Anxiety traps are our common thinking patterns that lead to us following the same unhealthy patterns again and again.  At our Anxiety Therapy clinic in Boulder, CO, we help our clients break these habits.  

One trap might be to set too high of a goal, feel intimidated by it, procrastinate, and then feel ashamed.  Another might be to overthink something, feel overwhelmed by it, and then avoid it.  

The traps are our well-worn safety behaviors: ineffectual but familiar anxiety patterns.  

Most of my clients at Kairos Wellness Collective suffer from anxiety traps that lead to reduced productivity and move them further from their values and their goals.  

After we conduct a values sort, utilizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, we must then decide how our anxiety is preventing us from reaching our goals.  

Here are the most common ways I see my clients get trapped by their anxiety:

1. The Anxiety Paralysis and Perfection

   Perfectionism can paralyze us when it keeps us from even trying (a common anxiety pitfall) or it encourages us to value product over process.  When we value the product too highly, we tend to accept any means possible to achieve something perfect.  Therefore, if we have anxiety or OCD loops, they are acceptable as long as the final outcome is excellent. 

   Product-focus causes us to utilize our time poorly and have difficulty prioritizing our lives.  

   Instead of focusing on the product, it is useful to value the process of mastery.  With most tasks, working steadily and devotedly in the direction of topic mastery will be more valuable than any individual product. For a student, a perfect score on an assignment is far less important long-term than a deep understanding of the material.  Therefore, at every opportunity, we prioritize this mastery, rather than any individual achievement.  

2. Endless Anticipatory Anxiety

   A common anxiety pitfall is being stuck in the anticipatory loop, suffering many times over before anything negative has even happened.  Our brains are notoriously bad at predicting the future, and if our amygdala gets involved, we are most likely going to be caught in a doom and gloom anticipatory cycle.  Many people assume that anticipatory anxiety is inevitable, or that it somehow “prepares” us for our challenge.  This is simply untrue, as analysis of a committed action is almost universally unhelpful. In fact, anticipatory anxiety can be sidestepped all together with a few simple CBT skills.  Once we learn to demote anticipatory anxiety to where it belongs, in the useless worry bucket, we can move on more easily to the actual living.    

3. Anxiety and the post-progress shame cycle 

   Yet another common anxiety trap is to get stuck in the “what did I do?” shame cycles of self-punishment.  We may feel intense sorrow and regret during this cycle, but it is ultimately a product of the same anxious thinking that makes us overthink in the anticipatory stage.  

   Surprisingly, getting stuck in self-reproach is also a safety compulsion.  As awful as it feels, there is also a measure of security in penance. 

   We feel that if we are internally sorry enough, we will somehow be able to wipe our act from the record.  

An excellent anxiety therapist will utilize CBT therapy to help you catch your spirals and move away from your common thinking traps.  

Contact Kairos Wellness Collective for more information or support with your mental health journey.