Originally Posted by
MyNameIsTerry
You've got triggers sparking intrusive thoughts and your reaction to them feeds the cycle, as it does with all fear. Try to lessen this reaction, it will help but it's hard to do at first because it feels so strong.
Try to imagine your subconscious is just blurting out options or possibilities but with the insight of the logical conscious mind. This doesn't mean they have to be real or even possible, just that the subconscious needs a decision on them. Try to dismiss them as irrelevant and move on and your subconscious will learn they aren't worth sending out.
It takes time but it works and your CBT is going to aim to do something very similar. There are differences in the technique at the point of reaction but it's all about halting a negative reaction which feeds the cycle and learning to replace it with a positive/neutral one which feeds the cycle. This doesn't mean anxiety stops, it may even temporarily worsen since the subconscious is demanding a negative reaction so it's an exposure to your feelings, therefore you have to be prepared to accept anxiety will continue but that doesn't mean anything about the fear's context, it's just that you have a disorder that needs time & repetition to undo.
It doesn't matter much how outlandish a thought may be, it's the fact it comes with feelings of anxiety. If a thought of a ninja bat riding a chariot with rabies popped into the mind of a non anxious you, you wouldn't care. That would be the end of it. Add feelings of anxiety/panic to any situation and the reaction we aim towards is panic/anxiety to feed that cycle. So, whether you have seen a bat flying around in a room or whether you live in a country where bats don't exist but still fear bats with rabies, it's all about the fear itself. Regardless, the same is needed to tackle it as it shouldn't be in the subconscious.