All about Anxiety

Stopping the Noise in Your Head

Reid Wilson Ph.D.

Learn to Love Your Amygdala

Like all components of our minds and bodies that play a part in our anxiety, the amygdala is doing precisely what it’s supposed to do. And for that alone we should be thankful.

How to Drop Our Crutches and Dive into Discomfort

Too often we resolve the issue of threat by relying on safety crutches. Our top-choice? Avoidance. We want to get rid of the threat—and to avoid seems like the safest bet.

Use Absurd Talk to Take Control

OCD wants you to feel doubt and insecurity. You can take a power position over OCD by adopting a new point of view.

Let Worry Motivate Your Next Move

Worry motivates us to act on our plans, to stay on task, and to solve problems. It can trigger planning, preparation, and action—but worrying in itself is not acting.

How To Approach Anxiety with Cleverness, Part 2

We “act as though” all day long—that the coffee we purchased is uncontaminated, and that gravity will keep our feet planted to the ground. When stuck, let it help you take action.

How to Approach Anxiety With Cleverness, Part 1

Ali wasn’t victorious because he was stronger or more athletic. After all, Foreman was in his prime. He was a 3-to-1 favorite. Ali was victorious because he was cunning.

How You Can Use Self-Talk to Step Forward

“Whatever it takes, I’m going to finish this.” When you face a daunting task, that message doesn’t instruct you; it encourages you to push through resistance and continue on.

How to Approach Challenges with a Competitive Spirit

What is a ready-for-anything competitive spirit? It’s when we step forward with a point of view that says, “I have the skills to take on this challenge. I have a chance here.”

How to Reach Higher Goals by Lowering Your Expectations

Paul Hamm had been training for this specific competition for a decade; he was on the road to a gold medal. And after his fall, the way he gets back up is inspirational.

Learning to Love the Mat

You can expect to end up on the mat repeatedly. But the less you worry about being thrown to the mat, the less likely you are to end up there.

A Profound Experience With the Toilet

In any distressing situation, we have only two choices: Accept or resist. You have to find a way to willingly welcome your uncertainty and distress.

“The Noise in Your Head” Video Series

Follow a young woman who struggles with anxiety & applies treatment principles to her everyday life. She engages Anxiety in a competition to win her life back.

My Worry: Is It a Signal or Noise?

Worries take two forms: signals and noise. Signals prompt you to take action because signals come with solutions. Noise comes with no solutions. Simply put, noise is static.

Why Discomfort Can Be So Good for You

If we’re truly interested in living in the real world, we must train ourselves to cope with the insecurity of not knowing and the sensations that come with awkwardness.

Studying Anxiety, Our Toughest Challenger

What a poker champion can teach us about managing and overcoming anxiety

Winning the Battle Inside Your Mind

It’s 35 degrees this morning, and partway through a 3,000-meter race, I go into panic mode. I can’t breathe. Suddenly, the battle is not on the water but is inside my own mind.

The Surprising Usefulness of Worry

Worry serves the essential function of helping us solve legitimate problems, but anxious worrying serves the opposite function.

Learning From Chris Sharma

What a no-ropes rock climber can teach us about tackling our Anxiety.