Overcome Fear of PHYSICAL sensations
‘Interoceptive’ Exposure Practice
Exercise 1
Pounding heart, shortness of breath, ‘jelly legs’, sweating and hot flushes
ANXIOUS THOUGHTS
“These symptoms might be a sign of a heart attack”…
ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE
These are common symptom of anxiety – caused by the fight or flight response – my Doctor says I don’t have a heart problem. etc
RUN IN PLACE or up and down stairs for one minute.
DROP SAFETY BEHAVIOURS
ie. Don’t sit or lie down afterwards. Don’t go outside for air or run for a glass of water etc
OBSERVE
The effects of anticipatory anxiety, misinterpretation, catastrophisation and changes in the degree of belief in the old thoughts as you implement your alternative perspective.
REFLECT
ie. Nothing bad happened, my heart can beat rapidly without any problem. To begin with I noticed that my anxiety caused the symptoms to increase. An increase in heart rate does not always have a serious cause.