Fear of Fear

UNDERSTAND

Anxiety does not only come from thoughts about external situations.

It is often intensified by thoughts about the feeling itself.

This creates a second layer of response:

You feel anxiety → then you react to the anxiety → which increases the anxiety

This process is commonly referred to as “fear of fear.”

It occurs when the initial emotional response is interpreted as a problem or threat.

For example:

• Initial experience:

  “I feel anxious”

• Secondary response:

  “I don’t want to feel this”
  “Something is wrong”
  “This might get worse”

These secondary thoughts introduce additional resistance.

The body responds accordingly:

• increased tension

• heightened alertness

• stronger emotional intensity

This amplifies the original feeling.

At this point, two loops are active:

2. Primary loop
   Thought → emotion → reinforcing thoughts

4. Secondary loop (fear of fear)
   Emotion → reaction to emotion → intensified emotion

Because both loops feed into each other, the experience can escalate quickly.

This is why anxiety can feel like it is “spiraling” or “getting out of control.”

Importantly, the intensity is not only coming from the situation being thought about.

It is also coming from:

The resistance to the feeling itself

When the emotion is treated as something that must be avoided or eliminated, it gains additional weight.

Understanding this shifts the interpretation:

The discomfort is not only the initial anxiety.
It is also the reaction to that anxiety.

TRY

The objective here is to reduce the secondary loop.

Start by identifying when the shift occurs.

When you notice anxiety, pause and ask:

“Am I reacting to the situation… or am I reacting to the feeling itself?”

This distinction is subtle but important.

Next, introduce a neutral acknowledgment:

“This is anxiety. It is a response.”

Avoid adding interpretation such as:

• “This is bad”

• “This shouldn’t be happening”

• “I need this to stop immediately”

Then, allow the feeling to exist without immediate resistance.

This does not mean encouraging or amplifying it.

It means removing the additional layer of:

• urgency

• judgment

• avoidance

If helpful, you can reframe the experience as:

“This is a sensation my body is producing in response to thought activity.”

This keeps the focus on function, rather than threat.

The goal is not to eliminate anxiety instantly.

It is to prevent the second layer from intensifying the first.

GROW

As this approach is practiced, the relationship to anxiety begins to change.

The initial feeling may still arise, but the escalation decreases.

This leads to:

• shorter duration of anxious episodes

• reduced intensity over time

• less fear associated with the experience itself

You begin to recognize:

Anxiety is uncomfortable, but it is not inherently dangerous.

This reduces the urgency to escape it.

With less resistance, the body is able to settle more naturally.

The absence of the secondary loop allows the initial response to pass without being amplified.

Over time, this creates a significant shift:

Instead of:

• feeling anxiety → fearing it → escalating

It becomes:

• noticing anxiety → allowing it → observing it settle

This does not remove all discomfort.

But it changes how that discomfort evolves.

Transition to Next Article

Once the secondary loop is reduced, another important shift becomes possible.

Rather than being fully identified with thoughts and emotions, you can begin to observe them.

This introduces separation between:

• what is being experienced

• and the awareness of that experience

Next:

Objectifying Thoughts — How to Step Outside Your Mind Without Fighting It