Brilliant Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, 2nd Edition

Challenging symptom-based predictions

These sorts of experiments can be very helpful for people who suffer from anxiety or any condition where one’s own physical and psychological reactions become part of a feedback loop that make things worse.

People who suffer from panic attacks often misinterpret their own anxiety symptoms as evidence that they are on the brink of catastrophe. For example, the release of adrenaline can produce a racing heart and sensations that can be misinterpreted as signs of an impending heart attack:

NAT: ‘My racing heart means I am going to have a heart attack…’

For such people deliberately accelerating their heart rate, say by running up a flight of stairs a number of times, can demonstrate that a rapid pulse can be ...