Is it Really All in My Head? - Part I

The English phrase “it is all in your head” is used quite a bit in the English language for anything that may be only in someone’s mind, or imagined. It’s one of many “body idioms” that relate abstract ideas to the physical parts of the body. When one is encountering anxiety-inducing thoughts or symptoms of anxiety, they may wonder or be told, “it’s all in your head.”  So, is it really all in your head? We will address the question later in this posting.

So many people today have negative thoughts or ways of thinking, which in the counselor’s office, we refer to them as cognitive distortions. Cognitive distortions are thought patterns that cause people to view reality in inaccurate — usually negative ways. In short, they’re habitual errors in thinking. When you’re experiencing a cognitive distortion, the way you interpret events is usually negatively biased.

Most people experience cognitive distortions from time to time. But if they’re reinforced often enough, they can increase anxiety, deepen depression, cause relationship difficulties, and lead to a host of other complications. Some common distortions are –

• Mind Reading: You assume you know what people are thinking without having evidence or proof of their thoughts.

• Future-Telling: You predict the future – that things will get worse or that there’s danger ahead.

• Catastrophizing: You believe what might happen will be so awful and unbearable that you won’t be able to stand it. “

There a variety of others that could be addressed, but by reading the aforementioned, you can see that we all encounter these (often) anxiety-inducing thoughts. Part of our work is learning to recognize them and then argue against them.

The Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy, from prison before his death to encourage him by stating – II Timothy 1:7 – “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” Amplified Bible

Paul is reminding Timothy that he doesn’t have to allow fear to rule, but learn how to discipline his thinking with calmness and balance. We can learn how to control negative thoughts as well as implement a variety of techniques to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and manage it.

So, is anxiety really all in your head? Yes, it is! In our succeeding blogs, we will discuss the brain and its influence on the person resulting in anxiety, as well as how to counter anxious thoughts and symptoms.

— Tracy Lewis, Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern