Quieting the Noise in Your Mind

For therapists, a white noise machine is essential for blocking out unwanted noise from outside of your office and for keeping your sessions confidential. The soft hum of the device is ever-present throughout the course of a workday. At the end of the night, the machine is turned off and silence replaces its once constant sound. A sigh of relief escapes the person in charge of the task.

The other night, as I went about this very job, it struck me how similar the experience of anxiety is to that of hearing a white noise machine. When the white noise begins, you notice it. You recognize that it is no longer quiet in your world, but, after a short time, you begin to tune it out. Of course, your body is still perceptually hearing the noise, but it has faded into the background of your mind, only to be recognized once it is absent again or grows louder.

For those of us who have dealt with anxiety, it can feel like a pervasive and persistent cloudiness of the mind. It can be difficult to discern even one of the multitude of thoughts swimming around upstairs. We push through, going about our day, trying to tune out the noise. We may succeed, but the noise is still there – draining our focus, silently stealing our energy.

So, how can we turn off this proverbial white noise maker of anxiety? In his book, Stopping the Noise in Your Head, Dr. Reid Wilson lays out a framework for doing just that. First, we must recognize anxiety’s voice. We slow down long enough to experience it, to know it. Then, we list each of the generators of our anxiety: a call we do not want to make, a bill we have yet to pay, a presentation we are dreading to give. In this moment, we actively choose to battle our anxiety not through avoidance, but through rising to these challenges.

Anxiety lies to us and makes us believe that if we avoid it, we will have comfort and certainty. But, when we fail to act to resolve anxiety, we are neither comfortable nor certain of the future. We are afraid. However, as we conquer each anxiety generator one by one, we begin to talk back to the voice of anxiety, letting it know that we are capable and okay – that we’ve got this. Of course, this is one of many strategies for beginning to be on the offensive instead of the defensive end of the battle with anxiety. But give it a try, and see if you experience that same sigh of relief of shutting off the noise.

 by Cat Gouge