chapter 3
Confronting Your A n x iety
I
magine sitting at the top of a roller coaster, high above
the ground, about to go into a 100- mile- per- hour dive.
Or imagine you’re in a steel cage, about to be lowered into
the ocean to swim with great white sharks. In either of these
situations, you might notice a sense of nervousness—
manifested by sweaty palms, a thud- like pulsing of your
heart throughout your body, jitteriness, a sinking feeling in
your stomach, and racing thoughts. How would you react?
Would you panic, or would you try to override your anxiety
to experience the thrill of a lifetime?
In everyday life, people face many less extreme adven-
tures, yet they still may feel as if they are in a cage surrounded
by sharks. For some people, something as simple as talking
on the phone, noticing their own fast heartbeat, or having to
touch a germ- ridden bathroom door handle can lead to
excessive anxiety.
W hen anxiety strikes, do you fight it or do you walk
away? How does your anxiety affect your behavior? In this
chapter, we will teach you how to manage your anxiety by
gradually confronting your fears using a research- based
intervention known as exposure. We will do this by first