Why Your Brain Does That?
True or False? Your brain reacts the same to a real threat and a stressful thought.
True
True or false? Avoiding your problems makes them go away.
False
Assuming you know what others think about you is called what?
Mind reading
You feel overwhelmed and want to shut down. what's one small thing you can do instead?
Any realistic coping skill
Name one thing you can do in under 2 minutes to calm down
Breathing, cold water, step outside
When overwhelmed, your brain goes into fight, flight, or what third response?
Freeze
Scrolling your phone to avoid stress helps short-term, but what does it long- term?
Delays or increases stress
Only focusing on the worst- case scenario is called what?
Catastrophizing
You're stressed and someone asks for something. What's a healthier response?
Set a boundary
Why does cold water help anxiety?
Calms/resets nervous system
Why does avoiding something stressful make anxiety worse long- term?
It teaches your brain the situation is dangerous
Venting repeatedly without solution can actually do what?
Increase stress
Thinking "everything is ruined" after one bad thing is called what?
All- or- nothing thinking
You don't feel motivated. What's the best first step?
start small
Does waiting to feel motivated usually work?
No
True or False: Your brain is wired to focus on more positive events than negative ones?
False- Your brain is meant to scan for problems
Overthinking a problem for hours usually leads to what symptoms?
increased anxiety
Believing one mistake defines you as a person is called what? `
Labeling
You are feeling overwhelmed and have 10 things on your to do list. What is an effective first move?
Pick one small task and prioritize it.
If you feel overwhelmed, why can doing a simple, repetitive task (like cleaning, folding, organizing) actually reduce anxiety?
It gives your brain structure/predictability and lowers stress
When you keep replaying an embarrassing event in your head, what is your brain trying to do?
Protect you and prevent it from happening again
Ignoring stress can cause what PHYSICAL symptoms?
Headaches, fatigue, stomach issues, etc.
Thinking if it's not perfect is a failure is called what type of thinking?
All or Nothing
You avoid something that made you anxious, and your anxiety goes down right away. What does your brain learn from that?
That avoiding works (at least in the short term), so it continues doing that.
If your emotional brain is activated, what works better first: trying to think logically or calming your body?
Calming your body
You have to calm the body to get back to thinking, order matters.