Below is my self-made art about anxiety. Okay, not exactly art. I'm an anxiety treatment specialist. Not an artist! My goal was to make these images of anxiety a bit playful and fun, while helping you clarify different concepts regarding your anxiety and its development. You'll find cartoons about OCD, social anxiety, panic attacks, phobias and your brain's involvement in the reinforcement of your anxiety symptoms. So, take a look at all of them below and, without being distracted by the amazing beauty of my artistry (just kidding!), consider how your own anxiety issue corresponds to each of these anxiety images.
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One of the main foundations of your anxiety struggle is the unintentional reinforcement of anxiety within your brain. Your brain has learned a false lesson and responds with false fear messages, which you then respond to with anxiety in the form of stories and symptoms. To overcome this, you've got to learn how to rewire your anxious brain. This is one of the main strategies you'll learn in our anxiety treatment at The April Center For Anxiety Attack Management!
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Ever wondered about the origin of a phobia?
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This social anxiety cartoon depicts the relatable experience of the false belief that people are thinking about you! That's not to say that people are never thinking about you, just that they're not thinking about you as much as or in the way that you think. We're all human and with that, comes the reality that everyone has their struggle, whether it's temporary or longer standing. All of the above anxiety cartoon images demonstrate that, although the socially anxious man at the top believes everyone is judging him, the reality is they're all caught up in their own problem-oriented thoughts.
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Intrusive thoughts in the form of obsessions are the cornerstone of OCD symptoms. But obsessions can be overcome with proper CBT anxiety treatment!
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This is what I like to call panic attack art. Though, again, "art" might be a stretch! Of course, what's important is the theme it addresses. When we look for anxiety symptoms, we are then creating a focus on our internal bodily sensations. This will result in finding exactly what you hope not to! It's just how our systems work. You'll wind up feeling something wherever you apply focus in your body. In fact, you might convince yourself that you're about to pass out (for more on passing out from an anxiety attack, click the link.). So, if you're terrified of the adrenaline surge and the bodily sensations that accompany it which you call "panic", then you'll experience more of them. Why? Because anxiety is based on resistance. And what one resists, persists! Especiallly when it comes to our internal world, such as feeling states or physical pain.
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