What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is one of the most common yet misunderstood experiences in modern life. It can feel overwhelming—like a constant weight on your chest, a racing mind that never stops, or an uncontrollable sense of fear. Many people think of anxiety as something that happens to them, as if it’s an external force or condition they’ve “caught.” But this perspective limits how we understand and address it.
Unlike a physical illness such as the flu or Covid, anxiety isn’t something external that invades your body. You can’t see it, touch it, or hold it like a smartphone or a chair. Instead, anxiety is a process—a series of steps you unconsciously run in your mind and body. It’s not an identity, a thing, or a permanent state. It’s something you do, often without realising it.
In this blog, we’ll explore what anxiety is and how it works as a process. We’ll also delve into the Gordian Pillars of Anxiety, why anxiety is so prevalent today, the different ways it shows up, and how it can be addressed effectively at The Inward Process. By the end, you’ll have a new perspective on anxiety and the tools to take the first step towards lasting change.
How Does Anxiety Work?
To experience anxiety, your mind and body must work together in a specific way. It’s not random or inevitable—it’s a pattern you run. Here’s what typically happens:
- Thinking Patterns: Anxiety starts with your thoughts. These might include “What if I fail?”, “What if something goes wrong?”, or imagining worst-case scenarios. Your mind tries to predict the future to protect you, but it often overestimates threats and underestimates your ability to handle them.
- Emotional Responses: Once these thoughts take hold, they trigger emotions like fear, worry, or helplessness. These emotions feel intense because your mind treats the imagined threat as if it’s real.
- Physical Reactions: Your body reacts to the perceived danger, even if it’s not real. You might feel tension, a racing heart, or shallow breathing—your body’s natural response to a threat.
- Behavioural Patterns: Finally, anxiety influences your actions. You might avoid situations, overanalyse problems, or seek constant reassurance to try to feel safe.
These steps happen so quickly and automatically that they feel like something beyond your control. But they’re not. Anxiety is a learned process, and just like any learned behaviour, it can be unlearned.
The Gordian Pillars of Anxiety
The Gordian Pillars provide a framework for understanding the patterns and processes that drive anxiety. By addressing these pillars, we can begin to unravel anxiety at its core.
- External Locus of Control: Feeling like life happens to you, rather than believing in your ability to influence outcomes.
- Global Thinking: Overgeneralising, such as thinking “I’m always anxious” or “Nothing ever goes right.”
- Internal Orientation: Anxiety thrives in your imagination—rehearsing failure, catastrophising, and imagining worst-case scenarios.
- Ineffective Compartmentalisation: Struggling to “park” worries or separate thoughts, leading to constant mental exhaustion.
- Intolerance for Ambiguity: Viewing uncertainty as dangerous or unbearable, which fuels overthinking and avoidance.
- Avoidance or Overanalysis: Avoiding problems or overthinking them to the point of inaction, keeping anxiety running.
- Future Orientation with Negative Expectancy: Constantly imagining worst-case scenarios while doubting your ability to handle them.
These pillars show that anxiety isn’t a mysterious force—it’s a series of predictable, learned patterns. By addressing these patterns, we can create lasting change.
Why is Anxiety So Common Today?
Anxiety has always been part of the human experience, but it seems to be more widespread now than ever. Why? Several factors in modern life amplify the processes that lead to anxiety:
- Information Overload: We live in a world of constant news and social media updates. This flood of information often emphasises danger and negativity, keeping our minds on high alert.
- Uncertainty: From global events to personal challenges, uncertainty is everywhere. Intolerance for ambiguity—the inability to accept not knowing—makes this particularly difficult for many people.
- Comparison Culture: Social media encourages constant comparison, fuelling fears of inadequacy or failure in relationships, careers, and personal achievements.
- Fast-Paced Living: The relentless pressure to perform, succeed, and always stay productive leaves little time for rest or emotional regulation.
These factors don’t cause anxiety directly, but they create an environment where the processes of anxiety thrive.
Anxiety and panic attacks themselves, are significant mental health concerns in Australia, affecting a substantial portion of the population. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, approximately 17.2% of Australians aged 16 to 85 experience anxiety in the past 12 months (equivalent to 3.3 million people).
Panic attacks are also relatively common, with around 40% of Australians experiencing a panic attack at least once or twice in their lives. Beyond Blue
These statistics highlight the widespread nature of anxiety and panic attacks in Australia, underscoring the importance of effective understanding and treatment strategies.
Different Forms of Anxiety
Anxiety doesn’t look the same for everyone. While the underlying processes are similar, the way anxiety manifests can vary:
- Social Anxiety: This involves fear of judgement, embarrassment, or rejection in social situations. It’s driven by overanalysing interactions and avoiding situations that feel threatening. In this case too, people are the sources of ambiguity, as we don’t know how they will judge us.
- Performance Anxiety: Anxiety tied to specific tasks, like giving a presentation or taking an exam. It often involves overthinking, fear of failure, and self-doubt.
- Generalised Anxiety: A constant state of worry about a wide range of issues, fuelled by intolerance for ambiguity and overanalysing everyday situations.
- Panic Attacks: Sudden, intense episodes of fear accompanied by physical symptoms like a racing heart, sweating, or shortness of breath. Often linked to an inability to compartmentalise fears or thoughts.
While these forms of anxiety differ in focus, they all follow the same core processes. This means that by addressing the patterns behind anxiety, we can tackle its various forms.
How Do We Address Anxiety at The Inward Process?
At The Inward Process, I focus on treating anxiety as the learned process it is. This approach doesn’t just mask symptoms; it targets the root causes. Here’s how we work:
- Identify the Process: We’ll uncover the specific steps you run to create anxiety, from overthinking to avoidance.
- Challenge Unhelpful Patterns: Using Strategic Psychotherapy and Clinical Hypnotherapy, we’ll reframe thoughts and beliefs that keep anxiety in place.
- Build Emotional Regulation Skills: You’ll learn to compartmentalise worries, manage uncertainty, and approach challenges with calm and clarity.
- Replace Avoidance with Action: Instead of avoiding problems or overanalysing, you’ll develop practical strategies to face challenges head-on.
- Create Lasting Change: Anxiety isn’t something you have to live with forever. By addressing the Gordian Pillars, you’ll gain lifelong skills to break free from anxiety and move forward confidently.
Take the first step towards freedom from anxiety. Book your free 20-minute discovery session today and start reclaiming your life.
A New Perspective on Anxiety
Understanding anxiety as a process changes everything. It’s not an identity or a life sentence. It’s not a mysterious force that happens to you. It’s a learned pattern—a series of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours you’ve unconsciously practised.
This perspective is empowering because it means you can change it. By addressing the Gordian Pillars, you can stop running these patterns and replace them with healthier, more useful ones. Instead of rehearsing failure, you can rehearse success. Instead of avoiding uncertainty, you can face it with confidence.
At The Inward Process, I don’t just help you manage anxiety—I help you overcome it. Together, we’ll unravel the processes keeping you stuck and replace them with tools to help you live with clarity, calm, and confidence.
Don’t wait any longer to take back control. Schedule your free 20-minute session today and start your transformation.
Conclusion
Anxiety can feel overwhelming, but it’s not something that defines you. It’s a process—a series of steps your mind and body unconsciously run. While it may feel out of your control, understanding it as a learned behaviour opens the door to change.
At The Inward Process, I specialise in helping you break free from anxiety’s hold. By addressing its root causes and targeting the processes behind it, we’ll empower you with the tools to reclaim your life. You don’t have to live at the mercy of anxiety. The path to freedom starts with a single step.Your journey to clarity and confidence begins today. Book your free 20-minute discovery session now.