Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. You're listening to the Friday fix. Every Friday, I share a quick mental strength exercise that will help fix the thoughts, emotions, and actions that drain you of the mental

strength you need to be your best.

Now, let's dive in today's episode. Today, I'm sharing the first thing you should do when you

experience anxiety. Anxiety feels awful, and most of us will do just about anything to feel better

when we experience it. But when we're desperate to feel better fast, it's really tempting to reach for

things that aren't helpful. Many of the things that give us momentary relief actually create

bigger problems for us in the long term. So before you jump into action to address your anxiety,

there's something you should do first. Ask yourself, is this a real alarm or a false alarm? Answering that question can help you get a better

handle on how to respond to your anxiety. We all have anxiety alarms and our alarm systems are kind of

faulty. They go off when we don't need them to and we feel anxious when there's no reason to actually

be anxious. Yet we often respond to those

false alarms as if they're real. When you experience anxiety, it's important to step back and determine

whether you're in any actual danger. If you don't, you're going to make some poor decisions and

suffer more than you need to. Here's an example. Imagine that your boss asks you to give a

presentation at a big meeting. An hour before the presentation, your heart starts beating fast.

Your chest feels tight and you feel like you can't breathe. Your body's preparing you for a

life or death situation. The reality is though that you're not facing a life or death situation.

Although delivering a presentation might feel scary, your chances of dying are really small.

Sure, you might trip and bump your head, but that's not what you're afraid of.

You're anxious because you're afraid people won't like what you have to say or that you'll embarrass yourself.

...