Talking myself down...

[RJKnight]

Hello, I posted recently about having anxiety about my neighbors and loud noises. I appreciate all the responses and advice I received.
Unfortunately, because of the situation I’m now starting to hear phantom noises like the ones I would hear from my neighbors. The same type of noises that give me anxiety and panic.
Is there any advice for talking myself down? I know it’s just noise and it really can’t hurt me but unfortunately my mind reacts differently.

Just being able to talk about it helps, I appreciate all the support.

 

[smilingsoul]

When I was learning to cope with panic disorder, my therapist described how the fear centers of the brain don't have direct connections to your senses. It can "hear" your internal talk though, so literally, speaking reassuringly to yourself is effective. You want to speak gratefully to yourself, your fear center is just trying to keep you alive after all. So you thank it, reassure it there is no danger, that all is well. It seemed to help, and I still use the technique along with other self calming things like deep slow breaths, gentle stretching exercise, and so on.