Cognitive anxiety may be described as worry, mildly fearful thoughts, difficulty concentrating, and confusion. A healthy level of anxiety can propel individuals forward. As KidsHealth.org puts it, a little fear can encourage kids to "behave in a safe way." Of course, too much anxiety, whether acute or low-grade and chronic, can negatively impact physical and emotional health. The difference between managing anxiety to your benefit or letting anxiety work against you could simply be understanding its causes.
Stressors in Real Life
Some situations are naturally and normally anxiety-provoking for virtually any individual. Concerns about survival, including financial stability or physical safety, can understandably raise anxious thoughts. To some extent, such responses are healthy signs of the human survival instinct.
When there are no actual dangers present, however, yet a person is experiencing thoughts and feelings that are more suitable to a dangerous reality, this cognitive anxiety can be debilitating. The Center for Addiction and Mental Health refers to this overestimation of danger as catastrophizing.
Sense of Inadequacy
Self-doubt, low self-esteem and poor self-image can promote normal levels of anxious feelings toward becoming unmanageable reactions. Negative self-talk can build to a point where it's the only thing an anxious person hears.
Inability to Focus
If you're highly distractible and can't keep your mind on the subject or task at hand, it's likely that you're also experiencing a jittery or tense sensation at the same time. This might lead to a snowball effect, wherein your inability to focus brings you worry about resulting outcomes, like turning in work late, which in turn causes more anxiety and tension.
Fear and Foreboding
Anxiety's other traits jumble together to create a sense of impending dread. The person experiencing cognitive anxiety may be able to state clearly that he's afraid, but pinpointing just what he's afraid of is often impossible.
Managing Cognitive Anxiety
Knowing how to talk about what you feel is the first basic step to managing thoughts and emotions. Simply checking in with yourself---"How am I feeling right now?"---can help narrow down what feels like a lengthy list of worries.
Instead of thinking about anxiety as being intolerable, it might be viewed as an important catalyst for many people. Performance psychologist Performance psychologist and Juilliard graduate Dr. Noa Kageyama goes so far as to say that musicians, for example, can learn to embrace their adrenaline rather than fear it.
