A System for Fighting Fear and Anxiety | Therapy & Theology

This video is taken from the Therapy & Theology episode “Can We Control What We Think About?” Watch the full conversation here

Through podcast reviews, direct messages on social media, and more, Lysa TerKeurst; Licensed Professional Counselor Jim Cress; and Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Director of Theological Research, Dr. Joel Muddamalle, collected your most asked questions. Now they’re rolling out a whole new season on Therapy & Theology: “You Asked … We’re Answering.”

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Jim, I know you have a really good example about getting on an airplane. Yeah.
And the fear flying has been something that you’ve had. For a good long while.
And yet in this past year, you flew probably more than you’ve ever flown in your life and you still have a system that you’ve have prepared in advance for the intrusive thoughts when they come because you’ve seeing the pattern of this is when some of those intrusive thoughts come.
Tell us about that.
Well, as we are recording, uh, this podcast, uh, were I’m at the 10 year anniversary.
And so it was 10 years ago exactly when totally unexpectedly uh, as far as I saw in the moment, this thought came over, and I flew an airplane that I could sleep in the floor, sleep across aisles, if it was an empty plane, No problem.
I loved it after. I just loved getting on airplanes.
And, um, pilot said, uh, fly would you all know the language? Flight attendants prepare for takeoff?
And man ate over. Came me. I was in a middle seat. I had been angry.
I had been burned out, talking to my wife and a therapist. I work with the times look.
I’m burning out, burning out, hosting 3 national radio talk shows a day up till 2 o’clock in the morning, and I was really asked for someone to rescue me.
So what I began to in the moment, of course, that panic came out of nowhere, right?
And I thought, what in the world, and and I literally cried out and almost crying, said, Lord, please don’t take my flying because so much of the ministry I do was involved in flying.
Well, through this 10 year journey, I learned in a lot more therapy around it, some EMDR, which is brain trauma healing type therapy.
And I began to know that from now on, I’m going to look at when anxiety comes in or a panic attack or something.
I do not want to see that any longer as my enemy. It is either nothing.
It’s an intrusive thought out of nowhere, maybe. And or some this is the question I asked myself.
Is there something out of alignment in my life? We would call that something that’s in congruent.
A lot of stuff 10 years ago was out of alignment.
I knew that I was burned out, stressed out, £60 over weight, uh, you know, compassion fatigue with doing a lot of of clients, a lot of counseling, so inside and some underlying anger and just frustration, So when that anxiety came in, I saw it as an enemy, but it became one of my greatest friends because as I interviewed it, I said from now on, I’m going to do an inventory to ask myself daily is something out of alignment in my life.
Also, do I have a good friend of which I do and more than one that I could call and just say, Hey, I I’m feeling this, this anxiety.
I’m gonna do with my language here. I’m going to interview anxiety. I was a broadcaster.
You know, we do that here. Think about this, and I’ve interviewed 7,000 of interviews in my radio career.
Alright, anxiety. Take a seat. You’re not my enemy. What are you trying to tell me?
And often it’s like the anxiety just says it’s something could be in my body that I can’t figure it out.
I found a one time, you can appreciate this, Joel, uh, in Charlotte Airport, I went to Bojangles in the airport, and I massively was way over more of a weight then, and massively carbo loaded up, I mean, bad, like with a soft drink and all this insured.
I appreciate all of this right now. Well, because we’ve talked about this quite honestly.
Gonna bring that up. But
got it. I’m I know you’re a dude. Come on. You get it. Okay. Yeah.
And and I realized, and then I go research and our our mutual good friend, Doctor.
Dan Amen and others, I realized, if you have anxiety, that corpse, so I began to study it, and I found out that anxiety was my friend.
Wow. I took anxiety that ex standing for the key or the cay in Greek, the letter of first letter of Christ name.
So I spelled anxiety. This is where my ADD helps.
Anxiety, spell the word and now, Christ, the X, and now Christ, I enthusiastically trust you.
I saw the exit sign. And I took that and said, embracing Christ, I trust.
Now that may not work for y’all, but I found this thing and I thought, anxiety is not my enemy.
It may try to be my enemy, but when it comes, and then way before I get on the plane, which we’ve talked about, you think where you’re flying, where you all the things we do before we get on that plane.
So have all the facts, like Yeah.
But I’m like, but I’m like, that’s our itinerary before you get on the plane.
We do TSA pre check or not. And I said, when I’m going in, I began to use essential oils.
I did travel with those, and I said, I cannot afford to be late to the airport.
I’m a 2 hour before guy.
And I used to run at a fast clip like get there half hour before. I can walk around.
I, you know, people make fun of me with my Starbucks cup all over social media.
But I do, it’s my rituals that I’m calming myself down.
I’m talk I’m listening to a resiliency playlist, a resiliency playlist in my ear, as a war.
They have a titled resiliency playlist. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. You can do that in compressible. Yeah.
And that’s where you well, you just make your own playlist, right?
So I come in, and now the airport is my friend, and I’m preparing myself, and then when I get on the plane, which I’ve shared with you, I walk down the the the shoot getting into the plane, and I wanna sure that nobody’s right on my tail, and I will bend my knees and say, Jesus, uh, you are the lord of this airplane.
All anxiety must bow to you.
In the name of the father, the son, the Holy Spirit, and the matchless, powerful name of Jesus.
So anxiety, and I’m doing this under my breath, but anxiety, if you come my way, you will bow ahead of time to the lord Jesus Christ.
You must bow. So if it comes on and then when anxiety were to hit me on the plane, which has happened from time to time, I will sit there and I will say in my mind, take your best shot.
You’re gonna do that. Jesus Christ is the lord over you, and I’ve survived every airplane anxiety thing that ever had, but I’m telling my brain, remember we’ve said our brains are wired for confidence in knowing.
So that piece is to say, Tell your brain. You’ve got this. What do you need to do? Music.
Uh, distractions. One of the number one keys to battling anxiety in a moment get on your phone and distract and all like that.
Those are tools I have. And then if the anxiety does hit me, and sometimes maybe it isn’t a bathroom or a place I least expect it, That’s a big one.
I’m gonna say, what are my tools? Wait. Breathe. What’s going on for me right now?
And I’d like to, if I may, just quickly come back to the 2nd Corinthians 105.
We, not the not god, we’re demolishing the strong ones.
I love that just demolishing them by taking every thought cap psychology teaches, thought stopping, which is good.
It says, you need to say, refuse that thought, thought, stop right here. It doesn’t take us farther.
And where we go farther is do the thought stopping, but then take it to the cross.
I love that, Jake. Take it to the cross. I love that.