Cognitive Restructuring

Your brain has the capacity to rewire itself and help you change. In this book, "e;Cognitive Restructuring: Rewire Your Brain and Rescue Your Life,"e; you will discover how anxiety develops and what you can do to make your brain more capable of rewiring. You will learn how to restructure your thinking, so that you can make your anxiety work for you, instead of against you. And you will learn how to keep from overreacting to the physical sensations associated with anxiety. By following the strategies in this book, you will change the way you think, which will help you change the way you feel. You will discover how to restructure your thoughts, and your emotions will begin to temper. You will also learn to use the social world around you to enhance your comfort level. By giving the strategies in this book a chance to work, you can change your life. Anxiety originates in portions of the brain designed to help you deal with danger. Like fear, it is a complex emotional response, except anxiety occurs in the absence of immediate peril. In other words, you feel fear when you actually are in trouble, like when someone is about to run into you on the highway. You feel anxiety when you have a sense of dread, but you are not in danger. Anxiety arises when you worry about the safety of a loved one who is far from home, or when you contemplate everything you need to complete before a deadline at work. Many people feel anxious quite often, especially when under stress. Problems arise, however, when anxiety interferes with important aspects of your routine. In that case, you need to get a handle on your anxiety and regain control. Even though anxiety has the power to temporarily rob you of the capacity to complete many of your basic activities, you can return to be fully engaged in life. You have the capacity to understand the cause of your difficulties and begin to find confidence again. This understanding is possible thanks to a recent revolution in knowledge about the brain structures that create anxiety.