Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about the impact that my experience with anxiety has on me. It impacts the way I see the world, the way I interact with it, and the way I interact with others. But after years of learning about myself and my anxiety, I’ve started to notice the patterns that my anxiety creates. One pattern in particular is how my anxiety can lead to making assumptions, and how those assumptions can create problems in my life that didn’t exist before. Anxiety can lead to assumptions and if we don’t make the connection, anxiety can lead you down a road of miscommunications and life being more difficult than it should be.
We all know that old saying about assumptions: “when you assume...” And the wordplay aside, this adage makes a good point. Assumptions, no matter what they’re about, can cause problems for everyone involved and despite our best efforts, we all make assumptions at some point or another. But assumptions can cause trouble when they guide our decision-making, and that’s where it’s important to acknowledge the relationship between anxiety, anticipation, and assumptions.
There’s a lot in this world that can make us anxious (thank you, GAD), but one of the things that can trigger anxiety is when we are confronted with the unknown. Oftentimes if we need an answer to a question or there’s a piece of information we can’t get the answer to, we get anxious. The anxiety itself isn’t a problem — it’s the fact that this anxiety leads to making assumptions, and then acting on those assumptions.
Anxiety is an interesting thing. Your brain can feel like it’s moving a million miles per hour but simultaneously, your body is staying still. You want to do five things at once and because of that, you do nothing. And in trying to deal with the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety, in feeling sped up and out of control, we can try to deal with a situation in the quickest way possible. And often, that solution is acting on assumptions.
Anxiety can take the form of thoughts, patterns and behaviors that impact our day-to-day lives. When left unchecked and unchallenged, these feelings can grow and fester in unhealthy ways. Knowing how my anxiety works hasn’t stopped me from having anxiety (unfortunately), but it has helped me understand myself more. I probably won’t stop making assumptions, but I’m hopeful that understanding the connection my anxiety has toward making assumptions will help me moving forward.
Making connections won’t always stop us from doing certain things, but it can help us learn patterns that have developed in our lives over the years. And in learning about these patterns, we can also unlearn them, and find a healthier way to see the world.
What do you think? Do you feel like you make a lot of assumptions in your day-to-day life? How does that impact your mental health?