Posts tagged with "Anxiety"
We all seek reassurance on occasion, but what about when reassurance-seeking is persistent, excessive, or even compulsive? In this column, I explain why reassurance-seeking maintains and ultimately worsens anxiety.
21. August 2025
'You are afraid of surrender because you don’t want to lose control. But you never had control; all you had was anxiety’. Those words from author Elizabeth Gilbert will strike a chord with anyone who strives to control the big and small details of daily life. My latest column explores how attempting to control everything keeps us on edge. Checking, overthinking, over-planning, rehearsing – what we think of as being in control is often just anxiety wearing a convincing mask.
Savouring life’s joyful moments seems like the natural thing to do, yet many people do the opposite – they downplay, dismiss, or distance themselves from joy. In the first of two columns on this subject, I ask: why do many people dampen positive emotions?
We all have our own emotional style, and feel some emotions more strongly and more routinely than others. My latest columns explores how many of us have one dominant or default emotion – the one we return to most easily.
06. February 2025
In my last column, I explored why some people seek criticism to confirm their negative self-views. In this follow-up piece, let’s shift gears and look at how to break free from this cycle and embrace a healthier way of relating to yourself and others.
Could you miss a gorilla in a room full of people? It sounds impossible, but it happens more often than you might think, as documented in a famous psychological experiment. My latest column explores the gorilla experiment, and how we can be blind to the obvious when our attention is elsewhere.
Selective attention towards threats means that anxious people tend to be vigilant. Often scanning for danger, anxious people are very alert to the possibility of something going wrong, even in seemingly non-threatening situations. My latest column explores how to break free from this vicious cycle of vigilance and fear.
If you’re anxious, you will see the world very differently to someone who isn’t anxious. My latest column explores how the anxious brain processes and interprets information.
2024 · 19. September 2024
Different people may have different problems, but they all generally behave in ways that bring about a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, Daniel sees himself as unlovable. He often cancels plans with friends and isolates himself at home. This behaviour reduces his opportunities for positive interactions, deepening his sense of loneliness and reinforcing his belief that no one truly cares about him. My latest column explores how to break out of this and other vicious cycles.
2024 · 05. September 2024
Changing unhelpful thinking patterns is important for one’s mental health, but real change requires behavioural change. My latest Southern Star article explores why CBT emphasises the importance of behavioural activation – essentially, adopting helpful behaviour patterns to improve well-being.