Cycle of Anxiety: What It Is & How to Break It

What Is the Cycle of Anxiety?

The cycle of anxiety starts when a situation leads to symptoms of anxiety,  as well as stress hormones being released. This activates the body into “fight or flight.” To reduce these uncomfortable symptoms, the individual avoids the situation, signaling to their body that they are no longer in danger, and a sense of relief manifests. However, this relief is temporary, and over time, the anxiety worsens and avoidance increases.

Here are the six stages of the cycle of anxiety:

Stage 1: Triggering Event or Thought

In the book Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy, Dr. David Burns lists ten common cognitive distortions, also known as thinking errors, that create anxiety and other negative emotional states.¹ A common cognitive distortion, “the fortune-telling error,” is great at triggering the anxiety cycle. This thinking error occurs when one gives space in their mind regarding the future and is convinced that this future will be bad and that it is an already established fact.

Another cognitive distortion that jump-starts the anxiety cycle is known as the “mental filter.” Here, one picks out a single negative detail to exclusively focus on. As the negative thought is fed, more anxiety is produced. By excluding positive thoughts about the situation, one dwells on one specific negative aspect rather than viewing the situation as a whole.

Triggers for anxiety cycles can be:

• External trigger: External triggers refer to responses to stimuli in the outside world. For example, one might have a negative reaction to having to give a presentation at work or feel nervous in a large group of people.
• Internal triggers: Internal triggers refer to responses to a memory, a thought, and its subsequent emotional and physical sensations. For example, having a thought that what one is doing is going to go badly or thinking about being hurt as a child in a bike accident triggers one as one gets on a bike to go riding.

Stage 2: Physical Symptoms of Anxiety

The physical symptoms of anxiety can be quite taxing. Anxiety can cause dizziness which makes it difficult to concentrate and makes you feel unbalanced. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, symptoms of anxiety/panic are pounding or racing heart, sweating, chills, trembling, difficulty breathing, weakness, tingly or numb hands, chest pain, and stomach pain or nausea.² As one can see, these can be very concerning at the moment and only help to feed the cycle of anxiety.

Stage 3: Recognition & Appraisal of Symptoms

While physical symptoms quickly alert one that anxiety is pushing them around, being able to recognize anxiety-producing thoughts at the “moment of birth” is paramount to stopping the cycle of anxiety before it gains momentum. One has the choice to “feed” the thought and keep it alive or to “starve” the thought by not giving it attention.

Negative thoughts activate the limbic system, the part of the brain that triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response.³ Therefore, recognizing a negative thought and not giving in to the demands of the negative thoughts is a way of giving one time to appraise what is really going on. This provides one with the opportunity to stop the limbic system from fully activating.

Stage 4: Behavioral Response

Common behavioral symptoms/responses include avoidance of threat cues or situations, feeling the need to escape and pursue a safe place (flight), seeking out reassurance, agitation (fight), becoming very still (freeze), and having difficulty speaking.⁴ These temporary solutions promote avoiding dealing with the root of the anxiety and only create temporary relief.

Thus, avoidance coping or safety-seeking behaviors are common behavioral responses to anxiety-producing thoughts and the body’s responses to external and internal triggers. However, avoiding rather than coping with what is going on is likely only going to feed the anxiety cycle as the root cause of the anxiety is not being dealt with.

Stage 5: Short-Term Relief as Reinforcement

When one avoids dealing with the main influences that create the anxiety cycle and instead puts a “bandaid” on it, short-term relief may be experienced. For example, distracting oneself by cleaning or shopping can bring temporary relief to many. But, this avoids challenging the thoughts that are feeding the anxiety cycle. Thus, the anxiety will only restart in time.

As one reinforces the behaviors that bring about short-term relief, one is likely to reinforce the idea that cleaning or shopping makes them happy and is the answer when feeling anxious. The behavior is repeated over and over. This can lead to compulsive cleaning or going on shopping sprees and buying things one does not really need.

Stage 6: Long-Term Consequences

The long-term consequences of repeatedly experiencing the anxiety cycle can be detrimental to one’s mental, emotional, and physical health. Common consequences of avoiding dealing with anxiety include feeling depressed, difficulty sleeping, feeling tired and fatigued, the manifestation of poor health, such as having heart issues, an inability to focus, and abusing drugs and alcohol.

Examples of the Cycle of Anxiety

Anxiety Cycle for Someone Who Has a Fear of Crowded Spaces

An individual who has a fear of crowded spaces has fearful thoughts about going to the store and being around a lot of people. This results in them delaying going to the store. Finally, when almost out of food, the courage to go shopping is created. Once back, some relief is experienced, but as the food supply starts to dwindle, the negative story about having to go back to the store starts to create anxiety again.

Anxiety Cycle for Someone Who Has a Fear of Flying

Someone with a fear of flying begins to think about ways to delay or avoid the trip. They white knuckle themselves during the flight, and once landing, a sense of relief is experienced. Anxiety then starts to manifest when thinking about the return flight, and the cycle starts again.

Anxiety Cycle for Someone Who Has a Fear of Being Imperfect

Someone who is a perfectionist has negative thoughts about a work project, leading to pushing back from starting on the project until the last minute. Then, they frantically work to meet a deadline and finish the project, and a sigh of relief. The next assignment is handed out, and the cycle is reborn.

Anxiety Cycle for Someone Who Has a Fear of Driving

When one has a fear of driving, the thought of getting behind the wheel can trigger paralyzing anxiety. For those who manage to face fear and get behind the wheel, avoidance of certain things, such as making a left turn at an intersection, is common. Avoiding having to turn left creates even more anxiety, and the fear of driving grows.

Anxiety Cycle for Someone Who Has a Fear of Public Restrooms

Someone who has a fear of using public restrooms avoids eating or drinking prior to going out. As the time to leave approaches, one may feel like their stomach is getting upset. This only intensifies the anxiety cycle, and the thought of having to use a public restroom only gets worse. Once out and distracted, this fear may temporarily diminish.

Science Behind Anxiety Cycles

The most primitive part of the brain contains the brain stem, limbic region, and the amygdala. The amygdala activates the fight, flight, or freeze response. In a sense, it hijacks the most advanced part of the brain, the neocortex, and it activates the sympathetic nervous system to speed up your heart rate to deliver more blood to areas of your body that need more oxygen.

Once one experiences a sense that the danger is over, the body activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which decreases respiration and heart rate. In addition, the ventral vagus nerve helps to calm down the sympathetic nervous system as well. Deep breathing directly stimulates the ventral vagal system. Hence, taking deep breaths helps the body to get out of danger response mode.

Role of Neurotransmitters in the Cycle of Anxiety

Neurotransmitters, the brain’s chemical messengers, have been shown to play a role in the cycle of anxiety. The brain releases neurotransmitters in the brain and reabsorbs them. If the balance of neurotransmitters is off, the brain’s ability to work at an optimum level is decreased. This impacts a person’s sense of well-being.

The neurotransmitter GABA plays a direct role in the modulation of brain circuits that regulate the emotional response to potentially threatening stimuli.⁵ Thus, those who are prone to experiencing anxiety do not have a hard-wired defect in the brain but may have an imbalance in neurotransmitters that can be helped with medication.

How to Break the Anxiety Cycle

While we know that neurotransmitters can play a role in the creation of anxiety, negative thoughts, and stories play a significant role in starting the anxiety cycle. It is important to be aware of the thoughts and subsequent stories that one writes. Challenging thoughts and reframing them to be more positive is essential to stopping the anxiety cycle in its tracks.

If one is not able to immediately recognize what is going on and anxiety is manifesting, it is important to be aware of and accept the moment as it is whether it is perceived as good or bad. Resistance to the moment will feed anxiety. Relief occurs when one ceases to think about the future and returns to the here and now. Breathing and then re-authoring the future story will help one to calm down.

Here are five strategies for how to break the cycle of anxiety:

1. Address Your Triggers

Triggers of anxiety can be external and internal. Becoming aware of what one is triggered by is essential in reducing one’s relationship with anxiety. Understanding how one’s past experiences influence the creation of thoughts or responses to what one encounters in life will create insights that can be used as catalysts for change.

“Pushing one’s buttons” is a common term that points out that humans have triggers that will activate responses. Working to render these “buttons” useless increases one’s level of emotional skill. At the lowest level of emotional skill, one’s emotions are easily hijacked. At the highest level, one is able to step back and look at what one’s thoughts and feelings are communicating without an immediate reaction.

2. Cope With Physical Symptoms

Many find the meditation for anxiety technique R.A.I.N. to be helpful in reducing physical symptoms of anxiety. R.A.I.N. stands for Recognize, Allow/accept what’s there, Investigate, and Non-identify. Letting it “rain” when anxiety shows up can help to reduce the negative physical experience at the moment.

Recognizing when anxiety shows up allows one to be curious as to what is triggering them. Accepting that anxiety is trying to push one around helps reduce fear. One can focus on relaxing by investigating what part of the body is responding to the stress. And non-identification means that you don’t need to accept the negative story that is being written at the moment.

3. Avoid Talking to Yourself Negatively

The main tenet of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is that negative thoughts create negative feelings. Therefore, it is important to identify negative self-talk and to replace them with self-defending statements. Learning to identify when cognitive distortions, or thinking errors, show up allows one to take action that challenges the thought. In doing so, an alternative story can be written about the moment.

4. Change the Way You’re Responding

When one is working to lessen the effects of anxiety, it is important to reduce the amount of avoidance behaviors. Avoidance can actually increase anxiety as it keeps fear alive. This is why it is important to incorporate coping strategies into one’s day-to-day routine.

Here are some tips for how to stop avoidance coping:

• Create an exercise routine because exercise decreases anxiety by causing your brain to release endorphins and serotonin that help improve mood
• Reduce coffee and/or alcohol consumption, both of which are known triggers of anxiety
• Get enough sleep and eat well-balanced meals
• Take time each hour to sit still and focus solely on breathing exercises for anxiety
• Don’t focus or worry about things that you have no control over

5. Create Long-Term Coping Strategies

As one practices changing the usual way of responding to negative thoughts and modifies behavioral responses, long-term coping skills for anxiety are created. We get good at what we do every day, what we “practice,” even if it is not good for us. Therefore, it is important to make lifestyle changes that promote mental and physical health to practice being less anxious.

Treatment Options for the Cycle of Anxiety

For those who have a relationship with anxiety that causes a lot of suffering, there are treatment options for anxiety available. First and foremost is working with a therapist to gain clarity as to the source of the thoughts and situations that trigger the cycle of anxiety. Through the therapeutic process, insights can be created that can be used to create positive changes.

Treatment for the cycle of anxiety may include:

Therapy

There are a number of therapeutic approaches for anxiety that can help reduce symptoms. It is very important that one find a therapist that they are comfortable working with. It is always a good idea to talk to a few therapists before choosing a therapist to make sure it is a good fit.

Effective therapy options for anxiety include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT for anxiety is a very common therapeutic approach. A therapist using CBT will help one identify thinking errors that produce anxiety and help one come up with alternative self-defending thoughts to stop giving thinking errors validity.
• Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy for anxiety is a step-by-step process where one is gradually exposed to the things, situations, and activities that one fears. Through this process, one slowly disarms fear as a new non-scary story replaces the fear narrative.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): A therapist using  ACT for anxiety teaches one mindfulness, acceptance of the moment, and committing to one’s values to help one live in the now. It helps one to understand that one is not their anxiety.
• Narrative Therapy: A therapist utilizing narrative therapy will help one re-author one’s problem-saturated story to a story of empowerment. Through the process of externalizing conversations, one learns that it is their relationship with anxiety that is the problem. And since it is a relationship, the dynamics of the relationship with anxiety can be changed.
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): A major focus of DBT for anxiety is radical acceptance. The idea of radical acceptance is not to turn away from painful experiences/thoughts, but one can make a mental effort to come to peace with the experience or change it. One learns self-soothing/mindfulness techniques to stay in and be okay in the now.

Medication

At times, a therapist may recommend medication for anxiety and make a referral to a psychiatrist for a psychotropic medication evaluation. The antidepressants most widely prescribed for anxiety are SSRIs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Celexa. SSRIs have been used to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

When to Seek Professional Support

When one is struggling with anxiety, one will likely experience restlessness or feeling keyed up,  regularly feeling fatigued, have difficulty concentrating, be prone to being irritable, have muscle tension, and have trouble sleeping. These are signs that one needs some help.

An online therapist directory is a helpful tool for finding a therapist in your area who specializes in anxiety. If you are looking for a therapist who takes your insurance, your health insurance website will have a list of therapists to look into. Alternatively, an online therapy platform is a great option if you prefer to see a therapist from the comfort of your home.