I have been telling clients lately that their fearful thoughts, whether a part of generalized anxiety or OCD, are triggered automatically by the fear centers in the brain – especially the amygdala and caudate nucleus or cingulate. I stress that they are not responsible for those ideas, they are not originating those thoughts purposefully – they are the recipient of a message sent them by the fear brain, but their responsibility lies in how they respond to those thoughts – whether they participate and cooperate with them, or do the work necessary to reject them. I describe these fear messages as text messages or voice mail messages sent to them without their participation. To buy into those messages or give them credibility would be like receiving a text message from someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince who just needs you to send him $100 to unfreeze his assets and he will reward you with $10,000. I also describe these messages as something uttered by a bratty child – for example an angry child who says they hate their parent when denied a wish. How foolish for a parent to argue with the child, or become hurt and cry – it only encourages the bratty behavior. When somebody sends the prince the required amount, disappoint is sure to ensue along with another request for more money. Just the same with the text messages from our fear center. To buy into it, to become agitated, to run around to disprove the idea, only encourages it because you are completing the feedback loop. The alternative is the “1-2-3 Brain Retraining Method” to not reinforce and encourage the con man or bratty child in the brain and starve it by not completing the feedback loop.
Fearful thoughts
