This Silly Hack ain't so silly

It Can Really Help With Anxiety

 

​Give your anxiety a silly name.

"This playful strategy draws on REAL psychological principles and can even make dealing with anxiety a little bit fun and humorous. "

 

HOW TO

 

“Assigning a silly or exaggerated name to anxiety can be a useful cognitive strategy,” 

 

• "By externalizing the experience you create psychological distance from distressing thoughts. Calling your anxiety something dumb like ‘Nervous Ned’ or ‘Meltdown Mike’ sounds ridiculous, but that’s the point. It makes the whole thing feel less threatening.”

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• "Giving your anxiety a silly name “knocks it down a peg” and allows you to stop treating it like an all-knowing authority. This tactic is a way to regain a sense of agency over your inner narrative."

 

“When we’re caught in the grip of anxiety, it feels massive and all-consuming, like this nameless monster that has complete control over us. But the moment you call it something like ‘Gary the Worry Wart’ or ‘Anxious Annie,’ you’re already taking back some of your power.”

 

"This psychological distance can separate you from the anxiety and make it feel less urgent and persuasive."

 

“When anxiety hits, we often think ‘I’m anxious’ or ‘I’m panicking,’ which makes us feel completely merged with those feelings . . . But when you say ‘Oh, there’s Gary again with his worries,’ you’re observing the anxiety rather than being consumed by it."

 

"This technique also engages your prefrontal cortex ― the logical, problem-solving part of your brain ― which helps calm down your amygdala, the part that’s firing off all those alarm bells.”

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Wanna know some benefits to this approach?

 

"The sense of fun and levity in this anxiety hack, which serves as a nice counterbalance to the stress and serious tone present with anxiety.

“It’s empowering and accessible,”

 

“Endless research shows that when people feel empowered in a situation, they manage that situation much better than someone who feels more victimized. It encourages the use of a psychological trick called ‘the observer effect’ which is often seen through the use of meditation, so people can have an emotionally distanced relationship to their anxiety and have a relationship to that anxiety which they can manage more effectively.”

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Having some distance from your anxiety can also help you reach a place of acceptance of its presence in your life."

 

"Naming your anxiety can also help you externalize its symptoms as separate from you, which in turn lessens their severity and duration.

“If someone is experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety, such as a racing heart or catastrophic thinking, giving those symptoms a ridiculous name can reduce the intensity by adding humor and levity to the experience, which communicates to the nervous system that it can relax,” (P & J like techniques that calm the nervous system.)

 

Be mindful not to use this hack as a way to avoid dealing with the deeper aspects of your anxiety.

 

 Anxiety serves a purpose.

“. . . the goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety completely ― that’s neither realistic nor healthy. It’s trying to protect us. The goal is to change your relationship with it so it doesn’t run your life.”

 

Getting comfortable talking to your anxiety can also help you recognize important cues about your life and mental health.

“The general idea is ‘This isn’t me. This is my anxiety.

 

1.  How can I use what it is telling me?’”

 

2.  “Perhaps your anxiety wants to tell you that something is important to you, and it would like you to pay attention to it.

 

3.  Or perhaps it is telling you that your anxiety has clouded your experience for too long, and it is time to seek help to manage your anxiety.” 

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Wanna know if there any downsides?

• “The only potential downside to this hack is if you are not motivated to work on your anxiety, and naming it creates too much distance where you believe it is inevitable and can’t be changed,”

• The hack can backfire if you use it in lieu of processing and addressing your anxiety. “If someone uses humor to name their anxiety but hasn’t learned to sit with discomfort, it can turn into avoidance,” Mazer said. “Instead of facing the anxiety and understanding it, they might just laugh it off and push it away. Over time, the anxiety can build up and come back stronger.”

• Creating psychological distance from your anxiety should not mean pretending that your anxiety is not important. Don’t let a silly nickname trick you into thinking your deeper pain and trauma are just a big joke."

• A  downside is that it may lose its effectiveness over time,” ( I periodically change the name of my anxiety. If Fido doesn't listen I call it Rover)

 

“This technique works best for everyday anxiety and worry. If someone is dealing with severe anxiety disorders, panic attacks or trauma-related anxiety, it’s important to work with a mental health professional who is trained in trauma reduction to get to the root cause and heal it.”

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/naming-anxiety-hack_l_6877d91de4b05557ffd33d85?ncid=APPLENEWS00001. (P & J like attributions)