Irrational Past/Future thinking underlies anxiety and depression.

The title of this post says it all. Essentially, especially for anxiety, the sensations come about when worrying about the past or future. Our imaginations are so damn powerful that when we imagine either (past or future), they seem real, and our body reacts accordingly. All that exists is the present moment, and typically the present moment isn't very threatening. But for someone with anxiety (like myself), it takes thinking about the past or future to generate the response. Now this is all well and good, and perhaps obvious in hindsight—but it can make for a useful technique to disable anxiety/depression-provoking cognition. All you must do is be aware of the thoughts that are flowing in the mind at the present moment, and for each you notice, make sure to tell yourself that "it is just a thought, and nothing more". The reality is that a thought is just a thought. People with anxiety and depression (and probably 99% of all people) are affected by stressful thoughts because they believe those thoughts to be MORE than thoughts. If I was to imagine an serial killer was trying to kill me now, it may cause a small stressful reaction if I was aware that it was my imagination (i.e. that I correctly label the experience as 'imaginary'). But if I believe such an occurrence (me getting attacked) is really about to happen, I would have a panic attack. We have panic attacks (and anxiety/depression) because we believe that our thoughts are true. I know this seems obvious, but the devil is in the details. A person that struggles with these problems needs to slow things down, and look closely at the thoughts (i.e. cognition) that is causes their symptoms.

This is all just food for thought, and is not a substitute for proffesional treatment. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave a comment☺