Anxiety is a trapped THOUGHT in a straight jacket banging against the walls of your mind, trying to get out.
It’s relentless, constantly moving, and doesn’t care what time it is.
When the outside world gets quiet, the banging and slamming and SCREAMING get louder.
The more you try to ignore the thought or distract yourself from it, the more it runs around in there, trying to break the cage you’ve put it in.
Rebellion will persist as long as there are walls to slam against.
That’s why therapy helps, or talking to a friend, or having a difficult conversation, or writing in your journal: you’re releasing the thought, unbinding it, and letting it walk freely in the real world.
This is a kind gesture: setting our thoughts free. And it always works, once we get over our fear of what they will do on the outside.