Anxiety, phobias, and depression are often rooted in the belief that we have found something to worry about that God has overlooked. And rather than "giving it to God". (Phil 4:6-7; Ps 50:15; Ps 57; Ps 62:1-2; 1 Peter 5:7), we choose to believe that worrying is a more effective tool to resolve the potential conflict than trusting in Him.

I use the word "potential" advisedly. For how often do we worry about things that never take place? My boss mentions that he wants to see me before I leave the office today; subsequently, I spend the day in dread of coming doom. The appointed time arrives; I sit down in the chair that faces the boss' desk.

"There is an uncontrollable urge to run out of the room.."

Have you ever been flipping through your mail and run across an envelope where the return address read, Internal Revenue Service? And when you finally were able to ratchet your courage up to open the envelope it was merely some needed information. Or what about those times when you looked in the rear view mirror and saw the dreaded flashing blue lights…only to watch the police officer pass you buy? It is amazing how much energy we waste on groundless worrying, isn't it?

Mapping Out Your Anxiety- How Is Anxiety Connected To Experiences?

With some people, anxiety (or depression) feels like the most predominating emotional state during every waking moment. There may have been some reason for the emotional upheaval years ago but now it is more like an uncontrollable, unconscious habit. If you are such a person, the first thing I suggest is for you to become aware of this fact:

No, it is not something that happens all the time. There are many, many moments in your waking and sleeping hours where you are perfectly calm.

Have you ever noticed how people organize their internal experience, externally? In other words, have you noticed how people will make mental pictures of what they are speaking about and place those "pictures" in various locations in the space around their bodies? If you know what to look for, you can see people listening to voices in their head, feeling feelings in particular locations in their bodies, seeing pictures out in front of their faces.

Do you doubt me? Ask a friend to describe a movie they have recently attended. Watch their eyes and hands as they replay that movie in their head, seeing the pictures, hearing the sounds, feeling the feelings. Quite often they will actually point to where their pictures are located! Sometimes they do this with their hands, marking out the location, at other times they mark it out with where their eyes are focused. This is not weird. This is how humans organize their experiences.

Now, what does this have to do with someone's anxiety attacks? Glad you asked. When someone is telling me that they experience "severe, high anxiety" at the same time they are making large or bright or vivid pictures of this emotional state they are describing.

What I do is change the individual's external processing of their internal experience. Maybe I will have them make their pictures smaller or more distant, possibly I will have the sounds they are hearing turn into the sounds of a cartoon character!

Watch This! - An Anecdote

I was working with this client who, up until this time, was experiencing daily bouts of high anxiety. Doctors were telling him that he needed to be on medication. While talking with him I noticed that there were some pretty loud sounds associated with his experience. I did not tell him this was the case but merely asked him if he saw any pictures, heard any sounds, felt any feelings. At first he said, no, there was nothing like that.

But I asked him to go back and think about a recent episode. He began thinking about his response to me and all of the sudden blurted out, "O my! There are voices in my head!" After a few questions, he discovered that the voice was that of a teacher who had told him he would always be a failure but now was saying, "See I told you so…you are a failure."

One of the first things I did was tell him to play back the sound track in his head only double the speed and when the phrase came to an end to play it backward. As he did this, he had a strange look on his face. I then had him play the phrase in his head again but have it dubbed over in the voice of Bugs Bunny. He did this and burst out laughing!

Now I had him make a black and white movie of an average "anxiety attack". He was to start the movie at a place where he felt at peace, just before the attack occurred, play the movie through the end of the attack until it reached a place where he was at peace again.

After he did this I had him do it again, only this time, he was to play the movie really fast and, once he arrived at that point of peace after the attack had occurred, he was to see the movie playing backward, equally as fast.

At this point, I want you to do the same exact thing, only make the movie in color and play it on fast-forward and backward. I mean, really watch this movie of you going-zip-backward! Do this a couple of times. Once you have done this, let's add those sounds from Bugs Bunny and some really funny cartoon music.

Play the movie fast forward and backward. He laughed so hard he about fell out of his chair. And this was a man who only 15 minutes prior, was almost curled up in fetal position on my couch! He never had to take medication, never had the attacks again.

"Wait a minute, Monte. What in the world does this have to do with getting rid of anxiety?" Actually, it is quite simple.

At some point in this person's past there had been a stimulus, to which he randomly chose the response of anxiety. This response created a neural pathway in his brain that, ever after, fired off whenever the stimulus occurred again. The body and nervous system were programmed to respond in this way; albeit this gentleman did this unconsciously. All I did was show him how to change or reprogram his brain and nervous system responses.

How Does the Mind Structure Experience?

Years ago, Richard Bandler and John Grinder developed a school of psychology they called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). This is a field of study that looks at the structure of subjective experience and what could be calculated from that structure.

They asserted that all behavior has structure, as I just illustrated in the above account of the man who was experiencing anxiety attacks. Simply stated, this field of study looks at the dynamics between mind (neuro) and language (linguistics) and how the interactions here effect our body, nervous system and behavior (programming).

Through these men's groundbreaking studies (and that of others) there developed skills for doing away with phobias, panic attacks, unwanted habits and such, in a very brief time. (Cf. Richard Bandler, Magic in Action) Of course, NLP has a broader application than a therapeutic one, but this is all I am concerned with here.

"Imagine being able to make your great experiences even greater…

The fact is that if we change anything about how we structure an experience, we change the experience. You already know this to be true. What is the difference in a movie at a theatre and the identical movie on your television? The one you watch on TV is not as powerful. Why? Because the picture is smaller, the sounds not as symphonic, the colors not as vivid and so on. You changed the "structure" and, therefore, changed the experience.

painful experiences really small, black and white pictures, turning the sounds that accompany the memories down…pushing the black and white pictures of this experience way off into the distance and…wow. Not so painful any more-correct?

One of the presuppositions of NLP is that "the map is not the territory." In other words, the menu is not the food, the words are not the experience. As you know, simply because you have memorized the promise that Christ came to give you abundant life doesn't mean you have experienced that life. For some people-maybe for many people-this will require that you get with someone trained in the above skills so that you can experience the restructuring of your experience!

What Does God Say About Fear, Worry, and Anxiety?

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or about your body, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feed them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:25-26)

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way
out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. (2 Thess 3:3)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all., The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all (Psalm 43:19)

If you make the Most High your dwelling - even the Lord, who is my refuge - then no harm will
befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels
concerning you to guard you in all your ways (Psalm 91:9-11)

"Because he loves me", says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him." Psalm 91:14-15)