Breaking The Associations?

[samtheman]

This dawned on me today while I was sitting in a busy mall having a coffee :) The fear has gone but the association still remains.

I'll try and explain it like this, you install a computer program, you create a shortcut for it on your desk top, you then delete the program but the shortcut on the desktop remains, when you click on the short cut it searches for the programme but can't find it as its been deleted.

The programme is the anxiety, the shortcut is the situtaion i.e sitting having a coffee today, I searched for the anxiety today but there was none..
Am I making sence???

Basically I need to delete the shortcut I.E Neuro Association if you understand me. I go into situaions previously feared expecting anxiety but its gone,been deleted and permenantly deleted from the recycle bin. But the thought of these situations still even scare me even thought I know the anxiety has gone,

[Dying_Swan]

Yes - makes a lot of sense, and I like your analogy.

I don't know how you get rid of the associations, although in time I think they do fade.

An interesting one....I'm going to ponder this some more and will get back to you :)

xxx

[Insomniac]

Oh yes, this makes sense to me.

I have found myself in situations which before had terrible effects on me and the anxiety. And I find myself looking for symptoms. Which can start you feeling anxious and lead on to more anxiety symptoms...

Sounds like you've done a great job of breaking the cycle. The trigger takes longer to go away. Maybe its like when a cut gets better but the scar takes a while to fade - which reminds you of the injury.

But you were able to sit and have coffee, and nothing happened. Just as your brain learns that a situation causes anxiety, it can also learn that a situation does not cause anxiety any more. It just takes a while to learn a new habit and reassure itself. Hope this makes sense.

[jill]

ohhh makes sense to me too.

I will tell you a short story, my mum worked on a market for many years, getting herself up at 5 every morning. She NEVER needed an alarm clock at all, she just woke up at that time every morming. Now she is retired, ohhh boy, for the first few months her mind still got her up at that time. She had programmed her mind to do so and it took awhile for her to re-programme it NOT to get her up to early.

The mind IS a powerfull thing, knowing how to use that power IS dame hard to learn.

What I would suggest is to put yourself in that situation as much as you can, keep doing keep reasuring and in time the shorcut, WILL be deleted, when the mind understands that what it prodicts WILL NOT happen, ohh do you know what I mean?

Have the same probs with flying, I like flying,but this is where I had my first panic, many moons ago, flew a few times with no probs, then one day, bam, whopps, sooooo I will keep boarding a plane, hehe, its not stopping me from going on my hols LOL

You go girl Keep up the good work, you doing great.

LOVE JILLXXX

[Greatdane]

Yes i can relate to that too. I used to be very anxious and i had many panic attacks in many places and have associated places people and things with it. Now i dont get panic aatcks but when i think of the places people and things i stillget a funny sensation in the backof my neck. I almost go looking for it to see if i react to it. Then i think of why did i think this strange thought then? And this reinforce the thought but not the feeling.

GD