STOPP!

I've decided I have to be using CBT methods whenever I can. At the moment I'm going to focus on using the "STOPP" fear reassessment method whenever I experience anxiety.

I'd like to make a table eventually to record these moments and my process reassessing them.

Right now I'm experiencing severe anxiety and urge to avoid so here goes...


STOPP!

What am I reacting to? The fact that I need to go out and get groceries.

What is it that I think is going to happen here? I think I'm going to have a full blown panic attack, or be extremely anxious and tense. I'm scared I'm going to look weird, do something that reveals my anxiety/weirdness in public, show my anxiety at the till. I'm scared someone will talk to me or I'll have to acknowledge someone and act strange. I'm scared the shop's going to be crowded as this will intensify these feelings.

Is this fact or opinion? I have countless proof of these things happening before- people always look at me weirdly, I know my anxiety really shows and that I regularly have panic attacks in public.

What's the worst that could happen? I could have a panic attack and/or humilate myself. I could have to leave without getting food.

What's the best that could happen? I could get in and out of the shop without feeling I've gone over the edge with terror and without drawing attention to myself.

What's the most likely to happen?  I will manage to get most/all of what I need, and I may well feel terror and show it but the worst I'll get is a look and no-one will say anything bad to me.

Am I getting things out of proportion? I know I am hugely in one sense, but I don't know how to feel comfortable in public and the feelings are so horrible.

How important will this be in 6 months time? Not important at all, but I have to do these things all the time and they continue to terrorise me.

Am I overestimating the danger? I know panic attacks aren't actually dangerous but because of how harrowing and physically uncomfortable they are they might as well be. Also social failure/embarrassment is an emotional danger for most people and I'm prone to it.

AM I underestimating my ability to cope? I don't know.

Am I mind reading what others may be thinking? Yes.

Am I believing I can predict the future? Yes.

Is there another way of looking at this? I'm going to get food which is much more important than avoiding anxiety. I need to eat. The more I go out, the more eventually things should, in part, get easier.

What advice would I give someone else in this situation? Focus on your aim, you will be ok, other people are wrapped up in they own business and you are totally capable of doing this.

Am I putting more pressure on myself? I guess

Just because I feel bad, doesn't mean that things really are bad. That's true (throw a statement in there then!).

What do I want or need from this situation? To get groceries!

Is there a compromise in this situation? Not really, I could wait until the shop might be quieter but I don't know it will be and anyway this will increase the apprehension.

What would be the consequences of responding the way I usually do? Avoidance of the situation means I won't have food in the house and constant avoidance of everything will only reinforce my fear and isolation and keep my situation bad.

Is there another way of dealing with this? I just need to get ready and leave, remembering how I have reassessed my fear.

Visualise yourself completing this task successfully.