow your fear to help you fight the real fires, but also stay out the way when you don't need it, please do get in touch. I'd love to hear from you.
