Dr. Don Wood argues anxiety isn't a disorder but a protective system your nervous system built to keep you safe. The real work is figuring out what threat it's trying to protect you from. Once you understand that, anxiety starts to make sense.
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Anxiety isn't the problem. It's a solution that your mind created to protect you. And I know that sounds strange because anxiety feels like the problem. It's exhausting. It's overwhelming. Makes it hard to relax, to focus, and enjoy your life. But what if anxiety isn't the thing that's actually wrong? What if anxiety is the solution that your mind created to solve the problem? Your mind doesn't create anxiety for no reason. It creates anxiety because it creates a program to help protect you. It creates anxiety because somewhere along the way it learned to be alert, to be prepared, and to always be on guard. It was a program that was built to protect you, and it runs on automatic, so you don't even have to think about it. It just runs and is below your conscious awareness. The anxiety isn't the problem. The question is, what is your nervous system protecting you from? Because once you understand that, the anxiety starts to make a lot of sense. If you never thought about anxiety this way before, save this video and come back to it later.