Phases that lead us to anxiety (13)

Anxiety is not something that appears suddenly. We go through a process of several stages that can end in an anxious state.                             

The four stages or phases that lead to a state of anxiety were classified by Dr. Albert Ellis (1913-2007) as A, B, C, D. Stage A is known as the activator. It is usually an adverse event that occurs in our lives which is capable of triggering the process. For example, a person that for specific reasons has not been able to perform well in his work that day begins to have thoughts such as not being able to achieve success in anything, being unable to perform his tasks, etc.

Stage B is known as the basis of our reasoning. Here the individual builds a series of negative arguments that will be in correspondence with the A phase or activator, and reinforce it. This stage is also known as of the catastrophic thoughts because all kinds of negative thoughts occur. Following the previous example, at this stage, the individual would draw hasty conclusions regarding his disability. Another example could be a young man who invites a girl out and is rejected by her. This is the activating fact; then he concludes that he is very unattractive, that he is not suitable for women, that he will never marry, and this kind of ideas that are nothing more than a distorted reflection of reality.

Stage C is the consequence of all the above and is considered as the result of the whole process that leads to the state of anxiety, sometimes even to depressive states. It is important to emphasize that the individual does not transit directly from stage A to stage C. It is not the adverse or activating fact what automatically produces the anxious state. It is stage B, where the negative conclusions are developed, which definitely leads us to the state of anxiety.

The state or phase D is the possibility we have of getting out of this process that leads to more anxiety. It is known as the deduction, and there, the individual should make an objective internal analysis of the situation and thus make a correct decision. This internal dialogue is essential because through it we can leave the state of anxiety or we can even avoid falling into it. It is our only weapon against the whole process because as we know, the use of pills and other means are only transitory outputs to the problem. The activating facts will always be there in our life, but the anxious individual will be waiting for conditions to arise to reproduce the process that leads to the state of anxiety.

We must not let ourselves be led by a failure in our life at any given time. No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes every day. The world and history are full of cases of famous people who had a life plagued by difficulties. Pasteur once was disapproved in an entrance examination to the university, and once there he was considered a mediocre student. Einstein was not accepted to attend a Mathematics course once. Edison was expelled from school on one occasion and considered by teachers to be a student impossible to educate. We could compile a long list of people who at some point in their lives had difficulties, and yet their perseverance was higher and in the long run, they achieved their goals.

The correct understanding of the process of anxiety, and knowing our reactions, is the best weapon we have for not to end up being our own victims. For us, as ordinary people, there is an important idea we can take from Dr. Ellis' legacy: There will always be adverse events in our lives wanting to trigger an anxious state, but they are not the cause, but our erroneous and catastrophic conclusions the ones who can lead us to anxiety. Luckily, there is a phase D, our common sense, which could avoid us all this suffering.