Over the years, I have learned a lot about the impact my experience with anxiety has on me. It affects the way I see the world, the way I interact with it, and the way I interact with others. But after years of learning about myself and my anxiety, I began to notice the patterns my anxiety creates. One pattern in particular is how my anxiety can lead me to make assumptions, and how those assumptions can create problems in my life that didn’t exist before. Anxiety can lead us to make assumptions, and if we don’t make the connection, anxiety can lead us down a path of miscommunication and make life more difficult than it should be.
We all know that old saying about assumptions: “when you assume….” And puns aside, this saying has a good point. Assumptions, no matter what they are, can cause problems for everyone involved, and despite our best efforts, we all make assumptions at some point or another. But assumptions can cause problems when they guide our decision-making, and that’s where it’s important to recognize the relationship between anxiety, anticipation, and assumptions.
There are many things in this world that can make us anxious (thanks, GAD), but one of the things that can trigger anxiety is when we face the unknown. Often, if we need an answer to a question or there is some information we can’t get, we get anxious. Anxiety in itself is not a problem; It’s the fact that this anxiety leads to making assumptions and then acting on those assumptions.
Anxiety is an interesting thing. Your brain may feel like it’s moving a million miles per hour, but at the same time, your body remains still. You want to do five things at once and that’s why you do nothing. And by trying to cope with the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety, by feeling rushed and out of control, we can try to deal with a situation as quickly as possible. And often that solution is based on assumptions.
Anxiety can take the form of thoughts, patterns and behaviors that impact our daily lives. When these feelings are left unchecked and unchallenged, they can grow and fester in unhealthy ways. Knowing how my anxiety works hasn’t stopped me from having it (unfortunately), but it has helped me understand myself better. I probably won’t stop making assumptions, but I’m hopeful that understanding the connection my anxiety has to assumptions will help me move forward.
Making connections won’t always stop us from doing certain things, but it can help us learn patterns that have developed in our lives over the years. And by learning about these patterns, we can also unlearn them and find a healthier way of seeing the world.
What do you think? Do you feel like you make a lot of assumptions in your daily life? How does that affect your mental health?
