Recognizing the cycle of anxiety

You are now aware of what an anxiety cycle is and why it is important to break the cycle. Reflect on your own anxiety and identify the cycle in your life. Following is an example of an anxiety cycle.

Alan feels uncomfortable with the idea of public speaking, he is asked to deliver a short speech for his class but his heart starts to race right before the speech and he starts to feel really uncomfortable. He feels an intense need to run away from the situation and he apologizes to the professor and leaves the situation that was making him anxious.

Sometime passes and he is asked to deliver a presentation. This time he feels even more anxious by just the idea of it and feels like he is unable to even prepare the presentation, let alone present it.

By avoiding the public speaking opportunity in the first place, Alan has indirectly increased his anxiety overtime.