For instance one therapist suggests that patients who are experiencing anxiety actually "allow themselves to feel the storm [of anxiety within] whip up, then let it pass, concentrating on not doing anything," rather than retreating to the hectic, hurrying busyness that is often the instinctive treatment for anxious feelings. (Carey, 2004) "This Zen-like self-observation, called mindfulness, is an exercise not in avoidance but in feeling and enduring emotional pain. It dramatizes one principle of the therapy: that what patients do can be independent of how they feel. Emotion does not have to rule behavior." Or to put it more bluntly, as the psychiatrist told one of his patients, "you can feel [anxious] like a mental patient, but that doesn't mean you have to act like one." Accept the feeling, don't feel anxious about feeling anxious, about feeling less than perfect, and simply and let the anxious feelings of worry pass. (Carey, 2004) The most common sources for anxiety often have their roots in the current pace modern life, which can make every decision and every choice a do-or-die scenario, even if it doesn't have to be so dire. Therapists suggest cognitive methods for disputing catastrophic assumptions. For instance, instead of assuming "I must be inadequate if I can't fix this myself" or assuming it is inappropriate in a relationship to make demands or to refuse them of one's partner, one must approach decisions and conflicts with a sense of perspective and balance. This new stress on balance and self-acceptance, combined with a healthy dose of perspective is a new trend...
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